Physics for future presidents - podcast

Here is the first thing I learned from the PffP podcast after two lectures on power and energy: hydrogen has three times more energy per kilo than gasoline, but it has three times less energy per liter. How is that? It is because of density. Gasoline is so much denser that you have more weight per measure of content. In other words: it takes up less space. The consequence is that hydrogen may be a really good alternative for gasoline, because it has more energy in it and also, very importantly, is less polluting, but for putting it in cars it will take up too much space. Then again, for trucks and airplanes space is much less a problem. So in the near future we may see trucks and planes hydrogen driven, but less likely cars.
On the subject of cars I also got a good explanation of why hybrids are the future. And even though this is a physics class at UC Berkeley, I did not drop out as I did in high school. Many more lectures to go; I am excited.

The physics for future presidents is a lecture series that intends to hand out the broad lines and important social relevant facts of physics to any student, regardless of majoring subject. The lecturer Richard Muller is very entertaining, yet well on track and persuasive on the important stuff. A gem in educational podcasts.

Sweet and spicey soup with zucchini

I never know what to call the vegetable. Is it zucchini? Squash? Courgette? Whatever it 's named, that's what it is and for this recipe I used the dark skinned type. There is also yellow skinned and light green. There is also a difference in shape. I took the elongated version, not the ball-shaped or the ones that look like small pumpkins. All in all, the difference in taste is not so huge. I guess you can use them all, but for the sake of accuracy: dark green, elongated zucchini is what I used.
Another ingredient that needs some discussion are the spices. I use ground spices, mostly, as they produce a more evenly distributed and stronger taste. If you ground yourself, be aware that finer grounding gives stronger taste immersion, especially when fresh. Still, you have to be careful and know your stuff. A spice like cinnamon can be different in strength from one ground packet to the next.
Another ingredient where the strength can differ enormously is sesame oil. I have the dark, concentrated stuff that is very strong. I have no experience with the lighter version. I only know from an Indian woman I know, who is used to the light version, that in case she can only obtain the dark one, she mixes it with regular oil in order to get something near to what she is used to. In short, the difference is enormous.

40 gram butter
half a teaspoon ground cloves
half a teaspoon ground cinnamon
half a teaspoon ground galanga (laos)
4 drips of dark sesame oil
green pepper
6 small zucchinis
2 large onions
salt
1 liter water
1.5 table spoon soy sauce
4 bay leaves
1 table spoon of (light) honey
3 cloves of garlic (squeezed)
0.5 liter skimmed milk

Stir fry in the butter and sesame oil, first the cinnamon, cloves and galanga and then, after a few minutes, when you smell the spices, add the finely cut zucchini and onion. Stir fry and slowly build up heat, until the onions and zucchini are shiny. Add salt and bay leaves, stir and slowly turn down the heat. On low heat add soy sauce and water after which you turn on the heat again. When the soup is boiling, add the garlic. Boil some more and then add the honey, turn heat down and let the soup simmer. Taste from time to time; add salt, honey or soy sauce (or even pepper) according to your preference and the taste development. Take the soup off the fire and add milk. Allow to stand for at least 30 minutes.

A word on calories. I try to cook on a low fat basis. The interesting discovery is that whatever recipes I have learned or developed over the years, when I redo them, I find that the amounts of oil, butter, cream, honey and so on can be significantly reduced. The rule of thumb is that one should not have more that one table spoon of oil/butter/cream etc per 4 servings. For stir frying, for sauces, for stews, it surely makes it more difficult to retain the taste as should, but it can be done.
In addition, wherever possible I use low-fat ingredients such as light honey and skimmed milk in this recipe.

