Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 04/09/2026Wow. Nice gentle, wetting rain here in the Bay Area. So nice after almost 6 months with no precipitation. 140
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 29/08/2026Yet another tropical system appears to be taking a bead on Hawaii, thanks to El Nino: www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/grap...nhc.noaa.gov 000
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 29/08/2026Yikes. Lowell appears to be taking a similar bead to Lala. Sadly, this hurricane season is far from over for Hawaii 000
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 15/08/2026Wowza! If you look at the current GOES-W GeoColor loop of Lala, the explosive enhancement of the leading rain band as it hits the Big Island looks like some kind of colossal mega-tsunami crashing into it. I sure hope the folks in the likely flood zones have cleared out! 140
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 12/08/2026I am currently dealing with the CSO of a company who might fund a significant sponsored research agreement with my outfit, and assessing his (considerable) chops, I belatedly realize how much money I might have made if I had had different priorities. 120
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 11/08/2026One predictable consequence of strong, early El Nino events like the one we're entering now is that the slack trade winds make it much easier for tropical cyclones to reach the Hawaiian Islands, due to dramatically reduced wind shear. That makes this picture from today all the more ominous: 110
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 20/07/2026Anybody out there have any good advice about stopping rats from pillaging your veggie garden? Our natural, beloved rodent control system sadly is no more, and it's becoming a worse and worse issue. Short of employing another feline agent, for which we're not quite ready, what would you recommend? 230
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 10/07/2026Peak Tomato is fast approaching! This is only about 1 week's haul, and I reckon I've got 2 more weeks like this before they start to taper off. Great tomato weather in the East Bay this year! 5611
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 17/06/2026First fruits of the Summer garden. Huzzah! Many more to come if the weather and blight gods have mercy. 644922
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 16/06/2026I wrote a reply to the post linked below that turned into a rather lengthy little essay, so I figured I might as well repost it to my own feed, as food is a topic on which I generally have a lot to say. bsky.app/profile/keit... 010
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 11/05/2026Please join me in blocking and reporting this piece of garbage! 110
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 19/04/2026I bought a giant hunk of untrimmed pork shoulder, and this, cut from the nicest bits, is tonight's Wienerschnitzel dinner ready to be breaded and fried. I rendered up all the cap fat so as to fry it as God intended in its own lard. The bulk of the meat is in the fridge, cubed for tomorrow's pozole 5231
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 18/04/2026Tonight's fried rice dinner, prepped and set out. Fresh bamboo shoots from Ranch 99, carrots, celery, shallot, eggs of course, and a Napa cabbage salad on the left. I can't wait to get cooking! 090
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 02/04/2026Go Artemis! Go NASA!! For 5 minutes I actually get to be proud of my country. If just the money spent so far on this last stupid and pointless war were put on that incredible collection of top-notch humans, there's no end to what they could do. 050
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 01/04/2026Just got a bit verklempt watching the Artemis 2 astronauts suiting up on the NASA TV feed. What happened to this version of America? 1100
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 20/03/2026This global oil meltdown is a horrible situation, but if there is any upside to it, perhaps it's that it might serve as an additional incentive for reasonable people and their governments to get off oil as an energy source entirely. 092
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 20/03/2026The People's Republic of California Overpass Brigade strikes again! Taken March 18th, 2026, Hwy 24 EB approaching Walnut Creek. 170
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 19/03/2026It appears that this senseless bombing campaign by the Trumpistas is creating a chain reaction of strikes against oil facilities, this on top of all the Ukrainian strikes against Russian oil refining capacity. The world is clearly in for an oil shock such as we have not seen since the early 1970's. 164
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 15/03/2026Rushing to get all my drip irrigation set up today, which normally wouldn't happen for another month. Also put in tomatoes, basil, and cucumbers yesterday, which likewise normally wouldn't happen for another month. I guess that's a perk, though I'm afraid I'll go broke trying to keep them watered. 140
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 14/03/2026It appears that Spring has been canceled in my little corner of California, and that we'll be going straight into Summer instead. I sure hope it rains some more on the back side of this, because if it doesn't, the fires are going to be apocalyptic by September. 260
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 12/03/2026OMG, I just ate an orange off of my tree that was like the best orange I've ever eaten! I planted it 15 years ago. For the first 6 years it bore no fruit, and for the next 5 years it bore sour fruit. Last 4 years tho, it totally rocks! LIke 60 pounds of perfect, yummy fruit. Such a blessing! 1140
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 02/03/2026Lest anyone get the wrong idea, since I am making some fairly spicy posts about this idiotic new war, I am by no means whatsoever any fan of the awful theocratic regime in Iran. It does not make me the least bit sad to learn that Khamanei is no more. Indeed, I know quite a few highly educated... 250
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 02/03/2026I must admit to a serious failure of imagination in not understanding that the most immediately marketable application of artificial intelligence would be for dumb people to pretend they are smart, even at the highest levels of government. 040
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 01/03/2026Somebody needs to start a back channel negotiation with Iran to explain to them that the only way to stop this madness will be for them to refrain from any retaliatory attacks inside the US. If they try to do a 9/11 on us now, Trump will be POTUS for life. 120
