1 Low Fat Smoked Turkey Kielbasa cut into rounds
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
1 large can roasted tomatoes (crushed)
Chives
Cayenne Pepper
White Butter Beans
White Kidney Beans
Chicken Stock
Butter

Sweat the onions with the garlic in the butter until soft. Add sausage. Add tomatoes, bring to simmer. Add Cayenne. Drain beans, and add to soup. Add Chives. Add Chicken Stock and bring to boil, reduce to simmer. Spoon into bowls and top with dollop of sour cream. Serve with cornbread.

2 Eggplants
6 cloves garlic
Olive Oil
Sesame Oil
1/2 of a Lemon
Kosher Salt

Heat oven to 375 Farenheit. Slice eggplants in half, then slice each half into slices about 1/4 inch thick. Salt each piece and set aside for 20.

Coat the bottom of a pyrex baking pan with olive oil. Then, coarsely chop the garlic and put about 1/3 of it in the oil on the bottom of the pan. Put a layer of the eggplant pieces. Drizzle olive oil and sesame oil on that layer, put another third of the garlic, then put another layer of eggplant on top of the first. Drizzle more olive and sesame oil and the last of the garlic. Cover the pan with aluminum foil. Bake for 1 hour. Remove aluminum foil. Bake for another 20 minutes. Remove from oven, squeeze lemon on the eggplant. Sprinkle kosher salt on the eggplant. Then, spread on toasted ciabiatta bread. MMMM…garlicky.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

vi·cis·si·tude      /vɪˈsɪsɪˌtud, -ˌtyud/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[vi-sis-i-tood, -tyood] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation

–noun

1.	a change or variation occurring in the course of something.

2.	interchange or alternation, as of states or things.

3.	vicissitudes, successive, alternating, or changing phases or conditions, as of life or fortune; ups and downs: They remained friends through the vicissitudes of 40 years.

4.	regular change or succession of one state or thing to another.

5.	change; mutation; mutability.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

tim·bre      /ˈtæmbər, ˈtɪm-; Fr. ˈtɛ̃br^ə/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[tam-ber, tim-; Fr. tan-br^uh] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation

–noun

1.	Acoustics, Phonetics. the characteristic quality of a sound, independent of pitch and loudness, from which its source or manner of production can be inferred. Timbre depends on the relative strengths of the components of different frequencies, which are determined by resonance.

2.	Music. the characteristic quality of sound produced by a particular instrument or voice; tone color.

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[Origin: 1325–75; ME tymbre < F: sound (orig. of bell), MF: bell, timbrel, drum, OF: drum < MGk tímbanon, var. of Gk týmpanon drum]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

ves·per      /ˈvɛspər/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[ves-per] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation

–noun

1.	(initial capital letter) the evening star, esp. Venus; Hesper.

2.	Also called vesper bell. a bell rung at evening.

3.

vespers, (sometimes initial capital letter) Ecclesiastical. a. a religious service in the late afternoon or the evening. b. the sixth of the seven canonical hours, or the service for it, occurring in the late afternoon or the evening. c. Roman Catholic Church. a part of the office to be said in the evening by those in major orders, frequently made a public ceremony in the afternoons or evenings of Sundays and holy days. d. evensong.

4.	Archaic. evening.

–adjective

5.	of, pertaining to, appearing in, or proper to the evening.

6.	of or pertaining to vespers.

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[Origin: 1350–1400; ME, partly < L: evening, evening star; partly < OF vespres evening service < ML vesperās, acc. pl. of L vespera, fem. var. of vesper; c. Gk hésperos; akin to west]

per·mu·ta·tion      /ˌpɜrmyʊˈteɪʃən/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[pur-myoo-tey-shuhn] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation

–noun

1.	the act of permuting or permutating; alteration; transformation.

2.

Mathematics. a. the act of changing the order of elements arranged in a particular order, as abc into acb, bac, etc., or of arranging a number of elements in groups made up of equal numbers of the elements in different orders, as a and b in ab and ba; a one-to-one transformation of a set with a finite number of elements. b. any of the resulting arrangements or groups. Compare combination (def. 8b).

