Phil Landmeier @shuttersparks@social.cleverlibre.org

@ArtSmart Hahaha. That's what it says to me, but not to West Virginians. The world view here is utterly foreign to to an import from Los Angeles, like me. But I'm used to it now. I keep my politics to myself and have a couple of Confederate battle flags handy in case I need them. ;-)

I forgot to tag my post:

#birds #birding #birdwatching #eBird

@ArtSmart I still see that stuff here in WV. It sends the message, "See? I've been a good guy since before it was popular," or "I was right all along."

@ai6yr If nothing else it shows how people are blind to the fact that nothing you do on your phone is secret.

Any knowledgable birders out there? I've dabbled at birding for decades but have only recently gotten serious about it.

I have a question to which I can't find the answer by searching. I've read many presentations and references about mockingbirds but none mention whether mockingbirds ever gather in a flock and fly around. Do they ever engage in flocking behavior?

My guess is no, but today I observed a flock of about a dozen birds that flew quite close to me several times and they looked like mockingbirds. Obviously, I could be mistaken. Haha.

@jaykass @SrRochardBunson Agreed. It's unbelievable. There are certain things that must be run by the state and prisons is one of them. It's unthinkable, mind-blowing, to think that this is a good idea.

But now we're stuck with it because the two main corporations that do it rake in billions of dollars so they have unlimited cash to bribe, I mean lobby Congress and state legislatures.

@markarayner I work with a waitress who writes like that. She writes Strawb Shortcake and it looks to me like "Frank Zappa".

It would be hilarious if it didn't cause problems.

(Many of) Our Favorite Things are Aldehydes

https://shuttersparks.net/our-favorite-things-are-aldehydes/

#Food #History #Home #Health #aldehydes #allergies #almond
#banned #benzaldehyde #cinnamon #citrus #lemon #lily #vanilla #vanillin

@vk2gpu Indeed. Under the right circumstances they're little bombs because they can deliver jaw-dropping power levels for short periods.

That 18650 I photographed is rated to deliver 25 amps for short periods. I don't even want to know what the short-circuit current is.

@olavf Yes, cardamom is a confusing spice to learn to use because it's used both in sweet and savory dishes with different effects.

@olavf Long pepper isn't a chili. Chili peppers didn't exist in Europe or Asia until they were brought out of the Americas and spread around the world, mainly by the Portuguese 400 years ago. So 1,200 years ago, no chilis.

Long pepper's heat comes from piperin, just like black pepper.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_pepper

Lithium batteries are more dangerous than you might think.

https://shuttersparks.net/lithium-battery-hazard/

#lithium #battery #danger #fire

@olavf Funny you should mention racks. I have two large racks, both full, with more just on the counter. Plus I have a lazy susan turntable full of spices and extracts.

I remember as a teen seeing large collections of spices and thinking it was silly. How many spices can you possibly need? My mother didn't use that many and her food was fine. And here I am. Hahaha.

One spice my mother used was cardamom, which I still haven't mastered the use of. She made a delicious dip that included cardamom.

So many foods and flavors, so little time.

@olavf I don't know. I'll have to re-do some digging and see if I can find that article that named the spice mix. The problem is that every vendor of spices 1200 years ago had their own blend so there's no way today to replicate it exactly.

However, they did list the ingredients commonly found in that mix. I seem to remember something called "long pepper" as one of the ingredients. Long pepper is apparently not used or rarely used today. But it was quite a list, maybe 10 to 15 different spices, that went into this mix.