Bridal Portraits and Photography

Check out my web site for weddings and bridal photography.

There are a number of sample images there, along with rates and helpful information.

Hard to find ingredient

I looked all over the internet for a place to buy small quantities of sodium inosinate and guanylate. This looks like the only store online where it's available.

Hand Sausage Stuffing Funnels

I didn't know there was a cheap, economical method of hand stuffing sausage casings until I bumped into these hand sausage stuffing funnels. You just put the small end into the casing and push with your thumbs. What a great idea!

Sooners Football

If you're looking for photos of the Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, here's your shot. I also found these pictures of Kinnick Stadium.

Old Main

Here's a nice shot of Penn State Old Main for your viewing pleasure.

As long as we're talking about Penn State, here's another shot of the Nittany Lion statue. With a new clock and a missing elm tree, Old Main looks a little different these days, so here's a photo from the right side:

Likewise, here's a closer view of the bell tower with the new clock:

New Crimson Tide photos posted.

I've added some Alabama Crimson Tide photos to my collection.

I think this one of the Crimson Tide football team came out particularly well.

Brisket Marinades

It's been a while since I've posted anything, but I saw the bookmark today, and I was thinking about barbecue, so here goes.

My favorite is butchers brisket injection FAB. I definitely prefer it over FAB.

The thing is, unless you inject it right, there's no way it's going to help. In order to help people pick out the right injector (there are a lot of bad ones out there!) I've created a page about how to inject a brisket.

I suppose that's it for today. Next week, more BBQ stuff.

And I thought the 80s hair bands were weird

Apparently, you can now buy heavy metal music for kids.

What's this world coming to? And why dinosaurs?

Joe Paterno and his magic glasses

Well, it seems that Joe Paterno is selling his glasses. What's up with that? I know he's a great man and all, but why would somebody pay $7000 for a pair of used glasses? is JoePa having lasik surgery? I couldn't tell you...

Scanning Electron Microscope at Penn State

I just found out that there are a number of scanning electron microscopes at Penn State, one in my very own department!

The Penn State SEM (scanning electron microscope) at ESM is relatively new, but hardly anybody uses it. It seems that if you need one, this is the one to schedule.

One of the unique features of this machine is that it's "environmental", meaning it can do organic things, like spiders and such.

Headphones for Sleeping

My wife and I just came across a product called SleepPhones, made right here in Centre County.

Basically, they're headphones you use while sleeping. My wife loves them, since I snore, and we'll see how they work out. One thing that makes them a little different is the mp3's that come with them. They don't play exactly the same sound in each ear, which is important in tricking you brain into relaxing.

So far, so good!

New Technologies in Structural Health Monitoring

Structural Health Monitoring is a relatively new science, but it's actually pretty cool.

In times past, complex parts for machines would be replaced according to a best guess, based on statistics. It's kind of like, "Your car has 75,000 miles on it, you should replace the shocks." Your shocks may be perfectly good, or they may have been shot at 50,000 miles.

Now, it's possible through structural health monitoring to place sensors of various types to actually measure when a part is going to fail, then replace it just before it does. This saves a lot of money, since only "bad" parts are replaced. This is why the Ben Franklin Center of Excellence has teamed up with Penn State to fund new projects.

Proper Commercial Aprons

Finally, our store has got proper commercial aprons at a reasonable price. Made for the military, these aprons will last a long, long time.

New Catering Services for Barbecue

Red Todd has finally got a web site, and he's got catering on his mind. If you like barbecue like I do, you're probably tired of getting boiled and grilled ribs and "faux Q" when you dine out.

Red makes the real thing, and his prices are quite reasonable. Here's his BBQ catering menu online, as well as his event schedule for event vending.

If you like making your own BBQ, and you need some new marinades, The Ingredient Store has the choice of champions.

A new way to stimulate the economy?

A movement is now forming to create a new way to stimulate the economy by forgiving student loan debt. This resonates with me in a big way, since I owe my soul to my current employer, who just happens to be the university I spent $65,000 on. I tried starting my own little student loan reimbursement drive, to no avail. Unlike my attempt, though, I think this new group has a large enough following to make a difference. So far, more than 230,000 people have joined their FaceBook group, and it's starting to get some media play.

Forgiving student loans only makes sense. After all, a 19th and early 20th century worker got educated through the cooperative building and staffing of schools we now consider to be primary and secondary. Universities were only for the elite--the leaders of men and nations. Enter WWII and the GI Bill. Now everybody who's anybody can go to college, and they did. Universities turned into trade schools, and now a living wage is nigh on impossible in many industries without a college degree. So, in the 21st century, why shouldn't that debt load be shared like k-12? By forgiving student loans, a whole class of educated, hard-working people will have a tremendous burden lifted from their credit ratings and monthly cash flow. That's certainly got to stimulate the economy. After all, I majored in Economics for a few semesters :-)

Girl with Black Bird

Here is a nice piece of art my wife painted. I thought I'd just throw it out there in case anybody would want to have a copy.

It's a nice painting, but a bit dark for my tastes! If you're depressed and feeling black and orange, it's probably perfect for you.

Penn State art

Here's a new gallery with Penn State art and photos.

I particularly like this one of Old Main. It looks like it's a watercolor of the building at dusk.

The same artist has shots of Mount Nittany available, as well as a number of pictures from Gettysburg.

Knife Sharpening Service

I wrote to J.A. Henckels, wondering how to get my knife sharpened. They suggested that I either look in the yellow pages or ship it to Virginia.

I thought it was weird that the factory wouldn't sharpen their own knives, but I thought I'd share the link.

http://www.mrleonardknifesharpener.com/

Again, this is the knife sharpener recommended by the Henckels rep, so I guess their good. I'm going to send in my knife and see how they do...then report back!

New Blog

I stumbled across a new blog today, Funny You Should Mention it! is a collection of videos, snippets, and basically a humorous clipping service.

A fascination with bacon abounds, but everything is a little quirky and fun.

New Businesses in State College

There have been a lot of new businesses popping up in State College the last few months.

Rumor has it, there is a Walgreen's coming up on North Atherton St., and I just heard of a new State College therapeutic massage therapist, who happens to be a friend of mine.

Meanwhile, places to enjoy a good cigar are waning. Oh well.