A First, for Me…
Being a late-comer to the mobile phone world, I started with a well used Side Kick II, which was a hand-me-down from My brother. After a year or three, I migrated to the T-Mobile Dash, which ran a version of windows intentionally designed to slowly delete the available memory, so You would be forced to buy something new, or pay to have it serviced. Both of those devices were garbage! Then, five or so years ago, My sister-in-law gave Me her old G1. The first phone with an Android OS.
The Google Phone is now about a decade old, it still works! I’ve been using it with a pre-paid sim card for quite some time now. The only thing holding it back for basic phone, text and not so snappy(but acceptable) web browsing use, is the lack of batteries available. Sure I could have kept buying batteries, but they aren’t being produced anymore, they’ve been sitting on a warehouse shelf for who knows how long. Thus losing their ability to hold a charge. Two hours, just isn’t enough. So I bought a tablet!
Specifically, the T-Mobile Springboard. Which is a rebranded product of China, the Huawei MediaPad. Certainly not the greatest thing out there, but at the time, pickings were slim and at $100 after the mail-in rebate, I’m happy that I did run with this tablet. It runs most apps with out issue, it’s screen is of great quality, it plays every file type I’ve thrown at it and the high point of this device, the battery lasts 12-15 hours streaming music and occasionally texting, surfing, or wandering Vimeo and Instagram. The lack lustre 5mp camera has consistantly disappiointed though. Having used this smaller sized tablet as My primary device for the last year, I wasn’t able to take calls with it, so the old G1 has still been in use. Until now!! I was able to grab an upgrade with lucky timing. Since the new Samsung Galaxy S III and Note 2 were on sale for $100 and $200 respectively, after a $100 mail-in rebate of course.
One week earlier and I would have gotten the S III phone, because it was $50.. But the Note 2 has a quad-core cpu, larger screen and larger battery. Otherwise they are pretty much the same. So, for $200, I have bought an up to date mobile device. I’ve always had some one else’s old crap, or something cheap and slow. It’s very nice to have a camera worth using, without having to whip out a dslr! The Note 2 has a good screen size/phone size, bigger than most phones, not any thicker though. Fits in any of My pockets, instead of only the back pockets, like the tablet. Haven’t encountered an app it won’t run and this thing powers through all that I have done with it so far, without a glitch. Internet browsing is pretty fast, I’ve always done My web surfing at home, but this is slowly changing.. If it lasts even half as long as the G1, this may be a worth while investment! These new phones are quite versatile, it’s a good time to finally be on the leading edge of the band wagon. Technology can be such a wonderful thing.
An obvious note: These phones are loaded with WAY TOO MUCH BLOATWARE! What a sham having to attempt to disable them, without voiding one’s warranty. You business jokers need to step up Your game and clean it up a bit! Why do You hate Your customers so much? At least give an option to remove the stuff, since most of Your customers don’t want it!
Winter has Arrived
Last night, it still looked like fall. The green of the grass was fading and leaves swirled about in the wind. Today however, we got a foot or so of snow. Wandering across town to pick up My Sister in law from work, I snapped a couple of pictures about half way through the downfall. No doubt, it’s winter now!
Turducken Test Run
Turducken is one of those things You hear about in an almost mythical fashion. A bird, stuffed into another type of bird, then shoved inside yet another kind of bird, with sausage and dressing packed between the layers. Sounds rediculous! Yet amazing! How ever does one end up creating such a thing? Thanks to those people that did…
Over the years, I have looked at recipes and methods online, even found some web sites that will sell You a ready to cook turducken. Considering what to cook for the upcoming holiday feast, this legendary dish kept coming to mind. So, for My first rendezvous with it, I oredered up a small, pre-made turducken. Having browsed many sites, I settled on Herbert’s Specialty Meats, which appears to be a cajun grocer of some variety. After browsing their dozen or so stuffing options, I opted to go with the “traditional” pork sausage and cornbread dressing. A wise choice.
Keeping with the theme, it arrived in a box, which had a foam box inside of it, containing a bag with a bit of dry ice and, another box. Happily, this last of the boxes contained a 10 or 12 pound turducken, residing inside a vacuum sealed bag. It appeared to be heavily seasoned on the outside, this however, was not the case. Once cooked, I sliced it in half and carved up one side of the meaty mass. It was quite delicious, but very bland in it’s seasoning. This did allow us to taste each different type of meat as We devoured the thick chunks I had sliced off of it. I will be serving this on xmas for sure! I think the flavors will have to be added to though. Maybe a sherry and cajun spice injection will boost the experience up another notch. My brother suggested a garlic and butter injection, perhaps both are in order… Two small turduckens should make a fine holiday treat. What a spectacle of food, this, turducken!
