MooncatBlue is forming a "Xanga Wilderness Survival Commune" and has appointed me, being as I am from Ky, Czar of the Moonshine!
I don't know about you, but I see no point in survivin', iffn they ain't a little sippin' whiskey around!
The basic ingredients:
corn meal
sugar
water
yeast
malt
The basic process:
Mix all ingredients together in a large container. After mixing, move the mixture, called "mash," into a still and leave it to ferment. How quickly this process occurs depends on the warmth of the mash. Usually 4 to 5 days
Heat the mash to the point of vaporization at 173 degrees. The mash will produce a clear liquid, often the color of dark beer. You must watch this process with careful attention.
Trap vapor using a tube or coil. The vapor will be transferred into a second, empty container. The resulting condensation is the moonshine. It is then ready to drink or sell.
Keep mash in container. It is now called "slop." Add more sugar, water, malt, and corn meal and repeat the process.
Repeat the process up to eight times before replacing the mash.
The stills can be as simple as these.
Or as high tech as this.
Sounds like fun!
Edit:
Seedsower sent me a picture of a still she found at the Best Western in Newport Tennessee!!!!!
I'm going to have to appoint her Head of Procurement!
It's perfect! Even looks like it's made of stainless steel!
OK, needing volunteers to haul these sacks of cornmeal and sugar!
And if we can sell enuff of it without gittin' caught, we can invest in somethin' lack iss here!
Pirate lingo is rich and complicated, sort of like a good stew. There are several other sites that offer glossaries that are pretty good, and you can find some of them on our links page.
But if you just want a quick fix, a surface gloss, a "pirate patina," if you will, here are the five basic words that you cannot live without. Master them, and you can face Talk Like a Pirate Day with a smile on your face and a parrot on your shoulder, if that's your thing.
Ahoy! - "Hello!"
Avast! - Stop and give attention. It can be used in a sense of surprise, "Whoa! Get a load of that!" which today makes it more of a "Check it out" or "No way!" or "Get off!"
Aye! - "Why yes, I agree most heartily with everything you just said or did."
Aye aye! - "I'll get right on that sir, as soon as my break is over."
Arrr! - This one is often confused with arrrgh, which is of course the sound you make when you sit on a belaying pin. "Arrr!" can mean, variously, "yes," "I agree," "I'm happy," "I'm enjoying this beer," "My team is going to win it all," "I saw that television show, it sucked!" and "That was a clever remark you or I just made." And those are just a few of the myriad possibilities of Arrr!
Advanced pirate lingo; or On beyond “Aarrr!”
Once you've mastered the basics, you're ready to start expanding your pirate vocabulary. Try these for starters
Beauty – The best possible pirate address for a woman. Always preceded by “me,” as in, “C’mere, me beauty,” or even, “me buxom beauty,” to one particularly well endowed. You’ll be surprised how effective this is.
Bilge rat – The bilge is the lowest level of the ship. It’s loaded with ballast and slimy, reeking water. A bilge rat, then, is a rat that lives in the worst place on the ship. On TLAP Day – A lot of guy humor involves insulting your buddies to prove your friendship. It’s important that everyone understand you are smarter, more powerful and much luckier with the wenches than they are. Since bilge rat is a pretty dirty thing to call someone, by all means use it on your friends.
Bung hole – Victuals on a ship were stored in wooden casks. The stopper in the barrel is called the bung, and the hole is called the bung hole. That’s all. It sounds a lot worse, doesn’t it? On TLAP Day – When dinner is served you’ll make quite an impression when you say, “Well, me hearties, let’s see what crawled out of the bung hole.” That statement will be instantly followed by the sound of people putting down their utensils and pushing themselves away from the table. Great! More for you!