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[Origin: 1325–75; ME permutacioun (< MF permutacion) < L permūtātiōn- (s. of permūtātiō) thoroughgoing change. See per-, mutation, permute]

—Related forms

per·mu·ta·tion·al, adjective

per·mu·ta·tion·ist, noun

—Synonyms 1. modification, transmutation, change.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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[Origin: 1560–70; < L vicissitūdō, equiv. to viciss(im) in turn (perh. by syncope < *vice-cessim; vice in the place of (see vice³) + cessim giving way, adv. deriv. of cédere to go, proceed) + -i- -i- -tūdō -tude]

—Related forms

vi·cis·si·tu·di·nous, adjective

Please read the following with a pan-European accent–pretend you are smoking, and are wearing wire rimmed glasses:

Reviewer:
The abstract does not address “place” nor “space” to any significant
extent, and does not explicate very clearly how it would be interested in
discourse or interaction either. The theoretical framework is indicated by
pointing to a reference, but a description of the methodology remains
totally absent. No results are indicated, only areas of interest and
questions.

Well, I wish I could say that I wasn’t set back by this rejection, but I am a little. I guess that my feeling of defeat is linked to my real desire to win–to get a chance to explore an idea from multiple theoretical perspectives. This is a very bittersweet moment in my exploration of a possible return to graduate school because if I wasn’t bummed, I would know that it didn’t matter to me whether I continued my education. Since I feel badly that I didn’t hit the mark, I know I care. Now that I know I care, how do I pursue those goals my reviewer points out that I missed?

Maybe I should do as Omeros suggested: write a book first–and use that as an artifact to get into school. Right now, though, I am doubting any ability to write a book, about anything much less my interests in how electronic games represent the body, or successful online donation strategies enacted by non profits.

Maybe I should write a book about scholarly ambivalence.

Saturday morning, I had flipped to The Jetsons while I was cleaning house. George and Astro had to hide out in a space cabin to hide from a guy who they thought was a mobster, but was actually just an actor playing a space mobster. So anyway, George and Astro were in the cabin, and they realized that they were really roughing it. They went to the “meal machine” there wasn’t any Martian Macaroni, there wasn’t any Saturn Ring Salmon. The plot thickens as they go to find some food for the machine and try to avoid getting rubbed out.

The space age meal machine got me to thinking about my current mode of consumption. Essentially, I’m relying as much as possible on the tastiest frozen foods that will light up my space age meal machine, the microwave or oven, with as much nutritional value as possible. My Judy Jestson-esque search for Lunar Lasagne lead me to the frozen food aisle again last week to discover Michael Angelo’s Eggplant Parmesan.

As a disclaimer, I have a genetically predispositioned soft spot in my heart for frozen Eggplant Parmesan. It was widely known and accepted that my Grandmother Harrison–Annie Fink made the best Eggplant Parmesan in the category of non-Italian heritage person making Italian food on the East Coast, south of Jersey– so good, that I thought my family was vaguely mafioso for my formative years (this belief was not dispelled by my father’s skill for finding expensive furniture and goods that “fell of the back of a truck,” but that’s an entirely different entree.)

Grandma would make a few pans of the thick, breaded cuts of Eggplant drenched in a vibrant tomato sauce, wrap them up, and send them home with us for our freezer. I remember my my mom, a self proclaimed non-cook, couldn’t get enough of them. The pans of Eggplant were a welcome, homemade break from the daily rations of ”Glop” (macaroni and cheese with cream of mushroom soup and hotdogs) or fish sticks. So it was with this romantic ideal of a quintessentially good Eggplant Parmesan melting through my mind that I brought the Michael Angelo’s home for a try.

Time passes, and as I reach in the freezer to grab other frozen foods that populate my Space Age Food Machine, I just touch the box with one finger. Tap tap, we’ll cook you in the real oven when the time is right I’d been saying to Mr. Angelo Parmesani. And tonight was the night. It took about an hour at 375, and due to some space age polymers or perhaps revolutionary cooking materials, I just had to remove the dish  from the box, peel back the paper from the pan to vent, and then bake it.

