text:
Eating Wontons & Watching the Grass Grow.
May 2, 2011 § 5 Comments
I have great news! The porch is ready!
Anyone that knows me will freely admit that I have a habit of creating jobs for myself. Not only is our kitchen table covered in To-Do-Lists for immediate jobs, but also to-do-lists for longer term jobs and to-do-lists for backup jobs that I could do if I ran out of jobs. Needless to say, I don't understand free time.
For some reason I thought that the move to America would teach me to chill out a bit more. Perhaps even sit back and smell the roses. But then I realised – we had no roses to smell. Unfortunately for NB, this was the beginning of the end for our free weekends and not until two months later was the garden deemed finished.
Alas, this is not all. As I was standing outside in the early morning light, admiring our handy work and whispering sweet nothings to our darling little seedlings, I was struck by how grubby the back porch appeared in comparison. Oh dear. At this stage NB threw up his hands in despair and retreated to the safety of Family Guy reruns, and to be honest I can hardly blame him. Fortunately for me FoodieFresh was happy to don her painting shorts and a few weekends ago we made 5 hours of serious progress.
It was somewhere around here that the project stagnated. Admittedly the state was being ravaged by terrible storms, of which we were getting the tail end, and we were also busy with various eating engagements, but to be honest I think I had just run out of steam.
Saturday arrived and I was busy in the kitchen preparing for a little dinner soiree that night. We had some friends coming over who had lived in Sydney when we were there (they only returned to America a few months before we did) and NB and I thought it would be a good idea to relive the Thai scene that is so dominant back home. Lost as I was in marinating ribs, grating ginger and folding dumplings, that is was a couple of hours before I realised that I hadn't heard a peep out of NB!
With a trail of shredded cabbage falling behind me, I went searching.
And wouldn't you know it, there he was out on the porch finishing the painting. Hurrah!!
Ace of Spade's delicious butter biscuit shortbread with strawberries and cream
That night, as I chinked my prosecco glass with our guests, I made a little promise to myself that next weekend we would relax…Do you believe me?
Sticky Asian Spare Ribs (the style that an Aussie girl can be proud to present in the South)
Serves 4.
1.5kg (3 1/4 lb), or 16 American-style pork spare ribs
3/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tbl grated ginger
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 tsp sesame oil
1/2 cup Chinese rice wine
2 tsp Chinese five spice powder
2 tablespoons sugar
Pinch chilli flakes and a squeeze of lime.
Bring a large crockpot of water to the boil and blanch ribs, rinsing and refreshing under cold water.
Mix marinade together in a large ceramic baking dish and toss ribs to coat. Cover and allow to marinate for 4+ hours, or overnight.
Preheat oven to 160C/ 280F and remove ribs from fridge, allowing to return to room temperature.
Leaving the baking dish covered with foil, cook ribs for 3 hours or until meat begins to flake off bone. Remove from oven and stand, covered, for 15-20 minutes.
For thicker sauce, drain some of the sauce from the baking dish into a saucepan and bring to the boil, whisking constantly until thick.
Serve with steamed rice.
Miss Chu – Rice Paper Queen: Darlinghurst
January 5, 2011 § 8 Comments
When I decided to move to the other side of the world I didn't fully grasp the amount of effort it would take! In hindsight, packing up my life and moving during the Christmas/New Year/ Summer Party season was not my finest thought! Somehow I have been trying to organise myself in between sipping cocktails, cooking BBQs and catching a few summer rays before the Northern winter. Through all this I've found that it's the little things that take the longest amount of time, like choosing which novels I have to leave behind or remembering to change the address for my FlyBuys card (which reminds me…!)
But it's really the last minute eating that is stressing me out! NB and I have nibbled (and gorged) our way through some amazing Sydney eats, but I'm still feeling weighed down (pardon the pun) with that – oh we should have gone there! – feeling.