Family Radio
All through My childhood, My grandpa would sit in the chair, featured in the previous post, drinking His whiskey. Across the room, this radio would be emitting the sounds talk radio, or whatever baseball game was on at the time. My grandfather has been gone about 10 years now, but His radio is now perched prominently at My Aunt and Uncle’s house.
A Tale of Two Feasts
Thanksgiving, the gathering of foods and families that many of us look forward to year after year. Followed by Turkey Day, which is the Saturday following the traditional American holiday, as observed by My family and a few friends. While others are still picking over their left-overs, We proceed to make another whole Thanksgiving style meal. This works for us, since Thanksgiving is often done at other relatives houses and many have 2 or 3 gatherings to attend on the ‘Thursday of Fattening.’ Fortunately, just about every one in our extended family is a cook. There are a few chefs as well, so no matter who’s home You go to for the holidays, the food is always amazing!
On Thursday, I woke up, plucked My second of the five lemons from My little tree and the one next to it dropped down into the pot below. So I brought two lemons with, as My contribution to the feast to be enjoyed. As such, We rounded up the immediate family and headed across town to My Aunt and Uncle’s, where We consumed a delicious meal. Anchored by a fresh turkey, as juicy and tender as can be, wonderfully done. Happily, They already had a bit of a citrus theme going. My Uncle rapidly applied one of the freshly picked lemons to the asparagus He had going, then placed nice, thin slices into water goblets, to be filled with sparkling water, using the last bits to garnish the asparagus. It went well with the sweet potato and pear casserole type thing and it’s very citrus laden flavor.
Among the rest of the meal, was a ginger, orange chutney sauce. A nice suprise, as I loathe the canned cranberry sauce so many of us encounter on such a day. This may have looked like something similar, I assume it had cranberry as well, but was so much more. Thanks, given.
My Mom did all of the cooking for Turkey Day this year. Brining and then smoking the turkey, as has become the method for Us. Proper mashed potatoes, boiled, buttered and hand beaten to a chunky, but mashed state, skin on. Homemade gravy, thick and delicious, to tie everything together. The traditional green bean casserole, with crunchy fried onions atop of it. Along with one of Her best recipes, STUFFING, or dressing as some call it. Piles of intentionally stale, dry’ish wheat bread and cornbread, a mound of chopped mushrooms, onions and celery, many bowls worth of stock(or broth?) and several handfuls of herbs, mixed up and baked.. Then, two pies emerged, can’t leave with out a slice of that in My belly, right? Pumpkin, or apple? Both? Yeah, yummy stuff!
Turkey Day: Part II
I take a lot of pictures, but when someone points a camera at Me, I can’t help but to. .. …
Thanks for snapping these Burd!
I Picked My First Lemon!
I know that having such fruit trees around is normal for many people, but this is Minnesota! One must grow citrus in pots and haul them indoors for the winter. Thus, I am that odd guy who has ‘the glow’ of an artificial sun beaming out of My attic windows for a large part of the year.
Three years in and I am still learning how to keep all these little trees happy, with mixed success. My ‘Improved Meyer Lemon’ tree is not looking the greatest, yet it has 5 little lemons that are ripening, in this, it’s first year of fruiting. Well, there are only 4 now…
Buddha’s Hand Citron
Now, I have read about this variety of tree. I have seen pictures and sort of considered adding this variety to My little orchard in the attic. However, I had never actually seen or tasted the fruits of this tree, until now! What a pleasant lemonesque aroma and flavor. The only food I can think of that’s more interesting to look at would be romanesco brocolli.. Now I have to conjure up some dinner, to be seasoned with this cool looking fruit.
Hangin’ Out with My Brother
My Brother has taken up the challenge to make a monthly music video, to be released on Vimeo, YouTube and the like. Starting with some very basic ‘put a camera on a tripod and go’ type of approach. So, for His second installment, I did exactly that! I have never shot video with a dslr before, this was set it and forget it, all the way. We shall see where this video series leads. Hopefully, I’ll get to shoot several of them and gain some videography skills.For those interested, simply google ‘Felix 16:16’. His goal is to make a song, from beginning to end, drums to vocals, video and edit, all in one day. Meanwhile, I broke out the old XSi with the $100 Canon 50mm f1.8 lens and captured these, less the one taken with the T4i.. I do love taking pictures in low light without using a flash. This was really stretching the limits of the camera’s light intake capabilities.