After a long day at South by Southwest Interactive in the rain, eating cold weird salad for lunch, I was so very excited about the smells coming from the kitchen. How surprised was I when the actual food that came from the oven was out of this world?! The eggplant to bread crumb to tomato sauce ratio was just right, and the mozzerella cheese melted on top, was fresh and flavorful.

According to the package, there are 6 servings at 250 calories each. But, I think more realistically, there are three servings of 500 calories, which isn’t terrible for the quality of the food that you get. This made for a really warm, comforting, quality space age meal. I wish that I could say that I remember Grandma’s Eggplant–but I’m going to say that hers was just slightly better.

All in all, I’m going to investigate other foods from Michael Angelos for my intergalactic freezer. As I get busier and busier, I have a lot more compassion for my mom’s take no prisoners penchant for ready made cuisine. Luckily, there are a lot of healthier, tasty foods for the lady on the go in the 21st century. Luckily, some frozen foods are really good, because they’re just going to have to remain a source of sustenance while life right now is moving at the speed of light.

Outlandish Outfits for Reasonable People: The Translation of Avatars within the Electronic Game ‘Rock Band’   

Following the success of the single-player game Guitar Hero, the multi-player Rock Band entered the multi-billion dollar U.S. video game market in November 2007. Players create avatars called “Rockers” to represent themselves within the game as a drummer, vocalist or guitarist. Then, players use game controllers shaped like full sized instruments to strum, beat, or sing along with some of the most popular songs in the rock genre. A band can play together in the same room. More fascinating, band members can also play online through their game console’s network, so the Rockers meet in a virtual performance space, though players’ physical bodies may be thousands of miles apart.  

According to Rockband.com, music downloads (for new songs to play within the game) have surpassed 2.5 million in eight weeks. Poised to enter the European market in the first quarter of 2008, Rock Band’s exponential popularity in the U.S. nods to the possibility that the players find the game wildly pleasurable—but, why?

In the translation of the material-semiotic space of Rock Band, the moment of Interessement holds implications for the human actors who will perform the songs and build the relationships with non-human actors in the game. Players interact with the affordances of the virtual representation of self, and negotiate their own involvement with the game. The physical body chooses how it will represent a virtual body, selecting gender, skin tone, physical build, hair style, clothing, and essential mode of gesture. What systemic forces shape the very choices for avatar bodies within the game? This paper analyzes these affordances, seeking to understand why a Rocker cannot be disabled, fat, or old. The goal here is to unpack the fantasy of rock-stardom, and using tools borrowed from Ian Bogost’s theory of Unit Operations, understand the inequitable pleasure of virtual rebellion.  

“Video games are bad for you? That’s what they said about rock n’ roll!”

     –Shigeru Miyamoto (born 16 November 1952) is Nintendo’s most respected video game developer.

Topics

The conference will highlight research in the following topical areas:·         Interacting bodies in material-semiotic places. For example, the study of body movements, interacting bodies and objects-in-interaction in the situated configuration of material-semiotic space and virtual places. An example can be found in the interactions of citizens and visitors in public places and aesthetic environments, such as museums. More precise ways of analysing affordances and mediational means need to be investigated. Findings will be applicable to the design of innovative, democratic, habitable places and to the crafting of mobility practices in spatial planning, design and policy.

The study of body movements

Interacting bodies

Objects in interaction

Material- semiotic space

Virtual space

Analyze affordances

Apply to the design of innovative, democratic, habitable places

What is Rock Band:

“Rock Band” is an electronic game that requires at least two players in a “band” to use game controllers that look and feel like musical instruments to simulate play with known rock music.

The controllers, are drumsticks that beat an electronic drum kit that’s about half the size of a real electronic kit, a black and white guitar that has the markings and is branded as a Fender Stratacaster, and a microphone that functions as a digital recording mike as well as a controller for the game.

Though individual players can play on solo tours, there must be at least 2 people who play in the rock band. Xbox live connects wirelessly to the players’ home internet connection, and so game play can happen with a member of the band in one living room, and another member of the band in a living room half way around the world.

The objective of the game as a rock band is to go on tour, beginning in the hometown of the band within the game, and to travel nationally, then internationally to play larger and larger auditoriums. The goal is to win fans, unlock songs, and earn money within the game to improve transportation and buy clothes and instruments.