These thoughts have seen us diligently crossing off a few extra locals over the past few days. Grill'd served up some top-notch steak sandwiches, herbed chips and vege burgers. While Sushi Yachiyo outshone its reviews with the nicest edamame I've had in Sydney, as well as hot fried agedashi tofu, melt in the mouth wagyu cheek, light and crunchy tempura, pork-filled gyoza (we were obviously on a health binge that day!) and a neat plate of nigiri sashimi.
The Delivery Vehicle! You ling, I bling!!
It's time like these that also require you to pop in to Messina for an afternoon scoop of choc-mint gelato or get a tub of WowCow frozen yoghurt with crushed almonds and M&Ms for the walk down William St. Or you might find yourself ordering 'The Inferno' from Danny's La Bussola Pizza even though it's Tuesday night and only days after a New Year's resolution of healthy eating…(actually the resolution was to use less technology. Fail.)
AsI leave Sydney on Saturday and head back home for my last two weeks in Aussie-land I decided to spend today
chilling out at the beach packing, something that tends to leave me hot and bothered. Now picture this, it's midday, you have two days left in Sydney and should be hanging with the cool kids but instead you find yourself sitting on the floor in a room surrounded by clothes, books, hairdryers, handbags, skipping ropes and gym mats. It's simply a recipe for disaster (like that time I forgot to put the caster sugar in the orange and poppyseed cake – & I'm not even lying!) Enter NB and the grand suggestion that we take a wander down William St to eat lunch at Miss chu – Rice Paper Queen (which had moved to the top of the must-try list ).
I want to sound like Usher when I say "oh oh oh oh oh oh ohhhmygod"
We lined up at the tuckshop and our food came ready in a paper bag and cute little boxes. I just love the packaging!
The Fresh Spring Rolls with Duck & Banana Flower ($8 for 2)
We ordered 2 lots of steamed dumplings, the Shanghai pork were my favourite although the Asian vegetable with garlic chives were also nice, a duck pancake that received great reviews from NB, a pork char sui bun (not normally my thing with all the dough but this was pretty darn tasty! Just like pork stew in soft bread) and a serve of duck and banana flower fresh spring rolls (from which they get their namesake). The fresh spring rolls were so packed full of herby goodies, not just the obligatory noodle, although you definitely need the dipping sauce for that added flavour hit. But I loved that they made me feel incredibly healthy and self-satisfied! Add to this two bottles of water and it still comes to a total under $30 (you can't get two sandwiches in Sydney for that price anymore!) .
Pork Steamed Dumplings $5 for 3
Parting words?
Why oh Why did we not try this place before?!?!
December 21, 2010 § 7 Comments
When was the last time you were truly spoilt? For me it was Wednesday, December 8, when the amazing NB took me to dinner at Tetsuyas.
I remember receiving my first subscription to delicious. magazine in 2004 when I was fifteen years old. It was around this time that degustation had become the new black, Tetsuyas was on fire and I was sitting at home in a small country town bemoaning the fact that I would never experience a romantic dinner at this great institution. I'm sure many of you can empathise! So when NB told me that there was no way we're leaving Australia without going to Tetsuyas first…it was a dream come true!
Here is a quick run down of the day:
- 6:00 AM teach pilates in Alexandria where I share excited gossip with Fit-Mama-Chef who had recently visited Tetsuyas for her birthday. I now understand why her eyes glazed over with mention of ocean trout confit!
- 10:30 AM have a session with my PT who kills me with compound-weight exercises and then suggests that the best remedy for aching triceps is dinner at Tetsuyas (and possibly an epsom salt bath!)
- Midday Meet AB for a coconut water and a handful of nuts – I'm trying to save my appetite. We spend a few hours lolling around down at Bondi (ps – how civilised is my life sounding right now?!!?)
