Hah hah hah!

I just hit a button that deleted all comments that had been identified as spam. I scanned a couple of hundred of them, and, yep, all spam. So, there is a chance that I deleted some earnest, long-worked-on, thoughtful comment, and I certainly had no intention of doing that. If you posted something and it got eaten, I am sorry. I will probably not do it again.

But then again, if I go away for awhile and come back and find a thousand posts in the spam file, I will probably just nuke 'em. It is so easy. So painless. So fun, fun, fun, fun, fun.

Now I have to figure out some of the tagging of comments, in terms of categories and the such. I might have a few of these silly test posts out there before the night is through.

Upgrade Time!

Erik's Rants and Recipes is going to go lacking in new entries until it is updated to the new Movable Type. I am not sure when it is going to be finished, but rest assured that the brightest minds of the empire are working on it. Even as we sleep.

Stay tuned for the new and improved Erik's Rants and Recipes!

Crazy!

So I accept comments from anyone and everyone and the spam slows to a trickle (only about sixty spam comments so far today)! I don't get it.

Anyway, thanks to all who helped me try to figure out the problem. I am still baffled. Thanks to Julie who suggests Wordpress, but I would not want to pester my web designer to make yet another change (Blogger to MT to Wordpress).

Speaking of my web designer, I have mentioned that she is very good, no? She is also reasonably priced and easy to work with. Find her at Pink Mochi. Now, where have you heard that name before? Easy to remember.

And, finally, remember:

1. Dawn Eden. Tonight. UC Berkeley.
2. Me. Tomorrow Night. French Symbolists. St. Margaret Mary's Oakland.
3. The system coming in tonight might effectively end the tomato season. Getcher last BLT, just in case. And plan on picking a lot for putting up. You might not have another chance until July.

Allright...try this

I don't get it. Setting the thing to not accepting any comments seems to have done precisely nothing.

So it is back. If you tried to comment before this morning and your comment is not in the post below, please let me know here. Thanks.

It is time for the Keilholtz Academy to start up. Posts of more substance later (yeah, right! Is there ever a post of substance here? They might take away my license).

Two quick things, though:

1. Dawn Eden will be speaking at UC Berkeley tomorrow night, co-hosted by the St. Anthony of Padua Institute and the UC Berkeley Lepanto League.

2. Your humble blog host will be speaking on the night after about French Symbolism and nineteenth century neo-Byzantine trends at St. Margaret Mary's in Oakland.

Eden's talk will be at 7pm. Mine will be at 7 or 7:30. I will have to check to make sure that I am there on time.

Oh yeah, did I mention that we got a gecko?

Watching it eat is beautiful.

I know, I know...

I owe you a real post. Not just one of these frequent "I am busy with moving" sort of excuses.

A recipe? An art rant? Photos?

Yes. Yes. Yes. But bear with me. I am still busy with settling in. The studio is going to take significant effort, and when it is done there will be a celebration, both online and in person. Meanwhile...the lame excuses continue.

Oh Yeah...

I forgot to mention that, for the first time ever, I am blogging in my PJ's. Since our apartment is basically a basement, I think I have moved into a certain demographic.

Am I supposed to start ranting about the Clintons now?

Speaking of Raising my Writing Fees

Due to the increased cost of gas, I am going to have to raise the fees for my blog by 18% effective July 1. I am sorry to do this to you, as you have been wonderful readers, but rising costs have forced my hand.

So, fees have gone from $0.00 to $0.00, a net increase of $0.00. I hope that this will not be too much of a hardship, but with mailing costs, fuel costs, and so forth, I really have no choice.

We thank you for reading Erik's Rants and Recipes.

The Daily Post

I have been trying hard to post something, even a little something, every day. I have been mostly successful this month. However, today was busy, I am dead tired, and this will have to do. A dreaded placeholder post. Sorry. Better luck tomorrow.

Ah yes, Canadians...

