Samuel Mudd

I've known the phrase "Your name is mud", since I was a little kid, but until recently had no idea its historical origins. It's commonly believed to be attributed to Samuel Mudd, the doctor that treated John Wilkes Booth after he broke his leg fleeing Ford's Theater after assassinating Abraham Lincoln. Mudd was convicted of conspiracy, narrowly avoiding the death penalty by one vote, then pardoned by Andrew Jackson four years later.

But the aforementioned phrase dates back to John Badcock's 1823 book "Slang - A Dictionary of the Turf, the Ring, The Chase, the Pit ..." where he defines mud as slang for "a stupid twaddling fellow". The book can be found at archive.org using the second link below.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Mudd

https://archive.org/details/slangadictionar00badcgoog

Riverscape River Run

Work is progressing on a second passageway on the Great Miami River in downtown Dayton, including a calm flow for novices and a more challenging section for experienced paddlers. The first passageway was completed about a half mile down river and replaced a low dam that previously had to be portaged. When it's all done, there will be a seven-mile stretch, starting at Eastwood MetroPark, down the Mad River to the Great Miami, around downtown and ending before the dam just south of Carillon Historical Park and University of Dayton.

http://www.metroparks.org/river-run

Kilkenny In A Can

My daughter and her husband brought me a wonderful surprise back from their recent trip to Canada, a Kilkenny four-pack, which I have never seen in the U.S. in cans and only rarely on tap. I can now make true use of the pair of Kilkenny glasses I bought awhile back.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilkenny_(beer)

Carillon Park

There is no better place to learn about Dayton's history than Carillon Park.  The Wright Brothers, Newcom's Tavern, NCR, the 1913 flood, the Miami Erie Canal and a Sun filling station are just some of the highlights. The Transportation Center houses various historical railroad cars and trolley buses, and was our selection to host our wedding reception back in 2008.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carillon_Historical_Park

Fajita Hasselback Chicken

Yet another Hasselback chicken recipe, this one on the spicy Mexican side. The picture shows the sliced chicken before adding the cooked onion, peppers, salsa, spice and cheese filling. You can make recipe with whatever fillings or toppings that appeal to your imagination. 

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts

½ onion, diced

½ yellow pepper, diced

½ red pepper, diced

½ green pepper, diced

2 tablespoons fajita spice mix

3 tablespoons salsa

½ cup cheddar cheese, grated

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.

2. Slice across the chicken, about ¾ inch apart, but only cut about 80% of the way through.

3. Cook the onions and peppers over medium heat until softened.

4. Stir in the fajita mix, salsa, and finally the cheese.

5. Mix until cheese is melted, then allow the mixture to cool.

6. Fill each segment of the chicken with one teaspoon of the mixture.

7. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 minutes (or more) until the chicken is completely cooked.

Color Blind Test

Color blindness stems from the absence of color-sensitive pigment in the cone cells of the retina, with trouble distinguishing red and green apart being the most common problem. Taking this Ishihara test will help determine to what extent you may be affected.

http://colormax.org/color-blind-test/

Riverscape Ice Rink

Downtown Dayton's outdoor ice rink is open for business and a bargain at $5 for all-day skating and $2 skate rentals. I'd join you, but my ankles have a hard enough time keeping me upright in shoes.

http://www.metroparks.org/ice-rink

Ohio Stadium

Saturday's #2 Ohio State versus #3 Michigan football game was an instant classic, emotional roller-coaster that lasted two overtimes and ended happily (30-27) for these more than a hundred thousand Buckeye fans in attendance, many that wanted to savor the moment on the field, my son included. I just wanted to start breathing again.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_Stadium

Dynamic DNS

Your Internet-facing IP address (assigned by your ISP) can change at any time. This is not an issue for web browsing, Netflix or other services that start connections outbound from your home, but for anything that starts from the Internet towards your home (e.g. a VPN connection), that changing address is a pain. The solution is using a free (I love free) dynamic DNS provider such as Dynu, which now resolves paulishing.dynu.com to whatever my current IP address happens to be. That will make my current IoT (Internet of Things) project much easier to accomplish. More on that in a later post.

https://www.dynu.com

Lemon-Garlic Shrimp

Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah), gluten-free and high in protein and fiber, provides a nice alternative to rice or other starches in this 25-minute, complete-meal recipe.

http://www.cookinglight.com/food/recipe-finder/cooking-with-quinoa/lemon-garlic-shrimp-with-radish-green-bean-quinoa