I need a record player...

This is sad... I have an LP collection, but I don't own a record player. The only reason this makes sense is because I consider LP covers to be art. I believe that CDs caused less interest in what album cover art actually was, and now that we've moved on to the MP3 age, album cover art is all but unheard of.

Sure, plenty of music organization applications offer the ability to store and display album artwork, but I think the real stuff is better. I first posted about my collection here.

This past weekend I added to it, only to expand the collection to this (again, keeping with music that I have an appreciation for, or through the live shows I've mixed has had an impact on me personally):

(For the record, no I'm not a 'fanilow' - I just had to have it for the dollar they were asking.)

Georgia School Nurses

Simply put: The 2010 Georgia's Governor's Budget Proposal Eliminates Funding for School Nurses

My sis blogged about it, and I concur that this is just one more moronic thing for this backwards southern state to be doing.

You can sign a petition and follow up with your legislator here. - I get it that times are tough, but eliminating school nurses is NOT the way to start saving money. School nurses are not part of the 'fat' that needs cutting in the State of Georgia.

Here's what I wrote:

You'd have to be out of your mind not to provide funding to the school system to employ qualified nurses. Consider the fact that you compel children to attend the school system, therefor you are mandating that these children be out of the supervision of their legal guardian for a period of time. If you force schools to take the risk of supervising your citizens children without giving them the ability to have qualified medical staff on site, you are risking my tax dollars in liability issues.

My directive to the legislators that represent me: You will keep funding for school nurses, and you will make sure the children of Georgia have a course of medical action when being legally compelled to be separated from their legal guardians. You will not risk my tax dollars by risking a lawsuit from a parent who's child got some other students medicine because you won't fund qualified staff.

Oh, and if you're worried about the funds: Get rid of a religious law that states I can't buy a bottle of wine on a Sunday (go ahead, argue that the law isn't founded on religion, which is inherently illegal and federally unconstitutional) - the tax dollars from Sunday sales of alcohol alone would fund school nurses.

Go tell your legislator what you think.

The Only Way to Fry...

Somehow, Andy was only recently exposed to General Tso's Chicken and it seems to be a favorite of his. We usually get an order from Hop Shing, located a short distance away in the Publix shopping center. I previously stated a rule here on The Eighth Wonder regarding the ability to cook anything I pay someone else to cook for me (and besides, "Chinese" food is something we take for granted - who cooks their own?)

So tonight it was time to try a new recipe - the previous attempt at it was a flop. I googled around and found the decent recipe here on Recipezaar.

The author was a little enthusiastic about the 'cornstarch slurry', but I had to add just a little water to get it out of its 'Non Newtonian' state - mix it up and you'll see what I mean.

[Update: Halve the recipe... it makes enough for an army. Also.. Mix the 'sauce' first in a mason jar, then it's ready to go (you'll need to shake before you pour - the cornstarch settles.) When you thicken the sauce after the saute, be sure to whisk or stir - again the conrstarch settles and stands the chance to burn at the bottom of your wok or pan.]

I also added a new tool to my kitchen - a Lodge Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven (blue), and I can now say that no one should be without one. It is the only way to fry. Two inches of Corn Oil (yeah, I know - probably not the healthiest, but the smoke point is high, making for an apartment friendly frying), and it won't splatter out of the high-sided bowl. I also wasn't chasing the temperature of the oil around the whole time, which made for a stress free process.

A batch of battered chicken later, cook up the sauce, combine... viola! General Tso's Chicken as one might expect from your corner 'Chinese' restaurant.

Here's a few pics (sorry, none of the finished product... it was gone before I had a chance to snap a photo):

Build a Rotating Shelf to Keep Canned Goods at Hand

For the food storage people... Via Lifehacker: Don't let canned goods go to waste. Use a rotating shelf to inspire recipes and keep your cans from hiding at the back of the pantry.

WikiHow details how to build a rotating canned food shelf that works in whatever cabinet space you've got. How does it work? The shelves are designed so that freshly purchased canned goods are loaded into slots. The cans roll down into a chute and push the oldest cans forward. This ensures that older cans are presented before the younger ones, saving them from being lost in the depths of a kitchen cabinet or pantry shelf. The tutorial covers building your own shelving unit from scratch, but the basic principle can be easily modified to work with your existing pantry shelves.

How to Build a Rotating Canned Food Shelf [wikiHow]

This is in my top five...

Not that I have a Top Five List, but if I did... this site would be in it.

I would be remiss to try to sum up the content of this site/e-zine. I first encountered it almost a year ago when it was featured on a blog I follow - the site's creator had strapped a camera to a bench in little five points and a note asking people to snap pictures. It resulted in a great photo montage.

That's just one tidbit of the humorous, entertaining content of the site. Hit the jump and enjoy.

'The Plug'