Now, I was going to mention, after brutalizing the Canadian language, that I am finally going to link to Kathy Shaidle. I opened the door a crack when I linked to Meg Quinn, so I should link to other tolerable Canadians. Even though Shaidle somehow thinks that Reagan was the real deal (a lot of folks tend to be under that delusion, but since it was on the heels of the Carter days, I can understand, a little bit), she is sufficiently opposed to the inanities that make Canada Canada (or, in "First Nation" lingo: Big Frozen Waste in North that Thinks it is Berkeley), so she gets a pass.

Hey, Keilholtz! Where Are those Recipes You Promised?

Sorry. I know that I was supposed to have had recipes with photographs up. I was planning on doing that tonight, but got busy painting. Getting busy painting means getting busy cleaning brushes afterwards, and, there goes the night. Anyway, organizing the photos, writing the recipes, etc. will be a good Friday penance.

Reading them will be an even better Friday penance.

On This, The Occasion of The Beginning of My Second Term

It just dawned on us that this month marks the beginning of our second term as BlogDuce. It was four years ago that we started Erik's Rants and Recipes with the idea of throwing a variety of seeds on the ground and seeing which one flourished. As it happened, the ones that we most expected to flourish whithered away almost immediately: for instance, we have still not posted much at all on the aesthetics of bullfighting in relationship to music and painting, a project that we keep meaning to start. Someday.

Sure, we post on bullfighting and painting, and even some on music, but the idea of using the blog as a sounding board for rough drafts of larger works now doesn't strike me as all that interesting.

One thing that happened, and pleased us, was the online Music Theory course and analysis of selected works. If it didn't take so much time, we would like to continue it. Maybe some night with insomnia... we will see.

The Theology of Art. This was supposed to be a major part of the blog. We would write long entries for it, and never post them, because they needed to be carefully edited and thought about, because one shouldn't play with Theology carelessly. But, if we are going to put that much time into it, we better work it into longer works. So, go re-read Gilson.

Richard Nixon. Yes, Richard Nixon does have a sometimes home on this blog. We don't quite know how he gets in, but we do our best to shoo him out whenever he does.

Friday Afternoon Sermons. This is what started it all. We like a martini or two on Friday evenings. The Mohammedans sermonize on Friday afternoons. It was during Lent. No martinis during Lent, particularly on Fridays. So, why not have a Friday Afternoon Sermon, and email it to a bunch of friends, so that they could have their penance, too?

We created a scene for the sermons: a piazza on a slightly muggy afternoon, where our audience would be seated at tables, but facing us, with posters of our face behind us. They would be drinking Campari and Vermouth and Cynar. Before and after our sermons the sounds of fado and rembetika and other slightly mournful and nostalgic music would be heard.

Those who treated the sermons in less-than-respectful ways, or who said less-than-reverent things about Dear Leader would find that the fellow at the next table, the slightly overdressed man with the moustache, would lean over and say, "it is a shame how the old ladies like to gossip and chatter in the town square." He would give them a meaningful look, perhaps he would even draw his finger accross his throat.

Perhaps repeat offenders would be asked to come to the police station later, just to "have a chat with the Colonel." At the interview, the Colonel would talk about fishing, about his grandchildren, about the joys of freshly-baked bread. And then he would lean in and say very calmly, "now what was this that I heard about you muttering? You seem like a very reasonable man. Surely you weren't really muttering, were you? I would like to chalk it all up to a big misunderstanding."

You see, the Keilholtz Dictatorship is a slightly ham-fisted authoritarian regime, but it is a benevolent one, one that sees its citizens more as wayward children who need gentle, yet firm correction, rather than harsh and painful punishments.

And what did my good friends say to us? Did they thank us? Did they acknowledge the free gift of our wisdom? No, they suggested that we cut the pills in half. One of them said, "you need a blog" and she went out and designed one for us.

