The Recipes

I've been looking over this set of recipes from the Quest web site.
The pictures are super appetizing, and the macros are incredible. A bit
complicated to make, especially that I have no experience of protein powder
(and I wouldn't want to turn into ???, in my late sixties, eating all that).

Quest bars are pretty expensive, but are  upper tier: high protein, low
carb, no gluten, and great reviews on taste. (Other high carb bars are called, in review,
hidden candies). Although I would think that a protein powder is a standard thing,
a bit like yogurt. Quest goes so far as to propose a non-flavoured one for cooks!!

I know it would asking a lot of the (mostly) guys in the fitness community
to tweak these recipes. One step at a time, this can be done...

http://www.questnutrition.com/cookbook/desserts/

At work

Although well into retirement age, one thing I do enjoy
is going to various Microsoft events, which are sometimes
workshops. Because one meets interesting people, from
managers to computer workers and one might be tasked to form
teams. Whatever is going on in that session, one will leave having
learnt something.

Particularly interesting is how things go down in organizations
where computer professionals (aka coders) and other creatives
work together. It is rather different than the environment in
government organizations, which is solo work punctuated
by meetings. Here, it is group work in sepulchral silence, or perhaps
a whispered communication only those involved can hear. And
you can have a good day where there is absolutely no output.

When there is output - to the group - it's a party.

It is important to have some sense of this, a good manager
can convey it.

It is rumoured that organizations such as Facebook and Google
have fun work environments, with insane perks. There is more to
know about that, and it may well be related as much to the
rhythms of the work being performed, as to progressive management.

Oh, and you have to be dressed like a bear, because a room
full of expensive laptops is kept pretty cool. And it's okay to go
to the goodies table for a drink or nibble. Brrrr!

Thigh G

So this is the time of year when the temperature yo-yos wildly in Montreal,
as we find ourselves above or below the jet stream on different days. It is -16°C this
morning; it should be 9°C by Tuesday.

This scroungy pair of black jeans is 4-seasons dressing for these circumstances. The
ankle zipper makes them super-skinny, easy to put on, easy to wear under boots.
On a warmer day, the zipper adds visual interest to what can be a monochrome black
look. There is even banding above the knee, which helps 'create' a thigh gap.

Si seulement jeunesse savait...

Moo

Should soy and nut milks be considered - and labelled -
as milk when sold in stores. Some people in the American government
think not, they claim it is misleading, when cow milk is regulated and
subsidized (here in Canada) as a healthy food for children.

Clearly, these products are milk substitutes for certain people and certain
purposes. Vegetarians, and vegans appreciate that they are equivalent to
milk in calcium. They also serve as milk for eating cereal, and baking. But
at the same time, they are lower in fat, and thus calories, and lack the sugar and
micronutrients ie the many vitamins and minerals, found in Moo.

Etymologically, I would guess the word milk is a metonym, derived in a number of
languages from the activity of milking.
...
From Old English melcan, from Proto-Germanic *melkaną, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂melǵ-, the same root as the noun. Compare Dutch and German melken, Danish malke, Norwegian mjølke, also Latin mulgeō ‎(“I milk”), Ancient Greek ἀμέλγω ‎(amélgō, “I milk”), Albanian mjel ‎(“to milk”), Russian молоко́ ‎(molokó), Lithuanian mélžti, Tocharian A mālk-.
Verb[edit]
...
source: Wikipedia

Milk will always be Moo for me, but that is perhaps generational. Young adults are increasingly
making the shift to these other beverages. I also sympathize with a nascent industry that may not
want to be marketing a 'beverage' when a milk sounds so much better. But then it is
the Dairy industry that is complaining that their products are being undersold. So it is
dairy-milk(D-Milk) vs milk-substitute(Milk-S) for the moment.

                                                       *   *   *

Just had to comment on the below article, on the US Space Program.
Because it is terribly chagrin (sad), confining, frighteningly sensible. The
gist of the argument is this: that humans have no business traveling in space
themselves, but should content themselves -indeed, will prosper - by sending 
robots to do the work.

So let me say this about that: not robots but droids. Because if we accept the line
of reasoning, that humans are so fragile that they make space exploration costly to
the point of absurdity, robot control has clear limits as well. The 5-second rule
is impossible to apply for a robot on Mars. Drop the piece of toast, it takes fifteen
minutes for Earth to register that this has happened; and another fifteen to answer
back 'pick it up'. And a robot capable of making that call for itself would have to be
a droid, close enough to a human to require an extensive sensing and programming
capability. How far is that down the line.

Just saying...

http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-trump-space-20170228-story.html

http://blogs.esa.int/mex/2012/08/05/time-delay-between-mars-and-earth/

Best Picture

The question of what is the best picture of the year is not
really that straightforward. For purposes of the Academy Awards,
it is : members of the Academy vote, and that's it. But on
what grounds to these people vote. Presumably they are all
professionals of the industry, so that their votes each carry
a veto on anything shoddy, particularly if there is expertise involved.
But they are not given a rating sheet which spews out a winner,
but a ballot. So ultimately, the choice is subjective. About the experience
of watching that movie.

