I have to head south for a three day conference in a couple of days (three days away from Kathy - ARGH! ) so I'm doing what any self-respecting geek would do and loading up the lappy with games to while away the evenings in the hotel room.

Between bouts of Vice City I've been re-visiting the worlds of Myst, so I thought I'd try to get at least a couple of them running on the new hardware. Here's the thing; intel-based Macs don't run Classic, yet the earlier titles in the Myst series, Myst & Riven aren't Mac OS X native. This is one of the reasons I picked up an older G4 desktop on eBay (AU$80 is hard to go past!) so we'd still be able to play the retro stuff - but I'm obviously not going to drag a desktop along for the ride.

So, Myst III Exile and Myst IV Revelations were the candidates, the latter installing and running perfectly. Installing Exile proved to be interesting: the installer only runs under Classic. Bugger. So the gaming G4 comes into play. Install Exile on it, patch it to 1.22 and then the Mac OS X native version, then copy the folder over to the lappy and add the remaining disks of the complete install. Bonus: the latest patch allows the complete install to run without asking for any disks! Now came a curly problem: Exile ran perfectly (the animation is liquid smooth) but some of the soundtrack cut out every 2 seconds making it unplayable. Well, you could play it I guess but immersion is the key to any Myst experience and that's one helluva distraction.

A little searching found this thread over at the Ubisoft forums. The folks there identified that the sound issue only happened on dual-processor machines (which the MBP is) and infiniteline there came up with an ingenious workaround. Doesn't work with two processors? Disable the second processor. You can do this by grabbing the latest CHUD developer tools from here and installing it. You'll now see a CPU panel in your System Preferences where you can disable and enable the second processor on the fly. Nifty eh? After you disable the second processor, fire up Exile and revel in perfect sound once more. Thanks, infiniteline!

Oh and when you're done don't forget to re-enable the second processor so your Mac is back to it's full beat-other-computers-up-and-take-their-lunch-money speed.

When I was growing up I was notorious for not labelling my cassettes, yet somehow going by the look of the tape or the brand I could pretty reliably pick them, I'm sure all us old schoolers did that once in a while. Times have changed, and we now have digital music collections, so labelling is key.

Thanks to Kathy's influence I like to keep my iTunes collection well tagged. It helps with iPod navigation, playlist creation, and is generally just a much better way to go. The lads at work occasionally chortle as I try to remind them to name the tracks (if CDDB doesn't find a match) when they whack a random CD into the team iTunes player. I must admit I get a little fanatic about it to the point of deleting any song with a title of Track x. It's worth it though, I tell you!

That said, sooner or later your collection probably ends up with a small gaggle of untitled tracks that you can't quite identify but don't want to either re-rip or let go. The best example I can think of was back when I'd had to dash back to NZ because my siblings told me that Dad was getting to his last days. When I got over there I discovered in my backpack a mix CD that Kathy had secretly burnt and planted containing the most beautiful tracks to keep me going while we were apart. She's beautiful like that. Love you Kathy.

Enter iEatBrainz. This is a really, really cool app that can take a look at selected iTunes tracks in your collection and query them against MusicBrainz. Here's where the magic starts. MusicBrainz looks at the audio footprint of a selected track, compares it with a database and gives you an amazingly accurate short list of the title, artist, and album. It's kinda like playing a mystery record for your local music guru and he/she closing their eyes, listening for a short time, then nailing the title, artist, album, release date, what they were doing the first time they heard the track, etc.

iEatBrainz is brilliant in that it makes this whole process of interacting with iTunes so seamless. Just brilliant. Hats off to you Jay Tuley, thank you!

Oh by the way, MusicBrainz clients are available for other OSes too if you're into that sort of thing... Why aren't you using Mac OS X anyway?

This weekend I was browsing through the local hardware store junkmail and came across an item we'd be interested in. It's one of those marquee roof type tent setups that protect a car from the sun, bird droppings, bat droppings (and believe me, the birds and bats in this area drop some pretty impressive paint-corroding cluster bombs.) So, said junkmail had a pic of one of these canopies, complete with car parked under it so you knew what it did. All for the bargain price of $129.

You know what caught my eye? In the asterisk conditions it said - I kid you not - "car not included."

Car not included?!

Car not included?!?!

That rates right up there with the ad for work trestle with a pic of two said trestles and a plank of wood resting on them so you knew what you could use them for. The asterisk caption? You guessed it: "plank not included."

Have we really devolved to the point where we're a "serving suggestion" generation and really can't tell what is actually for sale? Guess we have.

Some times you've just gotta shake your head ruefully and chuckle.

A funny thing happened on the way to work this morning. No, I didn't seize another engine, this was just one of those "Whoah! Okay, now I'm awake." moments.

Because both of our cars are getting on a bit (10+ years old) and because it's a good thing to do, I'm trying to get into the habit of checking the vehicles' vital bodily fluids each weekend. This weekend I did so.

Lesson 1: Safety catches on car bonnets are there for a very, very good reason.

Lesson 2a: the force of wind at suburban speeds (~50km/h) going in through the front engine bay vents is not enough to lift a bonnet.

Lesson 2b: the force of wind at highway speeds (~100km/h) is.

Lesson 3: It's quite hard pulling over on a motorway when the breakdown lane is less than a car width wide and is adjacent to a rather steep slippery bank, oh, and other commuters are right up your ass.

Yes, just your average weekday morning heart-starter.

