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Globular Clusters

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I was delighted to find this treasure in my mailbox yesterday – a photo of a clump of stars about 20 thousand light years from our solar system.

Image credit: ESA/NASA

The Hubble Space Telescope is responsible for capturing the image of these very old stars known under the title “Messier 107“. They’ve been blazing away in the night (and daytime) sky for billions of years.

Messier 107 is a globular cluster – a defining name given to about 150 collections of stars located around the Milky Way.

Globular Clusters would also be an excellent name for a breakfast cereal.
All that’s missing is the technology to make crunchy bits that glow with an intense light when milk is added. Dark chocolate milk of course – to keep the deep space feel of things.

How hard would that be?

I know cereals don’t have jingles anymore, but this one should! Although you’ll have to make up your own tune.

Globular Clusters can’t be beat.
You can eat ’em with sugar, with fruit, with meat.
They’ll twinkle and sparkle and rock your bowl
‘Cause each box comes with a free black hole.

Globular Clusters every day!
They’re bright as stars in the Milky Way.
They’re packed with energy, there’s no doubt.
And time itself cannot snuff them out!

Globular Clusters – count them all.
There’s great big taste in each blazing ball
A fusion of flavor in every one!
Your breakfast will shine like the morning sun.

Globular Clusters!

What’s your favorite breakfast cereal?

70 thoughts on “Globular Clusters”

  1. Rise and Shine Baboons!

    Oatmeal. Ancient, boring oatmeal, jazzed up with fruit and nuts. It simply does its job every morning without leaving me hungry in 2 hours. And it is very cheap.

    What more can you ask of a food?

    Thank you B-A for posting your voting links–much more do-able.

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  4. remember when we were kids nd the old people would tlk about how oninons give you gas and cheese stops you up? well i am starting to feel old. am begining to own my lactose intolerence and to be aware that the wheat oats and barley that comprise the gluten triad are a problem too.
    i hadnt noticed how far i had strayed form cereal until i went to a hospital 30 years ago and the doctor was helping me figure out my diet for the coming days. ( they used to allow you to stay for days) and he suggested cereal for breakfast, i must have done something with my nose or eyebrows or something because he commented quicky ” oh you dont do ceral for breakfast?” i said no and he commented that he always thought cereal was the perfect breakfast and he loved it. i tried it a time or two and while its not bad it doesnt call out to me and feels like a brick in my stomach. i did peanut butter english muffins for years but today that is too heavy for me. i am a bowl of blueberries and a soft boiled egg kind of guy these days but on sunday morning i get up and the root vegetables call out to me. onions and potatoes are the only way to go. baked eggs with broccli and cheese and some fake sausage . life doesnt get any better than that. at burger king or mcdonalds its egg mcmuffin no meat or egg and chees croisant but stay away from those hash browns. they are gut bombs for me. cup of tea glass of juice and im good to go. if i am traveling i may be in a place where the granola with yogurt calls out to me but i hate to pay for buffets unles they are exceptional and i can justify skipping lunch or something like that. i am reminded of the guy i worked with that thought captain crunch was the perfect snack. he always had a box with him. he had just come from a former life where he weighed near 400 lbs and when i met him he was 175 and had the captain crunch under his arm but alas when i saw him a coupleyers later he had parlayed those tiny golden treasure chests into a hefty 300+ once again.
    what is it with cereal that the sugar and the grain have the same number of calories and nutritional value? read the side of the box and sugar pops read the same a s special k, trix are the same as shredded wheat. reading the box doesnt always tell the story. it should be obvious that count chocula is not as good for you as grape nuts but they read the same.

    cereal in your breakfst bowl
    globs of grain does take its toll
    bricks in your stomach to carry around
    look the same coming out as they did going down

    snap crackle pop as the rolling stones say
    eat your cereal the mick jagger way
    i think minne donuts need to exist
    beth ann sells her brand like cinnimin crisp

    dr kyle could make it glow
    it comes in a light proof box you know
    give you self that inner glow
    boxed up to make life shine you know

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    1. Very strange. I didn’t know that the Stones did that. How one of the greatest rock bands make a commercial like that?

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      1. back in the early days they did it to pay the bills. get gigs, do commercials, go get more early american blues artist lps to cover.

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  5. Hmm, about the only cereal-in-a-box we have in the house is raisin bran (and rice krispies, but those are never in the breakfast cereal bowl).

    I’m a breakfast in the glass smoothy girl myself-that and of course, the coffee.

    Oatmeal is only for cold winter mornings at our house.
    When we are really having breakfast, the griddle or oven have to get involved.

    Personally, Dale, I think your cereal jingle works well as a rap, but I think the recipe needs a few pop rocks thrown in, to really wake you up in the morning!

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  6. Good morning. I usually have a light breakfast, somewhat like tim, and no breakfast cereal except for some granola on rare occasions. My mother always served us big breakfasts that included cereal, fruit, bacon, eggs and toast. That would be too much for me these days.