Well, I'll tell you what the movie of the year was; it was Bridget Jones' Baby.
I laughed, I cried, I aaaawed. And I'm waiting for the sequel. Not even nominated
for anything. But then I too was pregnant in my 40s, and I guess we are a minority
demographic.

Srsly, lovely dialogue: what's her name, Candida? No, you know her name is Camila.
And René Z., powering through with a British accent was a go-all-out performance.
That female gynecologist was the bomb. The American seducer was right on. Heck, I
would have married Mark Darcy, who has been charming women since Jane Austen.
So, to say it, I enjoyed the theatrical aspects of the movie, the literary allusions,
the solid comedy of American romance. A wee bit of satire as well, that mud fest
Music Festival with our heroine in white jeans.

Did the movie embody production values: there was no one dancing on cars, or turning
blue during a late night swim. Ed Sheeran sang - and no one recognized him, but the
viewer did - allowing me to wallow in a moment of smugness that my age is perhaps not
that much of a cultural barrier. So it was a feel good movie, and I feel good about it.

All this to say that the best movie category is perhaps the least well defined.
Things could have gone in a number of ways last Sunday. Indeed they did.

Moon Notes

from: Le Figaro

author: Jean-Luc Nothias

translation: doxa-louise

To Whom Does the Moon Belong

GETTING CLEAR ON THIS- The entry of private enterprise into the space
exploration game could overturn the legal rules with respect to the
exploration and use of beyond-the-atmosphere space.

The question has been deemed settled for a very long time. Ever since
a treaty uner the umbrella of the United Nations stipulated, in 1967, in
article II that ' Space beyond the atmosphere,including the moon and other
celestial bodies, cannot become the object of nation appropriation through
the proclamation of sovereignty, neither by way of use or ocupation, or by any
other means'. thus the moon belongs to no one (opr to everyone).

Yet space exploration has evolved considerably since 1967. And regulation
has flourished, bilateral or multilateral accords between governments or space
agencies have multiplied. Tons of documents define rules and responsibilities
for space launches, satellites, men in space, the international space station, space
exploration vehicules...The legal rules applicable to space are today very (too) complex,
without an underlying vision. Even specialists in the matter have difficulties finding
their way in what has become an almost intractable jungle. Certainly now that are
appearing the first private enterprises for space flight like Space X. What happens
if one of these gets a footing on the Moon to engage in its development?!

Lunar development is openly permitted

Meanwhile there are claims of lunar property rights proliferating. To the point
where the Intenational Institute of Space Law (IISL) has had to remind us that it
is up to individual states to render illegal such claims to property. The problem
is that not everyone has ratified, or even signed, the space treaty of 1967. As of
January 1 2017, 105 countries have ratified the 1967 treaty (including China, France,
Russia and the United States), while 24 others have merely signed it (signature is less
strong than ratification).

A further international treaty, dated 1979, exmines the eventual development of
the moon and other celestial bodies. Developement which is regulated but
certainly permitted. A mere 11 states have signed, including France and India. But no
major actor, such as the United States, Russia, China or Japan has done so.

And we know that there are projects in the drawers of various space agencies
concerning mining operations: helium-3 ( which could become a super-fuel) and
water on the Moon, magnesium, cobalt or uranium on Mars, gold on various asteroids...

Nonetheless, in announcing a return to the Moon before 2020, and the
establishment of a permanent base in 2024, NASA has primarily emphasized the
scientific nature of the project. And the fact that the moon could serve as a base
for launches of settlements towards other planets.


Hotel Projects?

There are, as well, projected hotels for the moon or in orbit. What body of law
would be applicable here? for now, one can take measure on maritime law. Space
crafts, like boats, fly the flag ovf various countries. Thus it is the law of the country
where it is registered which applies. If a Russian craft is launched from France,
both France and Russia are responsible for this engine coming and going, but inside
the rocket, Russian law applies.

Now for the moon . A number of cranks, here and there on the planet,
pretend to own it. Well best known is Dennis M. Hope ( who appointed himself
President of the Galactic Government), an American citizen who, in 1980, filed
ownership documents for the Moon and all the planets of the Solar System with the
City of San Francisco, with copies to the United Nations and the American and Russian
governments. His company, Lunar Embassy, sells parcels of the Moon. One can thus
buy a lot of some 4000 square meters near the Sea of Tranquility for a bit over thirty
Euros. And receive a stunning certificate of property with a picture of the lot in question
and the geographic characteristics of the area. Which might make a wonderful wall
hanging for a modest amount ( although a do-it-yourself of the same would be cheaper).

Another American brand has gone into this business in 1999. The Lunar
Republic Society is based in New York and also claims to own the Moon.
Of course these securities have no notary-worthy value, yet these companies
claim to have sold millions of square meters of the Moon. To thousands of folks
who are ... perhaps already on the Moon.

Poached E

How to poach an egg... srsly, there's stuff to know.




Use a large egg.
The more fresh, the more it will hold together.
Add both salt and vinegar to the water to maximize hold.
Use a spatula to bind the whites into a sphere.
Plunge into cold water to stop the cooking and remove the vinegar taste.
One needs to shape the whites, cut off the inelegant parts.
The egg can be served in a hot soup; it can be reheated to be served as such
for 2-3 minutes on medium boil.

from: Le Monde