Tag - The 100 Hour Board is It

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?
Finishing up my formal and informal education including: spending a year in a vow of silence among Tibetan Monks learning meditation and telekinetic tae kwon do, finishing my thesis on the General Universal Theory and rewriting the Encylcopedia Britannica in Zulu and Tierra Del Feugan.
Just ended a horrible long-term relationship with HAL. She was way too needy.
2. What is on your to do list?
Attend the award ceremony in my honor to obtain the Universal Sceptre of Objectivity
Answer more questions
Enlighten mankind
Discover the true meaning of Britney Spear’s existence
Finish my wives operators manual for men, titled, “Chaos Theory: A Study on Owning, Operating and Maintaining A Wife that Fits Your Needs.”
Return Stephen Hawking’s and the Pope’s phone calls
Get my printer hooked up correctly to the computer – even Omniscient superpower’s have weaknesses.
3. Where are 5 places you've lived?
Tibet
Eden
Emerald City
Atlantis – but only shortly before it sunk
Camden
Magrathea – where I helped consult on the building of custom-made planets
Kashyyk – home planet of the wookies, where I decided to grow a beard
5. What would you do if you became a billionaire?
I’d have to sell my properties as becoming a billionaire would require cutting back the budget some
Settle on a jet coop instead of maintaining my own fleet
6. Bad habits?
Overt, covert and perverted sarcasm
Always being right
Constantly correcting Mensa members
7. Things that you enjoy?
Being right
Acting in improve sketches
Mocking scientists during convention lectures and taunting them with the right answers
Playing with my children
Surfing the internet for fluff
A big fan of Coupling

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No Reindeer Were Hurt

Q: Dear 100hr board,
What the heck does "gamey" mean?? For example: My husband tries to tell me that something tastes "gamey" and I just don't get what it is that makes it so.
Regards,
"Meat is Murder, Tasty Tasty Murder"

A: Dear Wild Game Inquisitor,

I understand your frustratation, because although difficult to define by taste, there is something to 'gaminess,' that is the taste and texture of wild animal meats. I'll try to best explain.
Meat (I won't define this, assuming you get the idea) is made up of three sections: muscle fibers, connective tissue and fat. Each contributes to flavor and texture in their own way. Muscle fibers are either white or red (white muscles are for quick motions - like a chicken, red for strength - like an ox) which defines dark/white meat, and the differences in pork, poultry and beef. Connective tissues can be really tough (elastin) or when cooked - quite good - collagen - the stuff that makes gelatin and the good taste of roasts. Fat marbling offers 'juiciness' and 'tenderness' in meat.
Muscle has distinct flavors, especially red meat, and especially when cooked. Fat, though, is what gives types of meat its distinct taste. So what influences taste? Animal age, diet, muscle activity and type of muscle. The older an animal is, the more flavor it develops, and gets tougher as the muscles work and develop stronger connective tissues. That's why mutton is stronger than lamb, beef than veal. And diet is a big influence. Beef and chicken in the US are fed fairly standardized diets. And tend to yield mild meat.
So what is gaminess? The mixture of texture and flavor qualities unique to those meats: low fat, tougher cuts better for longer cooking and distinct flavors. The rich, variable flavor (not as 'standardized' as super market chicken) comes from older age, a wild, mixed diet and free roaming. But in the past, some cuisines have let game hang and begin to essentially rot to enhance the flavors. (Oddly, strong flavors - like cheese - often dance near the edge of rotten food flavors)
So if someone eats some meat and says it is gamey, it means essentially (if they know what they are talking about) it is overly strong, hints towards grasses and chemicals in wild food, and is leaner and tougher. You can't get wild game widely commercially in the US - not regulated by USDA - but you can get the idea at restaurants with 'wild' boar, phaesant and ostrich.
If you are vegetarian and not meat-minded, vegetables can be gamey too. Organic - or better put - in season fruits and veggies are the equivalent of 'gamey' vs domesticated meats. But it is harder to find wild packs of carrots or herds of eggplants sweeping across a plain.
Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go find some bone to chew on. I'm craving some meat!
100 Hour Board

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A Little Bubbly

Q: Dear 100hr board,

What is the difference between seltzer and club soda?

Me

A: Dear "Me"

Excellent question - especially if you are looking to get some stains out of your clothes. Or your husbands as he has a tendency to drop things on them.

In short, seltzer water and club soda are essentially the same thing: purified water with carbonation added to it. But there are some subtle differences in modern usage, so I will explain. First, carbonation is the addition of carbon dioxide gases into water to make it bubbly. This also adds carbonic acid H2CO3 to the water, giving it that slight acrid, tangy taste we are familiar with. I'll offer you a quick timeline to help.

• Original seltzer is bottled from an effervescent mineral water in Niederseltzers Germany
• 1767: Artificial carbonation is invented in england by Joseph Priestley
• 1807: Benjamin Silliman of Yale sells the first commercial seltzer water
• 1830: Lemon-lime, grape and orange, sweet soda water is sold and popular
• 1838: First soda counter in Phillie
• 1891: More soda fountains in NYC than bars
• 1886: Kola nut extract added to coca extract (yes cocaine) as a headache and hangover fix and sold by John S. Permberton in a pharmacy - Coca Cola begins
• 1893: My hero Hires invents root beer (also a pharmacist)
• 1920's: "Hom-Paks" (6-packs) and vending machines invented
• 2006: Coca-Cola made $24 Billion on 'soft drinks'

Now days seltzer water and club soda are basically interchangeable, but club soda ussually has addeds salts for taste (sodium bicarbonate - i.e baking soda, table salt, potassium chloride, etc.) That's why the 100 Hour Board prefers cranberry and seltzer over cranberry and club soda (but some bartenders don't know the difference). Club soda is a great stain remover - including wine. Just ask for some at the restaurant.

The real question is: if you get a club soda stain, what do you use to get it out?

100 HB

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