Grog – An alcoholic drink, usually rum diluted with water, but in this context you could use it to refer to any alcoholic beverage other than beer, and we aren’t prepared to be picky about that, either. Call your beer grog if you want. We won’t stop you! Water aboard ship was stored for long periods in slimy wooden barrels, so you can see why rum was added to each sailor’s water ration – to kill the rancid taste. On TLAP Day – Drink up, me hearties! And call whatever you’re drinking grog if you want to. If some prissy pedant purses his lips and protests the word grog can only be used if drinking rum and water, not the Singapore Sling you’re holding, keelhaul him!
Hornpipe – Both a single-reeded musical instrument sailors often had aboard ship, and a spirited dance that sailors do. On TLAP Day – We are not big fans of the capering, it’s not our favorite art form, if you will, so we don’t have a lot to say on the subject, other than to observe that the common term for being filled with lust is “horny,” and hornpipe then has some comical possibilities. “Is that a hornpipe in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me? Or both?”
Lubber – (or land lubber) This is the seaman’s version of land lover, mangled by typical pirate disregard for elocution. A lubber is someone who does not go to sea, who stays on the land. On TLAP Day – More likely than not, you are a lubber 364 days of the year. But not if you’re talking like a pirate! Then the word lubber becomes one of the more fierce weapons in your arsenal of piratical lingo. In a room where everyone is talking like pirates, lubber is ALWAYS an insult.
Smartly – Do something quickly. On TLAP Day – “Smartly, me lass,” you might say when sending the bar maid off for another round. She will be so impressed she might well spit in your beer.
Top Ten Pickup lines for use on International Talk Like a Pirate Day
(We came up with these in an effort to interest The Other Dave (Letterman) in TLAPD. His staff liked 'em, but alas, his show was"dark" the week of Sept. 19.)
10 . Avast, me proud beauty! Wanna know why my Roger is so Jolly?
9. Have ya ever met a man with a real yardarm?
8. Come on up and see me urchins.
7. Yes, that is a hornpipe in my pocket and I am happy to see you.
6. I'd love to drop anchor in your lagoon.
5. Pardon me, but would ya mind if I fired me cannon through your porthole?
4. How'd you like to scrape the barnacles off of me rudder?
3. Ya know, darlin’, I’m 97 percent chum free.
2. Well blow me down?
And the number one pickup line for use on International Talk Like a Pirate Day is …
1. Prepare to be boarded.
Bonus pickup lines (when the ones above don't work, as they often won't)
They don’t call me Long John because my head is so big.
You’re drinking a Salty Dog? How’d you like to try the real thing?
Wanna shiver me timbers?
I’ve sailed the seven seas, and you’re the sleekest schooner I’ve ever sighted.
Brwaack! Polly want a cracker? … Oh, wait. That’s for Talk Like a PARROT Day.
That’s the finest pirate booty I’ve ever laid eyes on.
Let's get together and haul some keel.
That’s some treasure chest you’ve got there.
Top Ten Pickup Lines for the Lady Pirates
By popular demand ...
10. What are YOU doing here?
9. Is that a belayin' pin in yer britches, or are ye ... (this one is never completed)
8. Come show me how ye bury yer treasure, lad!
7. So, tell me, why do they call ye, "Cap'n Feathersword?"
6. That's quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard!
5. Aye, I guarantee ye, I've had a twenty percent decrease in me "lice ratio!"
4. I've crushed seventeen men's skulls between me thighs!
Because I'm bored...........................................................
Stevie Wonder and Tiger Woods are in a bar. Tiger turns to Stevie and says, 'How's the singing career going?'
Stevie replies, 'Not too bad. How's the golf?'
Woods replies, 'Not too bad, I've had some problems with knee and my swing, but I think I've got that right, now.'
Stevie says, 'I always find that when my swing goes wrong, I need to stop playing for a while and not think about it. Then, the next time I play, it seems to be all right.'
Tiger says, 'You play GOLF?'
Stevie says, 'Yes, I've been playing for years'.
Tiger says, 'But -- you're blind! How can you play golf if you can't see?'
Stevie Wonder replies, 'Well, I get my caddy to stand in the middle of the fairway and call to me. I listen for the sound of his voice and play the ball towards him. Then, when I get to where the ball lands, the caddy moves to the green or farther down the fairway and again I play the ball towards his voice.'
