Success with the Orion

At some level I have to call this a success. I set out today to try my hand at using my Orion "cooker" as a smoker, something that everyone on the Interwebs says can't be done. I didn't have high hopes, and used a small, cheap piece of 3.5 pound pork shoulder to give it a try today.

After a generous rub on the pork and stuffing it with as much garlic as I possibly could, I lined the bottom inside of the Orion with some large mesquite wood chips, ensuring that the wood was in contact with the walls of the cooker. I actually wedged them between the walls and the drip pan, keeping them in place. I also stacked them a couple high where I could, convinced that I couldn't get enough smoke anyway to do the trick. Note that I did not soak the chips in anything - I left them dry, knowing the cooker generates enough moisture on its own.

After putting the shoulder on the top rack and sealing it up, I used less charcoal than it normally calls for, and to compensate I cooked it longer (5 hours instead of 3). The result? A wonderful, black, fall-apart-in-your-hands hunk of meat rich with smoky mesquite flavor. In fact, I think it's a little too smoky. Looking forward to how it tastes with a generous helping of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce during tonight's neighborhood gathering.

Now, I'm not going to argue that this is smoked to perfection. I'd certainly rather have a real smoker to do the trick. However, I challenge the blogosphere that claims you can't get any smoke out of the Orion. And, I still say with the Orion that most of the time I'd rather have 95% flavor in a third of the time (and a tenth of the work). Today was actually an exception - I did have the time to attend to a full bbq, and I wished I had a real smoker. Sigh.

Next time, I would probably do the following:

• soak some of the wood chips a little. A little steam won't hurt. But, need to have enough dry ones to create the smoke.
  
• find smaller wood chips. Chunks of wood really don't help when trying to wedge between the drip pan and the outer wall.
  
• sprinkle the wood chips with some seasoning. I think the chips will get hot enough to do the trick for this.
  

Bon Apetit to moi.

Geocaching.com iPhone app review

I don't yet have my own iPhone, I will be getting that in August. But since my wife has had hers (December) I've found more and more reasons to use it. The best one just might be geocaching.com's application.

The iPhone 3G has a built-in GPS receiver (GPSr), which I don't believe the first gen iPhone does (don't quote me on that). I certainly wouldn't use it to geocache, but it's accurate enough for car navigation or location-based services. The geocaching app can use the GPSr to find nearby caches. It will list them out by name and distance; clicking on one will give you more detail - size, description, logs, and hints. In other words, all standard fare you get on the website or as part of your .gpx downloads. You can also use the app to navigate to the cache, which will bring up a map (you can set whether you use Google Maps or Bing maps, for example) showing both your current location and the cache location. Or you can bring up a compass view - showing you direction and distance to where the cache is.

But the best feature, in my estimation, is that you can record your cache logs right from the phone. These are called field notes, and you can record found it/didn't find its and record a log. These are then submitted to your geocaching.com account to your field notes section. They don't post directly to the cache listing - you have to do that from the website. Not sure why they force another step, but still better than trying to figure out all the caches you found when, say, you're on vacation for a week and find a couple dozen.

The app also allows you to save cache descriptions for offline use. And this is a really nice feature of the app - it recognizes that people doing serious geocaching are probably not within distance of a cell phone network or Wifi, so the app is offline-friendly. You can't search while disconnected; however, you can still submit field notes (they are stored locally until you connect again).

This app will set you back $10. Considering you'll never had to download pocket queries again, it is a no-brainer companion to your geocaching toolkit.

The $25,000 question is whether you could realistically use only your iPhone for geocaching (assuming you pretty much do urban caches), and I think it would be a challenge. The GPS is just not accurate enough on the iPhone. But damn is it nice having a device able to pull down any nearby caches you want no matter where you are.

Happy Birthday America!

What a great country we still live in to enjoy the freedoms we do. I just wish the more people understood that with freedom comes responsibility.

Going to try to make some pulled pork for this evening's grill out, and also going to make sure all the kids go to bed tonight with all their fingers. Other than that, a relaxing day with the kids.

Two down, five to go

I have a goal of hitting all the major mountains in the Snoqualmie River Valley by the end of the year: Mount Washington, Mount Teneriffe, Mailbox Peak, Mount Defiance, Granite Mountain, Silver Peak, and capping it off with Snoqualmie Mountain (ouch). I did Mount Si, Bandera Mountain, and McClellan Butte last year, hence the seven and not the full ten.

