Have you hugged local Pastuerizer today??

So I have been thinking all week of what to write in this blog post about food...Its just such a wide umbrella of a topic that I really found it hard to find a jumping off point of sorts. Then I miraculously just happened to show up to my 8am Microbiology class this morning and my professor started talking about a lot of different microbes and bacteria and different ways to kill them. One of these ways just rang true to me: Pasteurization. Pasteurization is basically the process that quickly heats and then cools rapidly to slow microbial growth in food and liquids. When you hear "pasteurization" most everyone's first thoughts go to milk but for the lactose intolerant among us it can also used on almonds, canned foods, soy sauce and even tobaccos. We do learn of it a little, early on, in our schooling but it is one of life's many mysteries that many people just take for granted and hope it was done correctly. If its not then we could end up with outbreaks of tuberculosis, diptheria, salmonellosis, strep throat, scarlet fever , listeriosis, brucellosis and typhoid fever to name a few. Should you ever find yourself scoping out the local grocery store aisles and you get a fleeting fancy to grab your favorite bottle of vino, beer, milk or yes even cheese please remember to say a little prayer and thank Mr. Louis Pasteur.

Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist, who in 1864, came up with the procedure of exposing wine to high temperatures (which still end up below boiling point) and then a flash cooling in order to prevent souring. God love the man because I know that I do!! In today's world there are basically 4 types of pasteruization. They are flash pasteurization (which as it sounds involves heating liquids to 160-180 degrees before the filling and capping process for about 20 seconds and then cooling, basically higher temps than norm and shorter lengths of time), cold pasteurization (which basically irradiates food and drink -- i.e. milk that could last up to 2 months or more on the store shelf instead of a few days to a week being refrigerated -- cheaper for shipping and storage but may affect the taste), high pressure pasteurization (think of high pressure cooker for a short period of time killing the microbes) and finally Ultra Pasteurization (similar to high pressure but this has even higher temps and the product will have a longer shelf life than regular old high pressure but still needs refrigeration). The high temperatures and short times standard has been designed to kill 99.999% of the number of viable micro-organisms in milk which is pretty darn good if you ask me. So seriously, put down the Budweiser, glass of Chardonay, frosty cool glass of chocolatey goodness milk and yes even the bottle of Dasani and say thanks to a man who over a century ago had the idea to heat something up and cool it down before selling to us the mass market. We salute you Louis Pasteur even if you are French!!

That's it for now folks,
Josh

sources of information can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasteurization and http://www.niroinc.com/gea_liquid_processing/pasteurization.asp

Emergency! Bullet in the Brain!!

After listening to both of these stories and the commentaries that went with them I realized that I truly did not understand them. I know they are full of symbolism and they meant different things than what they were saying but its like come on and if you have something to say than just say it. These stories try to be thought provoking and show you what the author's want you to see by being sneaky and clever but I have never in my life been a fan of them. I really want to tell these authors to say what is really on their minds and stand behind their words and feelings.

With all of that stuff being said I do have to say between the two stories that I preferred Bullet in the Brain. If for nothing other than it did make me think what will run through my mind the few moments before I die. Will it be one of my early memories from boy scouts that I have forgotten or many of the new memories that I still have not had the chance to live. I don't know and honestly I can't say that I would want to know just yet but this story did make me pause to consider the many possibilities. Another thing that struck me as kind of odd with this story was when Anders started talking when the robbers showed up and then when he starts giggling as the gun is rubbed against side. Now, I would want to say that I could hold my own in a fight but short of having a known brain tumor the size of Texas I don't think that I could ever laugh or giggle while a gun is being poked into my side. Enough said I think!!!

TTYL!!
Josh

An American Male Age 10....

"The American Male at Age 10" story by Susan Orlean was actually a really good story. It took me back to the time when I was 10 years old (which is probably right around the same time or just before when she was following this Colin around. It really made me think about my own life experiences back then and how much they actually seemed similar to Colin's and how different they were as well. I personally wasn't a huge gamer but I did enjoy playing them from time to time. My favorites were Super Mario Brothers and Contra just because I knew the secret code to getting infinite lives in Contra --(up,down,up,down,left,right,left,right,b,a,b,a) -- I will never forget it. I spent quite a bit of time though playing with my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and G I Joes. I must have had almost every character from the cartoons and movies. There were so many hours spent playing with the neighbor boys and our toys that girls were generally the last things on our mind. Recycling wasn't a huge part of life back then as it is today but I do remember joining the clean up crew at my elementary sohool and picking up the garbage and what nots that shouldn't have been there. This was also the point in my life when I moved from Texas to Montana to be closer to the relatives since my father was getting out of the Army. It was such a free time when you could grow up to be whatever you wanted to be and you didn't have the worries of job security or money hanging over your head. You could be friends with anyone you wanted and no one cared cause it was just one more person to hand out with.

That being said I truly did enjoy her take on the story. I didn't feel like she was trying to over-power the story with her side of things really that often. She did throw herself in there a few times like at the beginning when she talked about how if they were to get married what would happen or when Colin goes around trying to shoot her with his sling shot. What 10 year old boy just wants to sit there and be quizzed about what is going on in lfe?? It provided the reader with some more emotion and kept you wanting to read some more and see what happens to this kid and the story. Otherwise I felt that she really took the backseat and left Colin's story play out on the paper. She was very objective and didn't just drill you with the information that she collected but instead made you think about yourself when you were that old. Now being older and going through the worries of jobs, money, school again and just life itself -- this was a really refreshing trip back down to memory lane for me.