Buffy/Dr. Horrible note

blueeowyn and I are in the midst of Buffy, season 6. We just watched episode 5, in which three inept nerds use inventions and magic to try to take down the slayer. As I was watching, I couldn't help but notice similarities between this plot and Dr. Horrible. All it needed was singing!

MSN's quote of the day

"I've come to think of Europe as a hardcover book, America as the paperback version."

Don DeLillo

Tee Morris at Capclave

I just learned that Tee Morris will be giving a seminar on podcasting at the upcoming Capclave (D.C. Sci-Fi literary convention).

Capclave info

Umami!

Umami. No, it's not a Jawa battle cry. It's the semi-official name of the new taste identified about a year ago.

So now there's sweet, salt, sour, bitter, and umami. Apparently, it means "yummy" in Japanese, but is often translated as "savory" in English. Certainly most of us know what salty means, or sour, as a taste. But what the heck is "savory"???

Scientifically, it's when L-glutamate receptors on the tongue are triggered. But what flavor is it?

According to this article, meat, cheese, asparagus, tomatoes all have a savory taste. But meat is also sweet, asparagus can be sweet or bitter, and tomatoes have some sweet and sour. Where does the savory come in?