Only in America -- Podcast

Larry Josephson is an experienced radio maker who conceived of a history podcast that makes an expose of various aspects of the history of Jews in the United States. It carries the title 'Only in America' apparently as an expression of the feeling that Jews were never as well accepted historically as they were in the US. Nevertheless there are also episodes about antisemitism. In addition there are full feature interviews and a couple of theme issues, that all in all are covered by the subtitle: "350 years of the American Jewish Experience."
Larry's background in radio journalism has led him to do much more than what you find in regular podcasts. These are full blown radio programs. They are complex productions bringing together source material from Columbia University's oral history program and snippets from interviews and lectures as well as historical audio material. A good example in point is the latest edition 'Over the Rainbow' about the Jewish roots of Hollywood and the development from its origin days to date, with the Jews that took part and the measure to which Jewish content could make it to Hollywood productions.
I have compared podcast to talk radio in other posts. Only in America is talkradio that wasn't made for regular broadcast but turned into podcast in stead. As far as I could discover from either the shows or the references on the web it was never carried by any station on air. This seems to me the best example of talkradio turned podcast. I can only wish Larry reaches a larger listenership than he would have with regular radio, he deserves it. This is a great podcast.

Off on a tangent -- David Kalivas's podcast

You need to be up to date on the subject that David Kalivas discusses in his World History podcast. With a lot of enthusiasm I made a second run of his series of lectures and while I enjoyed it, again, a lot, I was disappointed as well. You cannot take the series as a full blown educational podcast. After listening you will remain with too many fragments. If you need an introduction, or even an outline of World History, do not take on David Kalivas.
Although he is a very pleasant and entertaining lecturer, he goes off on tangents all the time. Consequently, the historic milestones are not all mentioned, or even put in order. Whatever he says is very worthwhile and I liked hearing his words, but they serve an entirely different purpose. They pick and choose on some aspects of World History and give some in depth reflections on them. This means that if you are on par with the discussed epoch, setting and events, his lecture can be very thrilling, but that is a lot of prerequisite to take into a podcast.

Attires of the holiday (2)

What did we do on Shavuot? I want to mention three things and this goes to show, more so, what I wrote yesterday -- how this festival of the reception of the Torah, for all practical purposes is one of the early harvest.
We had a campfire with friends, we made a basket of offerings with stuff we made in our kitchen and took it to friends and then we visited a kibbutz to see the celebrations there.
The Kibbutz celebrations are very traditional in Israel and make no statements on the Torah at all and all the more work out as a display of all the harvest elements these agricultural communities can offer. A couple of years ago we witnessed one in the Galilee with an impressive procession of tractors and other farming auxiliaries, decorated with whatever representation of what this kibbutz was farming. This was followed by performances of singing dancing and such.
This time round, in a much more urbanized settlement. The result was unbelievably poor. If one ever needed a reminder that we urbanized folk hardly have any rural roots left, we got one here.


The question this observation together with yesterday's raise is: are we finally ready to leave behind the ancient acting out of Shavuot and move to the more cerebral, abstract meaning of Shavuot: reception of Torah. The Jewish tradition launched.
On a side note. The Christians mapped onto this and the festival became Pentecost, which is the reception of the Holy Spirit and the launching of the Church. I wonder what pagan festivals were hijacked in order to Christianize the Europeans and get them to celebrate Pentecost.

Attires of the holiday (1)

Shavuot is the Holiday that commemorates the reception of the Torah. It is also a harvest Holiday as you can understand from the other names of the Festival: Chag haKatzir (Festival of the Reaping) and Yom haBikkurim (Day of the firsts (fruits etc.)). It is customary to dress up in white, eat dairy products, exchange baskets of fruit, vegetables and dairy (Tenne) and have children wear flower wreaths. I have asked why there is this strong connection with white and dairy and obtained various answers over the years. One is that the Israelites were white as children (innocent, naive, ignorant), when they got the Torah. Another is that the laws for kashrut were not yet known and so they ate dairy. And yet another is that in order to be ready to obtain the Law, the Jews must wash up and become white.
Well, I am no scholar and here is not the place I want to criticize these explanations. All I want to say is that, more than with any other Jewish Holiday, the liturgic meaning of the chag (Reception of the Law), is overshadowed by the additional meaning, by the look of things. This additional meaning, totally dominates the holiday and makes it for the secular newbie that I am, an exclusive harvest festival. It is all about the first fruits and grains and milk that have been reaped. It makes it more likely than with other religious festivals, that this festival was mapped onto an older, rural, maybe even pagan festival.
The amazing thing is, that these Jews that are more urban than ever, still live the earliest roots of the chag in a stronger sense than the newer ones.