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How We Staged the Morristown UFO Hoax

A group of twenty-somethings attached flares to helium balloons, and then launched them from a vacant field, videotaping the whole thing. The result: widespread hype about the “Morristown UFO”, and local and national media covered the story. Despite the fact that there was video showing what these twenty-somethings were doing, many so-called experts decided that the UFOs were real.

According to the twenty-somethings: “Does this bring into question the validity of every other UFO case? We believe it does.” And I agree.

This Week in Global Warming

Previously inhabitable islands in the Pacific are no longer inhabitable. (Via)

An entire glacier in Bolivia has melted away, years ahead of the pace scientists were predicting. (Via)

Most distant object in the universe spotted

From New Scientist:

Astronomers have spotted the most distant object yet confirmed in the universe – a self-destructing star that exploded 13.1 billion light years from Earth. It detonated just 640 million years after the big bang, around the end of the cosmic “dark ages”, when the first stars and galaxies were lighting up space.

I Luv My New Grill

A few weeks ago, I bought a new CharGriller Super Pro grill. This grill is the absolute best charcoal grill ever! It smokes meats (something I haven’t done much of) and it grills like you wouldn't believe.

The first time I cooked on it, I made the famous Beer Can Chicken recipe. As I was not used to getting the heat to the right temperature, it took twice as long as necessary and didn't crisp up the skin. But when it finally was done, it was delicious! The beer makes the chicken moist and adds a little flavor — this is the most moist chicken you can ever imagine coming off a grill.

Next, I made pulled pork. To smoke this, you need to cook a pork shoulder for 4 to 5 hours at a low temperature. This time, I did some research to find out how to set the temperature better in this grill. Seems that the instructions that come with the grill probably aren’t the best; so based on my research, I put coals on both sides of the griller (indirect cooking), and when I put the thermometer into the meet 4.5 hours later, it hit the desired 195°F almost exactly! And what great results — I could have eaten the pork just the way it came off the grill. But, I did pull it into shreds and make the classic pulled pork. Fantastic!

Next up: brined, hickory smoked pork chops. You brine the pork chops for a few hours before cooking. This makes the pork moist and flavorful. Then you hickory smoke it for about 20 minutes, to add even more flavor. These were the best pork chops I have ever made.

Of course, the grill is great for traditional grilling too: burgers, hot dogs, grilled veggies, etc. And it is well designed too. Changing the height of the coals is easy; cleaning out the embers the next day is a piece of cake; and the grill has a “warming rack” where you can put items that are already done so that they can stay warm while the rest of your items finish cooking.

On a scale of one through five stars, I give this grill: Five Stars

The Illustrious Cat Osterman Writes Me A Note

My recent trip to Chicago included a stop to see DePaul and Northwestern play softball. Although I have been a Northwestern fan for four years now, I have also been a Cat Osterman fan for even longer. Cat is now coach at DePaul, so the game was a double thrill for me.

I posted a comment (scroll down) on Cat Osterman’s blog Cat’s Corner today. I said:

Hi, Cat. I have been following your career since you were a Sophomore at Texas. I was travelling through Chicago and saw you had a game at Northwestern while I would be there, so I finally got to see you in person. I have to say, it was a thrill to see you ... although I'm sure it would have been more of a thrill to see you pitch rather than seeing you coach first base! Too bad your team didn't have a very good day. Maybe I'll have to make a trip this summer to see you pitch.

Sometimes, you do have to take some time out and reassess your life. So don't feel bad about taking time out from your MBA program. Its something a lot of people have to do, and I'm sure you will be better off because of this. Good luck to you.

Much to my surprise, shortly thereafter was a reply from Cat herself.

paige,

Thank you very much for coming out to our game! We actually hit decently. Just a bad day. Also thanks for the support on the MBA program. I tend to fill my plate with too many things, so it was a must to put something on hold! Hope you get around to coming to see me play live rather than coach, but again thank you for coming to watch. --Cat

Watching the softball game was one of the highlights of my trip. Getting a note from the big Cat herself — priceless!

Update: Photos from the game are here.