The game is played as each member of the band “play” the same song at once that the band chooses. The guitar player presses a combination of keys on the guitar controller like notes. The guitar player watches the screen and sees color coded dots move down a fret board in the game, and he presses the corresponding color coded key. The drummer does the same by striking the color coded drum pad with the drum stick in unison with the color coded note falling down the screen of the game. The singer, actually sings into the microphone, and the game registers pitch, and intensity of the voice, with a bar on the screen that shows whether the singer is sharp, above the note, below the note or on key.

Because the playing is networked through XBOX and because there’s a growing social network community of Rock Band players, one objective of the game might be to earn more points as a band and to compete with other bands in other places.

What are the places:

The living room, bar or dormitory where the game is played on a screen through the Xbox system

The world of the game, where bands can originate from and begin touring in virtual towns like Boston, Rome, Los Angeles or Berlin

The arenas where the bands play, small clubs and large ampitheaters where real players can meet virtually and play ‘gigs’

The social network space of rockband.com where the community surrounding the game discusses songs, information about new bands in the real world, and tips on playing the game

The world of XBOX live, which is like a social network, that provides the technology so that band members who are in separate real spaces can talk through headphones in real time. XBOX live also allows for players to share their playing habits and preferences with other players who also belong to XBOX live

The world of rock music itself with the history of rock music, references to rock music in American culture—part of the pleasure of the game is to know a song that’s familiar and get to “play” along with it, or to learn a new song, and discover an artist that the player may not know already.

The Bodies:

There are the human bodies that are in the living rooms and bars and dormitories, interacting with game controllers that have the same shape and feel as real instruments

            These human bodies can be dressed in pajamas or a suit, these bodies sit on the couch or stand in front of a crowd at Rock Band events held at bars

There are the bodies that the player creates as his or her “rockers” or avatars who can take on whatever characteristics that the player chooses, within the confine of the choices for the avatar.

            Rockers can: have wild hairdos, be racially diverse, have tattoos or no tattoos, have wild outfits, or more tame out fits

            Rockers cannot: be old or fat or inappropriately hairy

            **The player can choose his or her Rocker to have a performance delivery style of Rock, Punk, or Gothic, the Rocker will move within the game and “dance” according to the style of movements associated with these rock genres

The crowds in the virtual bars, arenas and auditoriums…sway and rhythmically shake fists when “into the music” boo and turn away when the game is being played badly

What I want to do:

Analyze new media to understand electronic, networked, roleplaying games as sites of learning and connection instead of just distraction and diversion

What ways can we shape virtual environments to promote social cohesion?

To understand the potential of creating a virtual body that is actionable by the real body. (the real body must move in time and space in order for the virtual body to progress through the virtual world)

The key feature of this game is that one cannot play it alone. Real players are necessary. How does that inform the direction that new media might take to bring people together in meaningful ways, to productive ends?

Are actions in the virtual world valid? Do they have consequences?

How do other games with similar features compare with Rock Band? Second Life? Games for the Nintendo WII?

What does the participation in the game world tell about the actual player? Economics, race, gender? Access, cost of entry?

What might a game like Rock Band portend for virtual performance spaces? Collaborative spaces?

Why is this kind of heightened, fantastical communication important? What function does this communication serve within US culture?

What about the desire to be famous/rockstar? Auslander writing about the democratization of rock and roll during the late 1960’s—any one can pick up a guitar and play. In reality, it takes a lot of practice and skill to play an instrument well. How do we unpack the fantasy of “being” a rock star? What’s frustrating about not being a rock star? How is it then satisfying to pretend one is a rock star, validated by fans, traveling the world, looking sexy or outlandish, having talent and presence?

What goes into the choice of self as an avatar? How do people choose avatars? Like themselves? Like rock stars they admire? Completely UNLIKE themselves?

What makes this game so relevant and popular now? What need does this game fulfill in the American psyche? Why is it useful to re-embody oneself within the game?