'But, how do you putt?' asks Tiger
'Well', says Stevie, 'I get my caddy to lean down in front of the hole and call to me with his head on the ground and I just play the ball towards his voice.'
Tiger asks, 'What's your handicap?'
Stevie says, 'Well, actually -- I'm a scratch golfer.'
Woods, incredulous, says to Stevie, 'We've got to play a round sometime.'
Stevie replies, 'Well, people don't take me seriously, so I only play for money, and never play for less than $10,000 a hole. That a problem?'
Woods thinks about it and says, ' I can afford that, OK, I'm game for that. $10,000 a hole is fine with me. When would you like to play?'
Made a big ol' stock pot full of spicy, garlicy chicken vegetable soup this morning.
The kitchen is smelling really good right now!
Grabbed a crusty stone ground whole wheat baguette at the deli yesterday.
I'm done!
Now I've got the whole rest of the day to goof off.
Beer thirty will be coming early today!
*EDIT*
I've been asked for the soup recipe, so here goes!
2 chicken breasts and 4 thighs (with skin on)simmered in 3 qts.water along with 1 lg chopped onion, 3 cloves of garlic, small can of tomato sauce, salt and pepper for about an hour and a half.
Remove chicken from stock to cool. Add 1/2 large head of coarsly chopped cabbage and simmer til almost tender. Strip meat from chicken and tear into bite size pieces, I like mine chunky, and return to pot. Add veggies, I used carrots, potatoes, corn, green beans, lima beans, a cup or so of each. Add more salt and pepper to taste, and a generous amount of your favorite hot sauce. I use about a 1/4 cup of Texas Pete or more! Add one more small can of tomato sauce here if you think it needs it.
When the veggies are tender, add a cup and a half of egg noodles and cook another 20 or 30 minutes. Again check the seasonings, add more salt and pepper if needed. Add additional water or chicken stock or broth, if needed. The noodles absorbe quite a bit.
Grabbed a couple of Sam's Hot Dogs and a Pepsi and had lunch on the road. Sort of.
Drove over to Va. Point park in Kenova, WVa. and watched the tugs and barges work.
Came back into Kentucky, crossed US23, and drove up to the top of Cemetery Ridge behind Catlettsburg.
It's a little hazy in the Tri-State today.
That's the old C&O tressle that crosses the Big Sandy River. Coal trains use it everyday, hauling coal from the WVa. coalfields.
Focus is a little off on this one, but I like the illusion of depth!
WTCR Hill is the only higher point around town here, but it's fenced and posted. No trepassing allowed. And they're serious. Kids like to try and climb their tower, and they patrol it 24/7.
There isn't a whole lot of open space here in the foothills of Eastern Ky., but I can always find a bit of solitude here on the banks of the Mighty Ohio River.
It's a nice place to spend a Sunday afternoon, watching the traffic on the old river.
That's about as open as it get's here, til you get on down around Lexington and the rolling hills and the horse farms in the Bluegrass.
Now, across the river in West Virginia, there are quite a few "open spaces".
I was at work today, looking at the menu on the new Nikon D60, and wishing there was something new around here to take pictures of, when I heard something hit the glass in the bay doors.
Looked over and saw this laying on the floor.
Thankee!
Thought he was dead for a minute, then I saw his legs and wings twitch a little every now and then. Flipped him over on a piece of copy paper and took him out and layed him on the grass.
Wasn't anything happening, so I put him on the hood of my truck. And, yes I put my hand on it to see if it was to hot. Don't need any fried dragonflies!
These were shot from around four feet away with the 200mm VR lens.
He flopped around and flew for a second.
Finally took off...........
and landed on his back!
Took off again...............
DOH!
Once again, airborne bound.
Then he stopped.....
Looked like he was getting the cobwebs out of his head, if not off his wings, so I backed up a little, and he took off. Can't get that picture to show up!
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