    One of my favorites cereals when I was young was Shredded Wheat. The boxes of this cereal contained large cards with illustrated instructions for making cowboy and Indian gear including how to make a teepee or a small hut and various other thing. I had a big collection of these cards.

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      1. Did you send away for the decoder ring with a secret hidden compartment that was offered on the side of a cereal box? I did.

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      2. I have fond memories of what is now a real piece of 50s memorabilia: my 1951 Lone Ranger Saddle Ring (which had a secret compartment in which was stored a film strip, and you could watch this by heating up the luminescent panel hiding under the saddle). Worth about $250 now.

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        3. My favorite cereal premium- one I remember well and one of the most successful of all times, apparently- was the Quaker Puffed Rice Big Inch promotion, where in every box you would get a deed to a square inch of land in the Yukon Territory. I can’t say exactly why that Idea captivated me, but I’ve never forgotten it. Unfortunately, I no longer have my deeds. Here’s the whole story:
          http://www.yukoninfo.com/klondikebiginch.htm

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  8. I think Dr. Larry Kyle could find a way to create a grain that lights up by crossing lightning bugs with oats This grain could be use to put the sparkle in Globular Clusters cereal.

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  9. I’m mostly a toast sort of guy in the AMs, but when I eat something like oatmeal it is Red River cereal. Oh, my! Red River is sold in wonderful old-looking boxes with (of course) a Red River cart on them. It comes from up around Winnipeg and is as pure and healthy as it can be: no ingredients except cracked wheat, cracked rye and flax seeds. Combine with boiling water and top with brown sugar and fruit bits. Before you finish a bowl of Red River you have an overwhelming impulse to jump up and vote for some unrealistic liberal cause, but first you have an overwhelming need to run to the bathroom.

    And you know what–this is the only breakfast cereal endorsed by the Blue Doily.

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  10. Can’t narrow it down… Ralston Hot Cereal and Malt-o-Meal. Grape Nuts, Frosted Flakes, Cinnamon Toasters, Kashi. I do prefer the Malt-o-Meal bagged cereals over boxed if I can get them. And, of course I adore granola w/ fresh fruit and yogurt. Yes, we take our cereal seriously here!

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  11. I’ve been making smoothies for breakfast lately: almond milk, alfalfa sprouts, kale, strawberries, blueberries, 1/2 a banana, ground flax seed, and almond butter. Or Greek yogurt with avocado, sprouts, kale, pear, etcetra. My very favorite breakfast, however, is three parts Heritage flakes, one part granola, trail mix, cinnamon and fruit with almond milk. ❤ When the weather is cooler, I like to cook up a few different kinds of grains, such as wheat berries, quinoa and oatmeal, mix them, and add cinnamon, trail mix and fruit. I cook for myself, so there is no one to complain.

    OT: I've been too, too busy lately and it has taken me the last three days to catch up on this past week's blog entries. I want things to settle down so that I can get back to my routine and be here more regularly, but I doubt that will happen until after Rock Bend. This is the LAST CALL for names and addresses to be added to the Rock Bend mailing list. I'll be printing the labels soon. Our newsletter will go out on August 14. Also, if you're planning on coming to Rock Bend and you'd like a motel room, you should call the AmericInn in St. Peter and make your reservations now (507) 931-6554.

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    1. I should have given my e-mail address. If you want to be included on the Rock Bend mailing list, please send me an e-mail: willi6931 at hotmail.com.

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  12. I don’t have a “favorite” breakfast – I try to change it up as I get bored after awhile eating the same thing over and over and over. Husband has eaten the same cereal every morning for years – I need change. So I will go on a raisin bran streak, then peanut butter toast, then maybe yogurt and fruit, perhaps another cereal…right now I am swapping back to oatmeal for a bit. I’m due for a change in the morning diet, but also need to make a change b/c I am taking a prescribed supplement that can’t be taken with calcium (so no milk or milk substitutes – cutting out my raisin bran, no yogurt…you get the idea…). I’m a fan of plain everyday oatmeal sweetened with a bit of apple sauce and a dash or three of cinnamon. So that’s what my breakfast will be for the next while.

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    1. As always, kindred spirits… this is why I don’t have just one favorite either! (Did Word Girl get enough special reading time yesterday?)

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      1. She got in a good half hour, and came out of the library with three more books…not quite sure what’s special about reading at the library, but since it’s only around the corner from our house, I don’t fight it. 🙂

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        1. I’ve always thought reading at the library was special because you’re surrounded by all those books… the spirits of all those characters and authors. Kinda like living in the book world of Jasper Fforde!

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        2. True indeed – and I’d wager that is at least part of why Miss S likes to read there – she is especially fond of nestling herself at the end of an aisle between the shelves on the floor…

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        3. when she gets a bit older, she will have to see the Twilight Zone with, I think, Burgess Meredith-the whole library all to himself, and his glasses break.