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 28/02/2026I don't know who needs to be told this, but there is no way in Hell we are going to bring about regime change in Iran just by bombing them. Actually doing that would require as many BOTG as we had in Gulf War I, not GWII, and unlike Iraq, a solid 10% of those soldiers will never come home. 030
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 28/02/2026If the Trumpista regime proves one aphorism in this world, it's "Steal a little and they throw you in jail, steal a lot and they make you king". The number of heads that would truly have to roll to make our system right again is in too big to fail territory. What can you do with that? 030
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 23/02/2026That part goes without saying. There is a character limit here you know! 000
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 14/02/2026I somehow don't think that telling the whole public about their intent to rig the election any way they can is going to have quite the effect on turnout that she seems to think it will. 052
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 24/01/2026If on a day like today, people have nothing to post but angry criticisms of Democrats, then they are objectively on the side of the fascists. I block them with extreme prejudice, and so should you. They are 95% fake account farm trolls! 161
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 24/01/2026The thought that really sickens me as I contemplate today's news is what is going to happen when somebody actually does shoot at an ICE agent? It's bound to happen sooner or later, and I have no doubt they have a harsh plan of collective punishment all ready for when it does. 180
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 14/01/2026Trumpie Challenge against CA Prop. 50 fails! 091
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 09/01/2026One thing I am definitely asking myself right now is why is it sniveling toady Vance and not Trump himself who is out there defending this atrocity? I'm starting to get serious feelings like Trump is no longer capable and won't be ever again. 381
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 08/01/2026Hey, I think I've thought of a fun game! Map the major evil figures in the LOTR to the current Trump administration! Trump of course is Gollum, because what else could he be? But where does everybody else fit in? I'll post my own assignments in replies a bit later... 082
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 05/01/2026Clearly this palace coup in Venezuela was conceived of by somebody much smarter than Trump but just as evil. All the moneyed interests have snapped into line, and the bullshit is flying thick and fast everywhere. Its short-term effectiveness as a political play in this media environment is... 150
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 04/01/2026Fuck you NPR for saying they "captured" Maduro! They kidnapped him and illegally took him prisoner! Do better Goddammit!! 0123
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 17/12/2025Predictions are so hard to make, especially when they're about the future, but I must say that this new, inconceivable as it were low on their part seems like a real watershed moment to me. They have practically donned orc costumes with this. 140
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 16/12/2025TDS is definitely not a thing, because all truly decent and rational actors actually despise Trump, but OTOH CTOS, i.e. Chronic Trump Outrage Syndrome, most definitely is. It erodes the very foundations of all of our collective happiness as decent humans. How do you cope? 070
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 27/11/2025Sheet pan with water and silicone spacers. The turkey roasting pan will be held just above the surface of the water. 1110
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 27/11/2025Turkey came out of the brine at 12:30, after 40 hours. After spatchcocking and trussing, it is now resting, draped over its inverted roasting rack. I have placed ice packs on the breast to keep it cold while the legs warm up to ambient. Stuffing is divided into two portions... 380
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 27/11/2025The stuffing proper will consist of white, rye, and cornbread cubes, sauteed onions and celery with a bit of water chestnut, apples, and Zante currants, taken up in a rich, well-browned turkey stock with some eggs, then seasoned with pepper, nutmeg, sage, marjoram, and rosemary. 160
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 27/11/2025After conferring with my mother, I have settled upon my roasting strategy. The bird will be spatchcocked and draped over an upside-down wire rack in a big roasting pan, with a large mound of stuffing underneath it. The bottom of the pan will be in a Bain Marie-type setup so it doesn't burn. 130
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 26/11/2025After ten years, I finally get to host a big family thanksgiving dinner again. First milestone: turkey is thawed and fully immersed in a brine consisting of 3.5 liters of sake, 2 liters of water, 300mL of 100 proof vodka, 1 rounded cup of kosher salt, 1 cup jaggery, 1/2 cup sugar, and spices.... 140
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 12/10/2025Just heard Zohran Mamdani interviewed by David Remnick on the New Yorker Radio Hour. First time I ever really heard him speak at length, and all I can say is wow, that guy is really something. Obama-level rhetorical skills, just off the charts. I just hope he has good security. 190
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 04/10/2025Throwing this out into the ether: The one and only reason the US has de facto ruled the free world these last 80 years is the seemingly impenetrable strength of our legally mandated democratic institutions. That take by the world is shook really bad right now, like never before. 090
Reposted by SlartibartfastHotDog89 @hotdog89.bsky.social · 10/08/2025Betty he maybe right. Medicine is dominated by big Pharma. Its education is very narrow based a limited science of bio reductive materialism. Its ok and brilliant in this narrow area. But real health is much more complex and much wider to include Psychology social political 131
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 30/07/2025This repost by Robert Reich of a translated Haaretz article on Gaza by Orit Kamir needs to be distributed far and wide. Please click through, read, and repost on your own feed! 3112
Slartibartfast @slarti-bartfast.bsky.social · 20/07/2025In the wake of the shameful recission bill that just passed, I want to put it out there that the American public can make up the entire hole they just blew in the budget of the CPB for LESS THAN TWO DOLLARS A YEAR EACH! Consider contributing! 262