Another Glance at Automass
And so, We are on the way…
We know how to eat on a long drive.. Sandwich anyone?
These next two pictures were taken by Kenda with My 450D.
We didn’t really hang out with any friends in Chicago. It was a bit of an ‘in and out’ type of venture. So on our way out, we made a point to drive up Lake Shore Drive. Sarah snapped these two from the car as We cruised along.
The following is perhaps the worst skyline photo in the land. However, it’s the only one we managed to get. Good job Sarah, through the back window of the car, in traffic. .. …
Love at First Spite
This has not been a good year in the garden for Me.. Most of the food stuffs I planted, did not take very well. Unlike last year, we didn’t work any compost or peat moss into the raised beds. I think that, in combination with the nearly two month delay in the arrival of spring, immediately followed by several weeks of extreme heat, really set things back. The carrots and parsnips have been puny and pathetic. The peas and beans have grown in a rather lack-lustre manor and the peppers, bak choi, spinach and tomatoes have been a joke. Even My citrus trees suffered from the odd weather. I started putting them Outside once the temps at night seemed to stop going below 55 degrees. Only to have My older keifer lime and younger blood orange bitten by frost. Happily, both have bounced back very well. Unlike the apple tree, which openned most of it’s flowers in a beautiful display, on a day temps dippped into the 30s. Needless to say, at least 75% of the pottential bounty promptly died off. With such slim pickings, the squirrels, who usually get most the apples, have taken nearly all of them.
I planted two varities of tomatoes for 2012, a cherry type called Gardener’s Delight and Cherokee Purple, which is often compared to Brandywine, but with a more robust flavor. Both were started in planters, indoors, late in the winter as usual. Then, spring didn’t bother showing up and they started dying. So I planted another round and waited for the weather to start warming, but it didn’t. Seven weeks after the ‘normal’ planting time, and 5 weeks after starting the second round of tomatoes, I finally put some in the ground. I should have just sewn in seeds, but I planted the best looking of the seedlings I had growing, even though they were stunted from being in tiny starter planters for 5 weeks. After 2 weeks showing no signs of change, both varieties started growing! The first flowers did not appear until the end of June. Both plants grew to about 2 feet, kicked out about half a dozen flowers and are yeilding 3 to 6 tomatoes. They have stopped growing taller and aren’t really flowering. It’s sad… Last Year I grew a pair of Hybrid Zebra Cherry Tomatoes, which are a cross of green and red zebra stripe cherry tomatoes. They grew taller than Me, delivering 1200ish amazingly yummy little morsels. Needless to say, I am quite disappointed in this year’s crop. Then, the very day I was going to pick My three Cherokee Purples, some hateful little critter stole two of them! Leaving them, partially eaten, on the ground nearby. So My crop is a solitary, scarred tomato that grew to only half the size of a usual C. P.
And so, in the twilight hours of the last day in July, I partook in the suprizingly delicious little thing. I’m not really a tomato person.. I grow them, mostly, cause they are good for You. But this thing was really good! I however, did it no justice. With My stomach growling, I broke out some tortillas, cheese, spinach and some ‘pulled bbq chicken’ from a plastic tub. It was pretty good, for a 4am food excursion. While eating it, I just couldn’t help but feel like I should have made something, well, better.. I wasted the best tomato I’ve ever tasted, the single fruit of My months long labor, on a bit of pre-packaged, over sugar’ed, microwaved, remnants of meat. At least I ate some of the tomato and snapped a couple pictures before constructing dinner. If things go better next year and they give more bounty and viable seeds, I’ll grow these Cherokee Purple Tomatoes forever!
Saint Paul Flavor
Here in the Twin Cities, there are many restaurants for foodies and hungry people to choose from. In My neighborhood, there are several notable establishments, along with tons of others, lining the milage of University Avenue. This five mile strip of ‘Uni’ has been home to two fine Saint Paul traditions.. Until a few years ago, University was THE cruising place for car enthusiasts of all denominations. A decades long hot spot, with crowds on any given friday or saturday numbering in the five figures. Naturally, those people needed to eat, so there has been no shortage of the other of University’s defining features… Family restaurants!
For many of My friends, Tay Ho is the place to go. Providing the right combination of tasty food, nicely sized portions and reasonable prices. They have risen to be one of the best places in Saint Paul for family dining and for those who simply wish to perform acts of sheer gluttony, without paying a ton. Sadly, all of the food establishments along University have been hurting. Starting around the turn of the century, the city started ‘aggressively discouraging’ the cruising crowd from using the traditional strip as their gathering point. Then, two years ago and ongoing today, from the U of M campus, to the State Capitol grounds, the city started to install a light rail line. The cruising scene has scattered and effectively died. Leaving restaurants hanging, struggling to get more people coming through their doors. Only to be discouraged by the fact that University is ripped up and under construction for a total of three or four years. It’s been rough for most of the small businesses along University. Both of My favorite food spots have closed down, for good.