- 2pm Decide I really need to eat something lest I collapse and decide to head home for a bowl of peas and a white peach. I then lay on the carpet and read every site that mentioned Tetsuyas
- 4pm Begin the 'Princessification' process
- 6pm…still fiddling around with hair and nails and dresses and realise I am running late to get the bus
- Meet NB at Town Hall and we walk to Kent St
- 7:30pm Enter Tetsuyas with two door men, a maitre d, and a fourth waiter to show us to our seats
- *gasp**squeal**giggle**sigh*
And then it began. Fleur was our waitress for the run down of the menu and our go-to-girl should there be any problems. She kept an eye on our drinks waiter, refilled our bread and checked to make sure the pace of the food was enjoyable (it was). When she sat us she asked if we were there on an occasion – umm yeah – the occasion is that my boyfriend's awesome! Then we had a waiter to top up our water glasses and take our wine orders and another to bring the food to the table.
The ten-course degustation is $210 pp and there is an option for matching wines at $95 pp but after speaking with Fit Mama Chef, who found herself a bit giggly around the fifth course, and reminding myself that I had to be in the gym at 6:30 the next morning, we decided to order drinks as we went. The wine list is an absolute tome, I'm sure it's one of the finest in Sydney, and it was a tough decision that led me to a Viognier from the Adelaide Hills. NB tried a couple of different beers.
The place is incredible, broken up into three or four (or five?!) dining rooms that felt, like NB said, as though you were eating in someone's rather fancy home rather than a restaurant. In the room we were seated there were 11 tables, so you had plenty of private space to whisper sweet-nothings or whatever it is people do on such occasions…The glass wall looks onto Tetsuyas Japanese garden with a real-life sized waterfall and a pond that I imagined would be full of golden carp. As the evening darkened and little white lights twinkled outside, I felt as though we were in a fairytale.
The presentation of the food was second to none – a dust of celery here, a swipe of avocado soup there, a sprouting of sea cucumber. While I wish I had photos to share it just didn't seem like the appropriate thing to do. So instead I'll write out the menu and let your imagination run wild! Any last words?
Oh My God.
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Chilled Cucumber Soup with Sheep Yoghurt Ice Cream
Sashimi of Kingfish with Blackbean & Orange
Marinated NZ Scampi with Avocado Soup & Avruga
Confit Petuna Ocean Trout with Konbu, Celery & Apple
Fillet of Mulloway with Asparagus & Pil Pil
Braised Ox Tail with Sea Cucumber & Yuzu
Pancetta Wrapped Quail Breast with Fresh Sprouts & Onion
Seared Veal Fillet with Sea Urchin and Wasabi Butter
Blood Orange Sorbet and Summer Pudding
Golden Peach with Peach Granita
Chocolate Pavé with Cream Cheese Ice Cream & Cinnamon Twigs
Chai Mochi
Noodle Markets, Yum Cha and Zilver, Haymarket.
November 4, 2010 § 6 Comments
I once said that, if I were a parent, then DOCS would come after me with the way I've neglected the Strawberry Patch. Since that day I vowed to stay committed, even when uni and all the rest of it threaten to devour my last speck of free time like NB would devour a tub of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. But the past two weeks have been a bit manic, I have seven days left of my university career and choosing to blog instead of write, record and edit a radio documentary, present an advertising campaign and conjure a 3000 word creative response to the bush trope from the depths of my exhausted brain didn't seem like the smartest idea at this stage of the game.
During the mania there have been a couple of cheese toast nights, a couple of burnt cheese toast nights, a couple of emotional breakdown nights and a couple of dumpling nights. The former aren't of much interest (note – closing the oven door when the grill is melting your cheese will set off smoke alarms from the kitchen to the living room as soon as you reopen the door). But the latter was quite a delicious excursion into the world of Asian morsels.
It all started a couple of weeks ago during the Crave Sydney Night Noodle Markets when NB and I fronted up on a cold, blustery Tuesday night to sample prawn dumplings, beef rendang and nasi goreng. We smiled at the dancing dragon, perved on other people's plates and commented on the lack of actual noodle dishes amid okonomiyaki, chicken satay, san choy bau and tandoori.