          I suppose I should be grateful the library is not around the corner from our house, I would never see my child.

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  13. I’m with mig that oatmeal is only for cold mornings. Same is true for malt-o-meal. It’s rare that I eat cereal of any kind. A slice of multigrain toast with a good cream cheese and a brewed cup of tea, and I’m good to go most mornings. Sometimes on weekends we get a little more elaborate. Huevos Rancheros are a favorite Sunday brunch as both husband and I prefer savory over sweet foods, but a bowl of yogurt with fresh fruit and a little homemade granola is a good thing on occasion.

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    3. I have been known to justify cake or chocolate chip cookies as a perfectly legitimate breakfast – really, they have flour, sugar and eggs just like pancakes or waffles, so what’s the big deal?…

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      1. In pioneer and colonial times pie was served at breakfast so people would have enough energy to make it thru the morning

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        1. I had a friend whose farm wife grandma would make a pie every day for herself and her husband. One slice each at every meal and that pie was gone.

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        3. Rosalind Creasy mentioned that pie was a breakfast food at one time during her talk at the Seed Savers conference. She said a very good kind of pie can be made from carrots and it would be a good one to serve for breakfast.

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  15. OT – Don’t know if anyone is interested, but there’s a special deal available for tickets to The Sunshine Boys at the Guthrie. Here are some details:
    Multiple performances from now until Aug. 26, including weekend dates, are available
    Tickets start at $17 for some of the best seats in the house
    The show centers around two vaudeville comedians who reunite for a television special
    Lead actors Raye Birk and Peter Michael Goetz are longtime Guthrie veterans who have appeared in dozens of shows at the theater.
    If you’re interested, let me know and I’ll forward the link to learn more and/or order tickets.

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  16. Not a big fan of cold cereal here, but I do use certain cold cereals to top my favorite breakfast, which I could eat every morning for the rest of my life, and that is: layer 1: raspberries, preferably picked fresh that morning, but thawed berries from the freezer will work, too; layer 2: a sprinkle of cacao nibs (optional); layer 3: nonfat, plain greek yogurt; layer 4: homemade granola or go-lean-crunch.

    For the sake of variety, I have started alternating this with oatmeal: steel-cut oats with bananas or dried fruit (cherries are the best) and topped with walnuts, cacao nibs (optional), turbinado sugar, with warm almond milk poured over. It’s not too bad. If I want some protein, I stir in a beaten egg during the last two minutes of cooking. Sounds like I will have to try Red River cereal sometime.

    Another good breakfast is leftover fruit clafouti from the previous evening’s dessert. Good thing I’m not a pie maker, because if I was, I would be eating dessert for breakfast nearly every day.

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    1. Edith, I have been resisting ever since you first mentioned Izzy’s, days ago. Today I succumbed, only to find a new flavor I had not seen before called, “Cereal Milk”-made me laugh, but I stuck with the Dark Chocolate Zin with an Oatmeal Stout Izzy scoop (so I did get some breakfast cereal in there 😉 )

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        1. well, if you can have breakfast any time of day and you can have Izzy’s for breakfast, it logically follows that you can have Izzy’s any time you can get your sticky hands on it!

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      2. And your flavor choices sound great. I have not yet tried Oatmeal Stout, but it sounds good. The Blackberry Creme Fraiche is amazing and it seems like a good breakfast choice also – fruit and dairy!

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      3. I went to Izzy’s yesterday for a meeting. We sat outside in the heat and ice cream ran down our elbows. I am not sure that I came across as a good resource for the project. My son loved oatmeal with ice cream on top but I limited it to special occasions.

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  17. Greetings! My favorite breakfast is a stack of whole grain pancakes, gobs of butter and real maple syrup, but I rarely eat it. I would prefer to have smoothies with whey protein, flax, cacao nibs and other assorted goodies, but I’ve been slumming on cereal lately because it’s quick, cheap and easy. Red River cereal sounds awesome — where can I find it?

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  18. I’ve seen Red River at the co-op in the past, anyway – can’t remember which one – and maybe in the natural foods section of Cub or something… Very good stuff.

    Another alternative is a straw- or some other -berry cheesecake – you’ve got your fruit, your dairy, your grain in the crust (graham crackers are grain, right?), top it with some nuts for more protein than the cheese, and I’m sure there’s some fat in there somewhere!

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    2. I’ve read that eating a breakfast with a goodly amount of fat can help you lose weight. (Of course, it should be a healthy fat and part of an overall healthy diet, not just an excuse to eat even more candy, cake, pie, doughnuts, and ice cream than you already do.)

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    1. That does sound good…I’m trying to figure out how you get “dark chocolate milk.” Seems like chocolate milk by definition isn’t dark – maybe you would have to have a lot of dark chocolate and just a little milk?

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