So, when a friend asked Me to take some pictures of food for Her favorite restaurant, I was happy to jump on it. Clearly, I’ve taken pictures of food before, but not food cooked by someone else. So it was a rather fun experiment for Me. I’ve long been a fan of Vietnamese food. To have so many dishes placed on a table before Me, one after another, round after round, was a wonderful experience. The cooking at Tay Ho is handled by a father and son duo, with other family members filling in where they’re needed. There was no money involved on this endeavor, the food was the payment. I didn’t set up any lights, just placed things on a table about 5 feet from the solitary window in a back room of the restaurant and started taking pictures of everything that came before Me. It’s obvious why so many people in frogtown flock to this place. The people in the kitchen here, care about the food they prepare and it shows. Next time I want a large bowl of soup, I know where I’m going!
More Than Enough!?!?
I have been collecting blades of many varieties for years now. Mostly, they all sit packed away in storage, doing nothing in the dark. Occasionally they need to be cleaned off and oiled up, to help prevent corrosion, which is what I did today.. It’s been a while since I pulled out this many swords at once, so naturally I had to take some pictures!
Don’t ask Me why I have so many blades. Our species went several millenia relying primarily on the sword, spear and bow to survive in this world. Most of the time these tools were passed down through several generations of families, tribes, or, in many cases, to the foes who vanquished the original owners. A well cared for blade can last for thousands of years.. Admittedly however, some of mine probably won’t last more than a hundred years. Those being the ‘claymore’ and broad sword near the middle of the above picture. While most of My Japanese style swords are made of high’ish quality materials, those two swords are made of stainless and 440 grade steels respectively. Which is certainly the reason they costed Me less than half the price of My cheapest katana.
Many people will say that such items are simply not needed in todays world, or that no one needs to own something designed solely for destroying flesh and bone. Those people have probably never held a sword! There is an indescribable feeling that one can become consumed with, simply by holding such a tool in Your hands. Feeling the weight of it and observing the craftsmanship conjures a primal feeling that I’ve only encountered by two other meens in this world. Firslty, being chased by an aggressive animal, such as a dog.. Yes, I am comparing posession of large bladed weaponry to that which is most encountered now a days by mail carriers! The knowledge that if You don’t escape very rapidly, Your life may very well be over..!! The other thing that I’ve found delivers this ‘primal’ feeling is eating meat off the bone. The hunter/gatherers that spawned our varied cultures would know exactly what I’m talkig about! They had to wander out, stalk and slay the beasts that we now raise in warehouses. Unlike You, or I, who just wander to a store and hand over some worthless paper or plastic in exchange for said meat, Our ancestors’ lives were almost entirely consumed by creating, maintaining and using the tools needed to stay alive. Modern hunters will readily relay stories of heartbreak over that deer they didn’t kill. Maybe it would’ve fed their children for month or two! They will also tell You of the heartwarmng joy They experience when they do bag that buck. The elation felt by all humans, before a hundred or so Years ago. The notion that: I GET TO CONTINUE TO EXIST!
If the ancients took up the attitude of Our politicians and the anti-weapon movement, We quite simply, would not exist. They would have starved to extinction in a cave, knowing that if they stepped outside, the lions, tigers and bears would have done as they pleased with them. So, when, not if, but when the social bonds that hold us together, buckle and break and You’ve got no tools to defend Your family, or to bring home food, there is a wild beast down the street, carrying a gun and You may very well become their prey. It’s called natural selection! By forgetting the lessons of our ancestors, casting away the methods used to get our species to this point and blindly proclaiming that tools such as the sword, are somehow a bain on our society. We have lost the sustainable life style that put us here. I understand this, hunters understand this, traditional farmers do too, as do the gansters and thugs that live across the street
Most of us hope that such a time never comes, but if it does, I still don’t have enough armaments to supply My family, friends and neighbors.. Do You? If You do, do You have the skills and knowledge to utilise the tools You have? Here is an even scary’er question for You: Who in Your area does and are they on ‘Your side’? If the peace loving, intelligent people are also the un-armed, lacking the knowledge of stalking prey, where to dig wells and the splendor of crop rotation, what kind of future are We gonna have really? Damn, I need to buy more swords. Maybe I should take a cue from those gangsters and start buying guns..??
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