Then, the following Sunday my oriental experience continued with a girl excursion to the Chinese Gardens to dress up in princess costumes and then head on to Yum Cha for a late brunch.
This was actually my first yum cha experience, if you can believe it, even after living in Sydney for three years! I've always had a love affair with the simple dumpling, its silky casing, plump, moist filling, and interesting accompaniments and sauces make me far happier than they should. I like being able to go and buy a single dumpling as a late afternoon pick-me-up from the stalls at Bondi Junction's Saturday food markets, yet I've never rallied the troops and made a meal out of it.
So after we had had enough of posing as Chinese princesses, it was time to return kimonos and put the Yum back in the Cha. We went to Zilver, Haymarket (477 Pitt Street) an enormous three room space that still required a 25 minute waiting list to seat all the hungry patrons.
Once inside though the carts come up beside you as fast as a hyperactive sibling in a dodgem car. Get ready for fast decisions, this is thinking on your feet in a foreign language kind of dining.
Yes prawn steamed dumplings.
Yes weird looking spongey vegetable.
No thankyou chicken feet (not my choice, I wanted to try them).
Despite a continuous misunderstanding regarding jugs of water, the service was really on the ball and the food was pretty top notch – think seafood inspired dumplings and mango/cream filled rolls that make you want to use adjectives like velvety, sumptuous and plump. Our favourite dish was a plate of plain noodles dressed in a sticky peanut/oyster kind of sauce.
We left feeling rotund, content and, for less than $20 a head, not bankrupt. Now that's my kind of eating.
Yum (cha!!)
iiza, Newtown
July 6, 2010 § 2 Comments
My friend DM hosts THE best dinner parties – they are stylish, laid back delicious affairs with an abundance of candles, strategically placed cheese platters, fabulous conversation and, if you're lucky, even a costume change by the host! The most recent soiree was centered around a giant pot of Persian chicken with Israeli couscous, a recipe he was given by one of the customers at his cafe. It was here, while sipping a glass of riesling, that I made friends with a fellow Nippon-addict. The following is an excerpt from #58 in Stuff White People Like – Japan
If you find yourself in an awkward silence with white people, just mention how you want to go to Japan. They will immediately begin talking about how their trip to Japan, or their favorite stuff from Japan, but it will be entirely about them. This is useful as you no longer have to talk, and they will like you for letting them talk about themselves.
I'm sorry Christian Lander but I have fallen into the trap. I love Japan, I love eating Japanese food and ever since I spent time visiting Japan I have found it necessary to make comments like: "This is good but I was spoilt by the food I experienced in Japan."
I. Like. White. People. Stuff.
But I'm glad the conversation turned to Asia as not only did I make a new friend and fellow foodie, but we organised a date to iiza, a relatively new Japanese restaurant on King St, Newtown.
Deeply rooted in the Japanese culture, izakaya's are one of the most traditional and popular eating establishments in Japan. Evolved from the rustic, lively eateries of old they offer a casual, vibrant and friendly atmosphere for locals to eat, drink, chat and relax at the end of the day. To the Japanese, they are much more than just a place to eat and drink. They are part of their culture and lifestyle.
We arrived just after 7:30 on a very cold Tuesday night, lucking upon a nearby car space and shuffling our way into the eatery. You are immediately hit with a sense of pared back authenticity and a lack of kitsch that often adorns the walls of many Thai, Indian and Japanese restaurants. We were seated at the back of the smallish space, near the kitchen where it was toasty warm, and watched as the room quickly filled with diners. One of our party had brought a bottle of wine so we were glad to see BYO was available, with $2 corkage pp (pretty reasonable considering the extensive list of sake, wines and beers that iiza offer).