So, Erik's Rants and Recipes was born. It started out rather polite. It had Friday Afternoon Sermons (and an audience, with strangers, some of whom kept coming back and were no longer strangers), it had recipes, it had rants a-plenty.

One priest friend of ours said, "there are a lot of rants, but where are the recipes?" He was neither the first nor the last to point that out.

A milestone was reached this year, at the end of Our First Term, in that we added photographs.

We have, over the years, managed to scare off plenty of readers, bore others to tears, offend the rest, and yet, some of you still link to us, and, even more amazingly, keep coming back, even as there have been dry spells (what with traipsing around Northern California and all - although now that we post photographs the next traipsings should be much more interesting for the readers).

We thank you, even as we are still mystified by you, dear reader. Why, for instance, do you give nearly zero comments to carefully thought-out posts on matters of great importance, like art and music, and then try to set records on posts about Pink Popcorn? Why is it that you like to read us during working hours? Should we be worried about productivity in the modern American workplace? Are you people suckers for spam, and, if not, why do so many spammers seem to think that you are all in the market for whatever it is they are selling?

Anyway, keep coming back for more (for instance, those friggin' recipes I keep promising - what is the deal with that? Ah, yes, the pictures came out, but I spent too much time on editing something else, as well as waxing nostalgic here, so the recipe will have to wait until tomorrow. The enchiladas were very good, by the way. I ought to know, as I ate too many of them), and know that your comments are appreciated, especially if they are indignant. Nothing gets me going better than having some teenage girl whine about how "unfair" it is for me to say those, like, horrible, OMG things about Mohammedans, and if only I got to know some Mohammedans, I would understand how wrong I am!

So, what can I promise you on the Second Term? Hah! Whatever I feel like. I will continue to shoot for blogging six days a week, plus or minus, depending on events. I will continue to shoot for a mix of stuff. I will try to post more recipes (and the next step is going to be photographs of the steps). But I ain't promisin' nuttin'!

Thanks for continuing to read, and thank you for the vote (100% with 100% of all precincts reporting) for my second term.

What electoral corruption? It really is a shame how the old ladies gossip and chatter in the town square these days, no?

Some Miscellaneous Stuff

First, I will try to blog daily, as it is a good discipline. However, I am knee-deep in preparations for the St. Anthony of Padua Institute's Night with G.K. Chesterton event, which I highly recommend you go to. Tickets are moving, so act now. We would love to have your company.

Second, the other complication is that Melanie is facing surgery, but hopefully not for the C-word (her doctor is about ninety percent sure it isn't, but there is that chance). She could go in as early as this week. Please pray for her.

Third, I have been remiss in adding The Lion and the Cardinal to my blogroll. Mr. Mitsui has a provocative and well-done blog, and I recommend checking it out regularly.

Correction

Melanie says that she took all of the trout pictures while I was busy doing prep work. She is probably right. So, the credit on the trout picture below belongs to her.

One other thing...or two other things...no...make that three other things

Since I am getting more comfortable with posting photos, and getting a better idea of what works and what doesn't work, I am going to try something involving food, recipes, photography, etc. Ain't promisin' nuttin' at this point, because I will need to experiment, but if it works, it could be fun.

And speaking of experimentation...

Last night was the dinner for me to test my new inventions that I will be cooking for the G.K. Chesterton night. So far, the meat dishes passed with flying colors. What I will need to work on is the wild rice, leek, lemon and shrimp risotto. I have never used wild rice quite this way, and I am realizing that I will have to use some regular arborio rice, as the starch content of the wild rice is way too low.

So, sometime this week I will be working on take two of that dish.

Meanwhile, I recommend attending, and I recommend selecting some other penance for Friday and eating the meat dishes.

Get your tickets right away, you don't want to not have a ticket on Friday.

By the way, for my birthday on Thursday (I did mention that, didn't I?), the tradition is to eat a classic cheese fondue. I am not sure we will be doing that, since I will be cooking all day. But you can certainly have a good fondue, even if I end up eating pizza.