I hit Mount Washington in the snow a month ago to kick off the season, and I failed to complete Teneriffe last week (I had done Rattlesnake Mountain the day before, and I am just not in good enough shape yet to tackle back-to-back hikes).

Today, I completed Mailbox Peak, by far my most challenging hike yet. Doing so gives me confidence to hit Teneriffe next week when the new trail is complete (will be just as steep as Mailbox), and pretty much leaves me in a state where I can take on the other mountains in prep for a hike up Snoqualmie Mountain which is a killer.

The weather did not cooperate today, which means no good views (thus no pics) of Rainier, Baker, etc. That's not surprising, as the "two months of perfect weather" doesn't start until mid-July. Still, tough killing myself 4000 feet up and nothing but cloud vapor to stare at.

Looking forward to the rest of the season.

This one was hard

I've waited a couple days to post this to calm down from Stuart's stupid first period penalty Friday night. I won't blame the loss on him - the Wings had their chances - but man you cannot kill your momentum that way.

Though not nearly as bad as the Wings' early exits in 93, 94, or 96, this one was a tough pill to swallow. The Wings were a better team, with home ice advantage, and it was theirs to lose. And they lost it. I thought Anaheim and Chicago were better teams, and maybe having to play them wore the Wings down to the Pens' benefit. Regardless, a huge opportunity to erect another pillar in the Wings' dynasty was lost. I really wanted Lidstrom to get his 5th Cup (that would be more than Gretzky or Bossy by the way), maybe next year. Or maybe I can't stand the thought of an overrated classless whiner like Sidney Crosby hoisting the cup.

It's still an amazing 20 year run the Wings are on.

And Holland is crazy if he hands Hossa another $7M in the future. I'd rather take my chances elsewhere for that kind of money.

No consequences for Malkin, of course

I agree that Malkin shouldn't be suspended for game 3 for his instigation penalty with 20 seconds left of game 2 (Of course I think the instigator rule is stupid to begin with). However, you can't let the guy off scot free - the guy served 20 seconds for an instigation for Chrissake's.

Maybe the rule should be you sit for 5 minutes the following game, or for all instigations you sit for 30 minutes of ice time or the rest of the game, whatever is longer. I don't know what the solution is. But basically the NHL just said you can drop the gloves when the other team is outclassing you and there is no consequences. That makes no sense. Either fighting is in or it is out. Pick one, Bettman, and be consistent about it.

Bing is not Google

Actually, I don't know what Bing really stands for, and I wasn't part of the branding/marketing behind it. But I am part of the team that is working on the shopping part of Bing, and I must say these are exciting times. Although not as exciting as when it is actually released (even if I will be spending all night in the office).

My favorite writeup so far.

Update: I now have a new favorite writeup. Er, video.

A great Original Six series

I'm almost ashamed to admit it took me a couple of games for me to get fired up about the Wings/Hawks series. A very different Chicago team than the last time the Wings faced the Hawks in the playoffs. No Belfour. No Roenick. And Chelios now dons the Winged Wheel. Go figure. The Hawks of old were a much easier team to hate. The reverse is also true.

Still, I like what is hopefully going to be several years of a renewed rivalry. The Hawks showed some skill, but lacked the poise and grit that the Wings have acquired over the years. In fact the Hawks remind me of the Wings teams of the late 80s/early 90s. Except they had good goaltending.

Despite the Wings domination I still really enjoyed this series. Primarily because I watched most of the Hawks/Canucks series and saw how well Chicago came back from multiple goal deficits, keeping me on edge despite nice leads.

Now on to a rematch with the Penguins, and I really, really hope the refs are not as soft on the Pens as they were last year. This is hockey, folks, Sidney (girl's name) is going to get bumped from time to time. He's not a quarterback, after all, and this is a real sport. I must say I wish the Wings were playing someone interesting the the finals. The Pens just don't do it for me.

It is still amazing this is the same organization I followed 30 years ago. Back when there were 21 teams, and the Wings were perennially one of five teams that never made the playoffs. Now if they are less than a 2 seed you call it a disappointing regular season, and anything short of the Cup finals is a choke. As big of a joke as the Detroit Lions are, the Red Wings are a model professional sports organization. Maybe they should make Illitch CEO of Chrysler.

Looks like two more weeks of the beard. By then it might actually look like one. Amy says I've set a world record for longest time without shaving and still not having a beard.

In rememberance of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country

Their contributions to our great nation has preserved our freedom to do stupid things like blog and twitter.