muffinity.com

so i was technically wrong. eclipses - from beginning to end - last for hours.

here’s the link

In general, though, a total eclipse takes on the order of a couple of hours from start to finish, with totality (the part where the sun is completely blocked out) on the order of a couple of minutes.

i was thinking about the part where the sun is completely blocked out, when it gets really really dark outside, it only lasts a couple of minutes. there was an eclipse when i was in high school and it got creepy dark during lunch time, but it only lasted a couple of minutes.

here’s another good link, with some rather pertinent information:

In a solar eclipse, the maximum possible length of totality is about 7 minutes. The partial phases add considerably more time, so that the entire eclipse seen from any given location can also last several hours. However, the partial phases of a total solar eclipse are much less noticeable to the ordinary observer, and might be missed entirely.

in the Heroes episode, as soon as the moon started touching the sun, it got really dark outside - when in reality most of the eclipse would have gone unnoticed until the central 7 minutes.

so technically i was wrong; eclipses can last for hours. but since the noticable part of an eclipse only lasts a few minutes, i feel i was right in the spirit of the matter.

and still the eclipse rages on. the Haitian guy has no powers. this is nonsense. he had powers before the eclipse in season 1. did his powers go away during that eclipse? i doubt it. i think he’d have noticed. as would everyone else who had powers before the eclipse.
Claire, at the hospital is possibly dying because not only has she been shot, but she has no antibodies to fight infection.
meanwhile, Sylar and Elle are all romantic together. ugh. mushy stuff.
Elle sees the the laser dot on sylar, and gets him out of the way before Bennett shoots. they run. Bennett pursues.
he’s out for revenge for what happened to Claire way back when Sylar took her power.
ha. the petrellis are locked in in some kind of Haitian dungeon. nathan is speaking french and making friends with the natives, also in captivity.
mohindir is still in the lab researching eclipses. i hope he’s going to find out why this eclipse is lasting for hours. mr. petrelli wants answers as to why their powers are gone. i guess we’re supposed to believe whole eclipse thing really is a phenomenon and it’s special because everyone has lost their powers.
mrs bennet calls mr bennett to find out where the hell he is while claire’s dying in the hospital.
looks like mr bennett is once again on the trail of Elle and sylar, so he’s not going to the hospital for claire.
Daphne is cerebral palsy and only became super fast after the last eclipse. without her powers, she’s on crutches. (more…)

why are we back in time? it looks like the 30s. oo fire. looks like we find out later.
so who is this wheelchair guy Cameron has been visiting. and bringing donuts to him.
this guy is like her buddy. they’re chatting and shit. are they in a library? i think he’s the librarian. and it looks like he thinks she’s a student.
she finds a picture from the fire in the beginning. 1920, the year is. there’s a terminator in there. now Cameron is going to find out what happened to him.
Reilly wants john to come pick her up somewhere.
meanwhile, Cameron and wheelchair guy, who conveniently works in to conversation that he’s had bone cancer, so now we know why he’s in a wheelchair, are looking through microfilm/fiche trying to find out about the guy from the old photo.
on a completely unrelated side note, i used to enjoy searching through microfilm in the library basement back in high school. nothing like the smell of old books and newspaper with hum and whirl of the microfilm viewer.
anyhow (more…)

cheesecake slices

the cheesecake is all gone now. i shall remember it well.

are all about dieting and weight loss. i guess google just latches on to the text about cheesecakes and muffins here.

BTW, i did take a picture of my cheesecake. it’s still in my camera though.

why is richard chopping fruit in the air with his sword? now it’s invisible fruit. how Jedi.
i like Zed’s little wizard’s rules that he spouts. too bad it’s not the same rules as in the book.
ha. richard gets distracted by a nekkid kahlan and someone steals the horses. then Richard runs and catches up to galloping horses, jumps on, rides a bit. then is knocked off.
double ha. Zed seems to making up the rules as he goes.
this new village Drendril, looks a lot like the last village. they seem to be reusing sets here.
the gimmick this episode is a hokey love potion that works only a minute or two.
how did richard get a vision of the horse thief. is it a seeker thing? how convenient.
oh, so there’s an assortment of potions. potions are boring.
oooo. a fight scene. they’re trying to get their horses from the potion dude.
i like it when Kahlan uses her power. it’s one of the few things in this show that seems to live up to expectations.
a potion in richard’s drink gave him his vision.
how convenient that the old shop dude instantly recognized the SWORD of TRUTH.
ooo. evil wizard in the neighborhood.
the potions represent drugs. the townspeople are addicted to them. OMG. how silly. (more…)