Apart from AB and myself, the rest of our party had eaten here before and suggested we order a selection to graze and share, and we can order more as we go if necessary. Meltingly soft Agedashi Tofu 揚げ出し豆腐 ($7.50), Yakitori Skewers 焼き鳥 ($6.80) and Grilled Scallops 焼き帆立 ($9.50) had apparently hit the spot the first time round and were considered for re-selection. The menu isn't enormous but long enough – and delicious enough – to cause hesitation, so we had finished our first bottle of white with still no decisions made. It was time to stop dallying and get to business. What we ordered for starters:
- The Tofu
- Wagyu Beef Tataki 牛のタタキ ($9.80)
- Nasu Dengaku なす田楽 (Sliced eggplant topped with Japanese Dengaku miso) ($8)
What we loved:
- The Tofu
- Wagyu Beef Tataki 牛のタタキ ($9.80)
- Nasu Dengaku なす田楽 (Sliced eggplant topped with Japanese Dengaku miso) ($8)
This food tastes, I'm going to say it, just like what I ate in Japan. Sadly there was only enough for the five of us to have one piece of everything …I could have devoured the lot!
The tofu was gooey on the outside, like toffee that had been left too long in the sun, nestling the white whey of bean curd within it's sticky grasp. It was cooked perfectly, the sensation was warm and soft, and the accompanying dashi sauce perfectly complemented the delicate tofu.
Next up was beef tataki, sweet and sour hits with melt in your mouth wagyu slices. It received a thumbs up from AB, who isn't a major meat eater. The miso sauce on the eggplant was also a star, favourably strong against the absorbing vegetable, and the dish was soon gone.
A strange arrival was the Tuna Sashimi Taco サシミタコス ($15 for 5 pieces), diced tuna sashimi in fried wonton cups with tomato salsa. I'm still umming about this one – I don't know if I like my raw fish on fried crackers – but the others thought it went down a treat. I wanted to try Aburi Sashimi 炙り刺身 – flame seared sashimi topped with Saikyo miso dressing & dried garlic miso. Next time.
Another glass of plum wine and we are on to mains, conversation circling about the best places to eat and suburb snobbery.
I had read John Bek describe eating the crispy soft shell crab as a "truly zen moment" and new I had to have it – somewhere, anywhere, during the dinner. We decided on a Spider Roll スパイダーロール ($14.50) – with soft shell crab and seasoned daikon radish and this was amazing, although it almost seems wasteful to hide the crab in the rice. I wished we had ordered another!
Next came a Karage Chicken から揚げ ($15), apparently a must have, and I'm glad that we did have. Somehow we got on to the topic of KFC and the fact that I had never tried their popcorn chicken. The verdict? If I loved the light crisp outside and meaty breast filling of this karage, then best steer clear of the Colonel for ever!
Last time the others had tried the Kakuni Pork Belly 豚角煮 ($19) and highly recommended it, but we thought we should venture into unmapped territory, such as the Gyu-suji Nikomi 牛スジ煮込み ($19) – a wagyu miso hot-pot. The flavours are rich, the meat is stewy and the whole warming concotion was the perfect order for that cold winter night…although I still marvel at the three slices of garlic bread on the side.
We finished with Teriyaki Salmon 照焼きサーモン ($22) with rice and ummed and ahhed about ordering more (later that night when I was in my kitchen eating cereal I wish that we had!) But it's nice to save some surprises for next time, gyoza shaped surprises, green-tea soba noodle salad shaped surprises and a ribbon of pork belly! Oh how I love the anticipation of eating!
Cooking Grilled Vietnamese Fish and Eating at Red Lantern Vietnamese
June 12, 2010 § Leave a comment
Thomas H. Palmer first said, "if at first you don't succeed try, try again" to encourage American schoolchildren with their homework. Well, feeling somewhat like a child myself this week by only drinking milk that had been disguised with vanilla flavouring, I have now found a soy milk that I like! Persistence pays off it seems! The champion of my kitchen is So Good Lite Soy, which actually tastes pretty close to real milk when it's cold (but something changes in the taste when it's heated and I still don't like it in my tea). What a breakthrough for the week!