It is the official food of the the First Day of the Month of Ducebruary.

Blog Organization

I have created a couple of new categories, and am going through old entries classifying posts. Already I think that I have probably made a mistake on taxonomy. Alas. It will do for now.

Anyway, it is a tedious process, and will take more time (I am working backwards in time and have just moved from December to November). When it is done (or I get to 2005 and say, "I give up!"), I will post on the new categories and why they are what they are.

Recipe Day

Today I will give you a couple of recipes, because they are fresh in my head. Later, if I have time, I might post some more photos. Not art, this time, because I have posted a group of those recently, and will give you a few more days to digest them before posting another group. More likely scenery or food or oddities of urban life. Or oddities of rural life.

So, recipes...

And the Last Lunchtime Post.

Well, Melanie thinks that the bowl of brussels sprouts photo is hers and not mine. She might be right, as we were both taking pictures of that bowl of brussels sprouts. I am pretty sure that, no matter who took the picture, she trimmed all those brussels sprouts herself (and that is no small task, especially since I only buy them on the stalk). They were part of our 2005 Christmas dinner.

Test of a different size.

Of course, if I am going to give you pretty scenery while I test sizes and formats and such, you can't beat this. You just can't:

Image copyright 2006 by Erik Keilholtz

More Tests

I am just playing with settings and seeing what looks best. I will try to post interesting views, since why waste space with just boring old tech tests? This is an obsidian outcropping at Glass Mountain on the Medicine Lake volcano, a Hawaiian-type shield volcano in far Northern California. It is the largest of the Cascades, and its caldera is a lake (a lovely warm lake full of tasty trout)!

Image copyright 2006 by Erik Keilholtz

More Food Photo Testing

This is just a test to get the size right.

Image copyright 2006 by Erik Keilholtz

I Lied.

Well, perhaps we will have the new things. If you see a bowl of brussels sprouts below, then the test is successful and we are on to the new era of Erik's Rants and Recipes.

Image copyright 2005 by Erik Keilholtz

Special Announcement

If all goes well, there will be a new special feature to this blog. Perhaps as soon as this evening. Perhaps not. We'll see. It all depends on how my Internet chops are (which should set many of you to tittering wildly).

Dear Erik's Rants and Recipes...

What's the deal? I tried to view some new content at noon, and I have been put on hold ever since then. What sort of outfit is this?

Well, we understand. We really do. Our aim is to please. Your visit truly is very important to us. Our readers are our passion.

Speaking of passion, this is an expression I am eagerly waiting for the end of. The winner in silly passions? The North Beach Garage on Vallejo Ave. in San Francisco. Parking is Our Passion.

If parking is your passion, let me be the first to declare that your life is tragically misguided.

As it would be if gin were your passion, but I can at least understand a passion for gin. Gin is fun. Gin tastes good. And, sure, it is fun and good to find a parking place, but to have a passion for parking? That is just macabre.

Our whole culture is heading for the macabre, though. People brag about their passions (in public even). They talk about their diets as if their entire well-being in this life and the next depended on it. They believe that truth should and can be settled by vote.

These are symptoms of a bad, bad sickness.

But that is all beside the point, which is this: why is Erik slowing down the content these last couple of days?

And the answer is: Erik is cooking for a wedding reception this Saturday, and is busy preparing all week. So, please forgive me if posting is down to one little post a day until Sunday night (or even Monday, depending on how quickly I spring back into action).

Meanwhile, we have this nice loop of the Four Seasons played on a DX-7...

Two Links

I don't know why I have yet to link to John Salmon's Mystic Chords, or Julie at Sotto Sotto. Oops. They are both good reads, and it is always fun to find someone who is just discovering Patsy Cline (John, I am with you on Patsy. Some of the die-hard country fans I know say, "but she wasn't really doing country music" but so what? Perhaps she should be in the same class as Roger Miller, who was country, but also, not really country. Both were fantastic).

Read them both frequently.