The weekend just gone was a long weekend (YAAAY!) so that meant two non-school nights, and two Iron Chefs! The second was one of the ultimate comfort foods, Tuna Mornay, but I'll forego explaining that one since there are so many excellent recipes and takes on it that it's kinda like making the perfect pasta sauce. You just have to read a range of different recipes, get an idea of the underlying themes, ingredients, and make your own.

For Saturday Tuna Mornay was a little too quick and simple for my liking so we (K's so patient and accomodating!) decided to go with Chicken and Vegetable soup.

[insert wavy line effect...]

If memory serves me right, the first time I tasted this style soup was when working for a government agency in Brisbane about eight years ago. There was this small takeaway place under the building that, in winter months, used to do a knee-weakeningly yummy chicken and vegetable soup that you could buy by the cup. Since then (and since I live nowhere near there these days), I've been dying to do this myself, but only first gave it a go a few months ago. I think it's pretty close.

[drop wavy line effect]

Chicken and vegetable soup

[Japanese accent on]

Allez Cuisine!

[Japanese accent off]

This one's a repeat, but it's very yummy and there's something really comforting about having the smell of the soup permeating the house in the afternoon. Yes, while this can be done quite quickly, I/we find that the slow gentle approach produces something pretty special. Since this also makes a great work lunch and freezes well, I often wildly over cater for leftovers: the following will easily serve four but it's great for leftovers too.

So, ingredients:

1 huge BBQ chicken (you'll use a lot but the rest is great for sandwiches the next couple of days)
2 medium/large brown onions, chopped
2 medium/large carrots, chopped
3 decent sticks of celery, chopped
1 leek, cleaned, finely chopped
frozen peas
corn kernels
2 x 1 litre packs of liquid chicken stock (you can get away with stock cubes and water but it'll be salty)
2 bay leaves
3 tsp minced garlic (or 3-5 cloves through a garlic press)
Freshly ground pepper
Ground sage
Dried (or fresh chopped) parsley
Olive oil
Some good bread (I mean really, what's soup without bread!?)
Butter for said bread

Method:

When the BBQ chicken is cool enough to handle, strip the flesh off and chuck the carcass. I'm useless at this but thankfully, K's really good at it.

In a very large saucepan (I use the one I cook pasta in) on med/high heat, put a good dash of olive oil, then the onions, celery and carrot, sautéing until the colours go beautifully vibrant. Next add the leek and let that soften, still stirring. Add 1 litre of the chicken stock and let that start simmering, add some of the second litre and start adding pieces of the chicken. It's really up to how chickeny you want this to be but I'd add only a third of your total desired quantity at this stage since these bits will end up shredded in the soup by the time we're done. Add a good dash of sage, some ground pepper, and some more stock until it gets to a semi-watery consistency then drop the heat right down low and cover. Again, here's where it's up to you as to how long you simmer it, we let it go very slowly for 2-3 hours, adding stock occasionally, uncovering if it starts simmering too quickly, stirring every once in a while. It's probably overkill but the smell that comes from the kitchen is really special. Don't worry about the celery losing colour, the goodness and taste is still there!

As you check on it once in a while, have a taste, add some more chicken pieces, and add what stock you think it needs, but remember as the stock reduces, it will get more salty, so leave adding any salt until it hits the table. Pepper will add a - well - peppery touch (duh! ) and sage will add a really nice base note to the flavour.

About 20 mins out from oh-my-God-I-can't-stand-it-any-more-I've-gotta-eat add a half sized can of drained corn kernels and a good handful of frozen peas (you'll know how much you want.) It'd also be a good time to heat up some sort of bread like a batard, soup rolls or toasted muffins. Serve piping hot and have butter handy for the bread, pepper for the soup. Don't go for huge servings since it'll be very filling, and seconds are always good!

Why is it that there are more and more 'me first' people in this world?

One classic example I encountered today was when we went grocery shopping earlier today. There he was, the 'shopping is women's work' type. Sitting in a car in the car park, windows up, engine on, air con. on. Just waiting. It was ooh about 26° C at the time. And I should tell you that 26° in a seaside town is not like 26° in a city (like that would've been an excuse.) 26° in a seaside town is delicious, the air is so moist, so refreshing, you almost feel like you're swimming in the air. Yet here was mister 'shopping is women's work' busy warming up the atmosphere. I'm not sure what offends me more: the 'shopping/washing/whatever is women's work' type or the flagrant selfishness of sitting in a car with the air con. going just because you can't be arsed to get out and enjoy the air. I think it's the former, but the latter is a close second.

[begin side-rant]
I just don't understand why men (and yes, I'd like to think I'm generalising horribly here) are so shop-phobic. Real men shop, real men actually go into supermarkets (with or without their partners) and enjoy the experience. Real men do actually go in to clothing stores with their fair lady, and do not feel embarrassed or uncomfortable, offering their opinions when asked and keeping their gab shut when not. It's laughable when you walk past a women's clothing store and you see several guys loitering outside just waiting, trying to avoid eye contact, like a bunch of horses tied up outside the saloon. Just laughable. Real men actually take an equal part in a relationship!
[end side-rant]

I can understand if you have a newborn baby, a frail elderly person, or even maybe a dog in the car but the majority of these types just couldn't give a frack. Males aren't the only ones of the species that do this; soccer mums are another classic offender. Huge 4WD town buggy (because everyone else has them dahhhling!) sitting, waiting, pumping out heat and pollution while in the supermarket carpark or waiting to pick up their Dear Little Munchkins (Monsters) from schoolie woolie.

Hmm, maybe I'm turning into a cranky old bastard after all.