Will the game discourage players from actually playing real instruments, since the game is not a substitute for musical ability (South Park episode—about Guitar Hero)

Can players of online, networked games accept the games as substitutes for real life person to person contact? What makes that relaxing? Is face to face contact anxiety producing? Do players consider gaming online with friends a form of social interaction? Does it replace human contact? Should we privledge human contact above mediated contact? What new kinds of information, communication is shared when the interaction between bodies is mediated through the ontology of the game?**********

What does the paradigm of the game tell us about the cultural space from which it comes?

Issues

Issues that contributions may address include:

• The substantive and critical contribution that the discipline of geography (and the ‘field’ disciplines) may have to research in discourse and interaction studies, and vice versa.
• The impact of recent, critical studies of mobility and motility on the theories and methods of analysis in discourse and interaction studies.
• A critical assessment of the assumptions about space, place and mobility that are common in discourse and interaction research.
• New research methods for collecting, archiving, sharing and analysing data from complex ‘field sites’ in which embodied and virtual actors interact with discourses in place and dynamic artifacts and archite

From Wikipedia:

[edit] Affordances as perceived action possibilities

In 1988, Donald Norman appropriated the term affordances in the context of Human–Machine Interaction to refer to just those action possibilities which are readily perceivable by an actor. Through his book The Design of Everyday Things,^[4] this interpretation was popularized within the fields of HCI and interaction design. It makes the concept dependent not only on the physical capabilities of the actor, but also their goals, plans, values, beliefs and past experience. If an actor steps into a room with an armchair and a softball, Gibson’s original definition of affordances allows that the actor may toss the recliner and sit on the softball, because that is objectively possible. Norman’s definition of (perceived) affordances captures the likelihood that the actor will sit on the recliner and toss the softball. Effectively, Norman’s affordances “suggest” how an object may be interacted with. For example, the size and shape of softball obviously fits nicely in the average human hand, and its density and texture make it perfect for throwing. The user may also bring past experience with similar objects (baseballs, perhaps) to bear when evaluating a new affordance.Norman’s 1988 definition makes the concept of affordance relational, rather than subjective or objective. This he deemed an “ecological approach,” which is related to systems-theoretic approaches in the natural and social sciences. The focus on perceived affordances is much more pertinent to practical design problems from a human-factors approach, which may explain its widespread adoption.Norman later explained that this adaptation of the term had been unintended.^[5][6] However, the definition from his book has become established enough in HCI that both uses have to be accepted as convention in this field. 

Ah, I love when I find a very simple way to add variety and excitement to my life. Friends, I’m talking about my recent discovery of gourmet cream cheese. At Wheatsville Food Coop, where I like to shop on occasion, I found that they sell tasty cream cheese spreads in their prepared food case.  With a price of about $3, this is not an expensive treat, but I thought, “Hey, experimental cream cheese, sounds like a 1968 Rock Band!”

So here are the ones I’ve made so far:

Italian Spread

This is great on bread for a sandwich or roll instead of meat.

1 Box of Generic Cream Cheese (leave out of fridge for an hour or so to soften)
1 Can of Black Olives, drained, then coarsely chopped
1/4 Cup Sun Dried Tomatoes cut into strips
1 Table spoon Minced Fresh Rosemary
1/2 - 3/4 Cups Chopped Italian Parsley
1-3 Cloves of fresh garlic, minced (use more or less depending on who you’ll be kissing later)
1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans
Salt  and Fresh Pepper to taste ( I used Fleur De Sal, which is a finishing salt. I like it in the cream cheese because it basically disintegrates into the mix)

Mix all this stuff together, and stir covered in the fridge.

GORP inspired Spread

I think you could probably use anything sweet and dry you have on hand for this. Dried cranberries, m&m’s, what have you.

1 Block of Cream Cheese
1 Cup Pecans
1 Single Serving Box of  Raisins
1/4-1/2 cup Chocolate Chips
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix it up! Store covered in fridge. Tasty on apples, as well as breads and crackers.

I’m thinking I might try smores spread, with marshmallows, chocolate chips, and graham crackers. Or, I might do an Asian Spread, dried crumbled nori, toasted chopped almonds, toasted sesame seeds, etc. I think the key is to keep the mix in’s dry, so they don’t break down and make the cheese watery.