The pumpkin cheesecake turned out wonderfully. I haven’t taken a picture of it, but there’s still some left, so maybe i will later. i will make this cheesecake again, probably next year.

i got the recipe here. i substituted milk for the brandy. and i’d recommend loosening the cake from the pan when you turn the oven off, as opposed to when you take the cake out.

i have an episode of Legend of the Seeker to watch. i haven’t decided if i’ll watch it tonight or save it for tomorrow. right now i’m watching this show on the History Channel about tunnels and hidden passages in Europe that allowed people to hide from the Nazis during WWII. i like me some hidden tunnels. if i were ridiculously wealthy, i would build a big-ass mansion riddled with secret passages and layers of tunnels underneath, complete with underground bunkers.

not only would i get immense enjoyment out of such a juvenile house, it would serve a practical purpose as a fortress against zombie invasion.

pumpkin swirl cheesecake

an awful picture of my pumpkin swirl cheesecake taken with my webcam. tomorrow, i’ll try to take a proper picture of it with my real camera. yes, it does have 2 giant cracks in the middle. the recipe said turn the oven off and leave the cake in for 1 hr and then to loosen the sides after taking it out. i wish i had loosened the sides sooner.

tomorrow is thanksgiving and today i am baking a pumpkin-swirl cheesecake. the batter was delicious, so i hope the cake lives up to expectations. that is, i hope it sets properly. i have yet to have a cheesecake not set, but this is a new recipe that i found on the internet, i only trust it’s good.

last night at work a customer came in at about 9:20pm to exchange a sofa. usually our store is closed at 9, but starting this week and through the holiday season, we’ll be open until 10. it also bears to note that my store has a strict return/exchange policy; all customers must have a receipt for any returns or exchanges. anyhow, the associate working the furniture department told me a customer had a sofa to exchange because she wanted a different color, after cursing somewhat, i asked the kid if the customer had a receipt, he said, “yes, she said she had one. and she was here earlier and talked to _other associate_ who told her she could exchange the sofa.”

ok fine, the lady has her receipt, it’s a little late in the evening to be moving sofas, but whatever. we go to the loading dock where the customer and her husband have backed up their pickup truck, full of metal pipes and wooden boards and sundry bits of carpentry work, with a black durahide (fake leather) sofa strapped on top. before they take the sofa off, i ask the lady, “you have your receipt, ma’am?” she says “yes, i was hear earlier and spoke to _other associate_” they take the sofa off the truck; the lady’s husband stumbling over the pipes and boards and buckets he’d perched to sofa on. then the customers drive back around to the front of the store to do their sofa exchange.

up at our service desk, the gal at the counter asks the lady for the receipt so she can process the transaction. surprise, she doesn’t have the recipt. (more…)

i like the second season better than the first.
cameron is the best character on the show
cramartie’s body isn’t in ellison’s back yard. ha. no, shit.
ok, so the chick from the furture is here to kill cameron because her influence on John isn’t good.
contrived, but then the whole time travel thing in contrived.
awww. the nice doctor died. that’s a shame.
how much you want to bet that this nice asian tech company guy gets killed.
So Reilly has a nice foster family. how cute. so now we get to delve in the psychy of poor disturbed Reilly. yawn.
future chick is talking to Reilly. no good can come of this. i don’t care for future chick. didn’t like her when she was in Battlestar Galactica: Razor. Razor was good, but i didn’t think she fit in it. i don’t think she fits here. i don’t like her.
shit, it’s starting to sound like Reilly is from the future. shit. she is. damn.
the nice asian tech guy is gonna get killed, la la la la laaaa la. something bad is gonna happen to him, that’s for sure.
i like agent ellison. it’s a shame he’s in league with the bad guys, espically since he doesn’t know it.
the japanese dinner isn’t interesting me. there goes Sarah, getting to the point. glad it’s over and the show can go on. (more…)