Smash Monster » What-Not

Grilled Tri Tip and Asparagus

smashmonster — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 05:23:17 +0000

Sometimes the simplest meals are the best. A simple 6 hour marinade made this grilled tri tip so flavorful – the fat cap doesn’t hurt either

Niko the Husky Makes a New Friend

Smash Monster — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 02:28:40 +0000

Niko the husky makes a new friend

This fearless little Boston terrier decided Niko was his new best friend at the dog park. Much hilarity ensued.

Quotes for 2009

Smash Monster — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:32:04 +0000

“There is a scarcity of friendship, but not of friends.” – Thomas Fuller
“A man’s manners are a mirror in which he shows his portrait.” -Goethe
“Life must be something more than dilettante speculation.” Anna Julia Cooper
“The test of good manners is to be patient with the bad ones.” -Solomon Ibn Gabirol

Some Flair Grows Fast on Facebook

Smash Monster — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:03:00 +0000

I recently decided to create some political “flair” on Facebook. For those of you who do not know what flair is – its basically a “button” (like something you might wear) with a picture or message. Other users on Facebook can browse a directory and pick various pieces of flair and they can also “share flair” with other friends on Facebook.

So last Friday, a few hours after getting home from New Mexico and absorbing the mind-blowing idiocy of the Republican Party, I decided to create a piece of flair:

Within a few hours a few hundred people had picked it up. Less than a week later, over 7000 people had shared the flair with other users. I was pretty surprised by how popular this rather primitive graphic was – people must feel really strongly about the ticket!

I created a new flair today as another mockery of this mindless ticket:

Wonder how this little gem will do? Unfortunately some crazy right wingers might actually pick it up and think it’s serious. Yikes!

Max at the Dog Park

Smash Monster — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 01:04:58 +0000

maxdogpark.jpg

Originally uploaded by Smash Monster

Max at the dog park. “Yah, I can take him.”

The Puppy

Smash Monster — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 01:01:08 +0000

My sister helped pick out a new puppy for my mom – they named him Maxwell (Max), but his TrueName should be Devil Dog. Let’s just say if they found a way to package his energy we wouldn’t have an oil crisis.

He is just too darn cute for words.

The Professor and the Pig

Smash Monster — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 01:46:05 +0000

Our friend John likes the more exotic fare when it comes to cooking. He decided he would cook a pig’s head.
The photo of his masterpiece is after the jump because Millie said she would stop reading my blog if I posted it on the home page. So if you don’t think the photos will put you off your food, click the continued link below.

Oink Oink

John’s serious expression conveys the critically important task at hand:

A Few Pics from the LA Car Show

Smash Monster — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 05:41:56 +0000

My friend Millie and I decided to hit the LA Car Show on Thanksgiving morning. It was a great time to go – not as crowded as it likely is on the weekend. Here are a few of the interesting cars we saw.

The first is the new Honda hydrogen car that will be available in limited numbers for lease Summer 2008.

It was a real beauty – much more stylish than the typical Honda.
Check out the plug on this next one.

We got a kick out of this – but apparently this stylish Chevy Volt won’t be available for a couple more years.
Millie was really taken with the Smart Car (or as she says, “Smaht Cah”). It goes for about 12 grand and is really intended for quick trips around town.

You wouldn’t want to get hit by an Escalade in one of these. Or maybe not even a bicycle.
We were really impressed with the 2008 line of Audi’s – although the gas mileage (nada) and price tags (90K +) put them out of reach of most people.

There were a few typical concept cars, such as this Kia concept:

and this Chevy concept

They also had a nice historical display of posters from past LA Car shows – as early as 1907.

Cape House

Smash Monster — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 21:13:23 +0000

I spent a few days with my mom, sister, and brother-in-law cleaning up my mom’s house in West Yarmouth. The property manager cleaned up the front yard so for the first time in years you can actually see the house from the street.

It was a bittersweet time – we have visited this house many times since my parents bought it back in 1974. Lots of memories. I know it was particularly hard for my mom, who spent two months of the year up here with my dad. It was a very resigned feeling that times marches on.

The last night we went to Dennis to a place my sis said had the best pizza she’d had in years – it was great but here is a shot of Frank being annoying with the camera at the dinner table , The place is called BZ’s.

Southern Red Velvet Cake

Smash Monster — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 04:29:33 +0000

I originally planned this cake for book club – because my book is a Flannery O’Connor and I wanted a southern theme. But book club is dead unfortunately – not that it was really a book club (very little actual discussion of the books). Anyway, the cake did turn out nice.
Here’s the bright red batter.

Batter in the pans

And the final cake with cream cheese frosting (oh my is that some fattening frosting!) with pecans.

And here after the party…