Posts from — September 2008

Today marks the 7th Anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. As a Citizen of the U.S., New Yorker and someone to had friends and acquaintances involved with the Trade Center today is always a little melancholy. The acts committed that day are unspeakable and it good to see our pols taking a time out for the day.

Unwittingly we scheduled the canvas Open Mic tonight which has always been an uplifting fun event. I have mixed emotions going into tonight. On one hand I know life continues on, on the other hand I feel guilty hosting an upbeat event on Sept 11.

Our event tonight is dedicated to those who lost their lives in the attacks, the families they left behind and all the others like me who can still smell and taste the smoke from the buildings in the air.

Tom Pellicane – Publisher, canvas Magazine

Fishing season is just heating up, and I have been spending every available minute I can out on my boat or surfcasting from the shores of Lloyd Neck, looking for fish. Last week was a great prelude to the season. We were fortunate to be in Hyannis Port at my friend Vince’s, and we hitched an early morning ride on his 28-foot Chris Craft, hoping to give our kids some fishing action, trolling the bottom for inedible (but easy to catch) “scuppers.” Instead, we lucked into a frothing pod of bluefish, which practically flew onto the boat.

Back in Long Island, the other night found my brother-in-law and I out near the jetty by the “Sand Hole” in Lloyd Neck, tossing out silver poppers into the surf. The night was perfect, with a light, cool breeze keeping the majority of mosquitoes away, and a few cold beers to keep our elbows well lubricated for casting.

Paul’s third cast resulted in a 10-inch small striper, which we released back into the sound. We fished the same lures for another hour. I got a tremendous hit, which resulted in my line snapping (note to self: change your line more than every 5 years!) and much cursing. Although no more action was to be had, the take-away was clear: the stripers are definitely on the North Shore right now, and the action is only going to get hotter as September rolls along and the water cools down. Once you catch that big “hog” of a striper, you need to know what to do with it. Here is my recipe for a simple and delicious fillet of striped bass:

Broiled Striped Bass

Striped bass is a delicious fish, and needs little seasoning. For my money, there is nothing better than a filet of freshly caught striped bass roasted under the broiler. Serve with rice, sautéed spinach, and a jaunty Chardonnay for an easy, healthy meal.

2 pounds striped bass, filleted (about 4 portions)
½ cup white wine
¼ cup orange juice
¼ cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 large cloves garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Lemon wedges and parsley, for garnish

Mix the wine, orange juice, soy sauce, olive oil, lemon juice, chopped garlic, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl. Place the bass filets into the marinade, cover and refrigerate for a minimum of one hour. To cook, place the marinated filets on a buttered broiler pan, and cook about 5 inches from heat for 5 minutes. Turn the fish over, and cook for another 5 minutes. Garnish with lemon wedge and parsley.

I watched the conventions of both parties to some degree, although I am skeptical about anything I hear either party say to win a vote, I have to say there was a great line delivered by Sarah Palin, the VP candidate of the Republican Party.

Oddly enough my favorite line that she delivered in her speech had very little to do with solving today’s problems other than trying to describe the energy she would bring to them. The line was “Hockey moms are like pit bulls with Lip Stick.” What a great line! With her delivery you could see the ferocity she wanted the listener to visualize.

Since my brain is very much occupied with here and now, I have troubling remembering one line from the Democratic convention that stood out for me. That said I heard a line yesterday, I think from one of Obama’s advisors, that stuck with me similar to the way Sarah Palin line did.

This line was very much political and meant to sting, it provide the same visual for me as did Sarah Palin’s description of hockey moms. The line was “Sarah Palin is Dick Cheney with Lip Stick.” What a great line I couldn’t help but laugh.

So to Sarah Palin and Obama’s advisor thanks for taking two long, drawn out, over the top, balloon dropping, column building, hot air filled weeks and boiling it down to two funny lines.

Now that the hoopla is over I hope they stop the parties and get to work on figuring out how they really plan to help us get back on our feet and become the country we all love again.

Tom Pellicane – Publisher, canvas Magazine

The Dept. of Energy and GM engineers are developing a thermoelectric generator that converts the exhaust gas from your car into additional power. The device is attached to a car’s exhaust pipe and converts heat to electricity. Currently up to 70% of the energy created by a car’s engine is wasted. The goal is to improve fuel economy by 10 percent and save over 100 million gallons of fuel per year in GM vehicles. Ford is also working a system that converts exhaust into air conditioning. The DOE is also funding Michigan State University to develop a similar device for trucks.

It is essentially the same technology that has run space satellites for more than 30 years. A thermoelectric generator works when one side of a metallic plate is heated, exciting electrons to move to the cool side. This creates a current that electrodes collect and convert to electricity. It is very reliable because it involves no moving parts.

If it becomes cost effective, this is potentially a very big deal because these generators could be added to existing vehicles.