I have also found a recipe for almond milk which I will try over the next couple of days, I bought my big bag of almonds yesterday, it's not cheap to make but per litre the drink is $5.50 so I may as well try my own! Will keep you posted on how it goes!
On Thursday night I cooked a divine Vietnamese dish using coconut milk – the recipe called for coconut cream but Dairy Free For Dummies warned that coconut cream often contains milk solids, and while the ingredients in a jar of Ayam coconut cream seemed fine (coconut kernel extract, water, vegetable gum) I still used lite coconut milk.
Here is the recipe:
Cha ca (Vietnamese grilled fish)
In a food processor: 3 garlic cloves (chopped), 5 cm piece ginger (peeled, chopped), 3 long red chillies (chopped), 2 tbs fish sauce, 2 tsp ground tumeric, 1/2 red onion (thinly sliced) – blend all with 2 tbs water to form a smooth paste.
Heat 2 tbs sunflower oil over medium heat, fry the other half of the red onion (thinly sliced). When soft and slightly golden, add 1/2 cup chopped dill and paste, then simmer, stirring occassionally for 10 minutes.
Add 400ml coconut milk, and simmer for 18-20 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened and reduced by a third. Stand at room temperature for an hour or chill on fridge overnight to allow flavours to develop (I didn't do this and it was still fine!)
Heat paste (if you let it stand) and add 600g ling (or other skinless white fish fillets) – cut into 3cm cubes. (I had chicken thighs in the freezer and used them instead, worked well). Coat meat with sauce and allow to cook for 5-8 minutes. Squeeze the juice of 2 limes and stir through. (Here I added a handful of snow peas, 1 thinly sliced red capsicum and 1 head broccoli that I had partially cooked in the microwave).
Serve with 200g rice vermicelli noodles or brown rice (1 cup uncooked rice = 4 serves) and mint sprigs, coriander, thinly sliced red chilli, chopped peanuts.
On the Vietnamese theme, NB and I ate at Red Lantern on Crown St last night, somewhere I had been dying to try for ages! And I'll admit that I did fall off the band wagon and knowingly ordered dishes that contained dairy…Sorry! I'll add another two days on the end of my DF week to make up for it!
On the plus side, the dinner was fantastic! I am a huge fan of Vietnamese, the flavours are so fresh and clean, and this place was a real stand out. Fortunately we were able to get a table straight away when we arrived at 8:30, last time we tried to go the wait was going to be over 90 minutes. The waitstaff were friendly and efficient and it didn't take long to decide what to eat.
We started with fresh rice paper rolls with duck and enoki mushroom and a couple of triple 3 beers. Unfortunately for NB they didn't have soup, although the waiter said everyone had been asking so maybe they'll make some changes for the winter. We also missed out on the last of the scrumptious looking specials, but not to worry, it's just another excuse to go back.
In the end we ended up with masses of food in three dishes:
- Ga Chien Don (crisp skinned pasture raised chicken) – oh my goodness, that skin, there had to be butter involved in getting it that crispy!
- Bo Luc Lac (cubed pasture fed Black Angus sirloin tossed in a flaming wok with garlic butter and sesame),
- Rau Cai Xao Lang (organic seasonal wok fried vegetables with rice noodles), which impressed NB – fried rice connoisseur – more than he was expecting!
I also had one of their signature cocktails, with blended lychee and soursop – amazing – and nicer than the lychee cocktail that I tried from Longrain. Also, I saw that if you go with a group of four or more you can order a fantastic looking tasting menu for $55 a head. Overall, highly recommended!
Uchi Lounge – Japanese satisfies a dairy free diet
June 9, 2010 § 1 Comment
Day Three
Well I'm on day three and still going strong…my friends questioned my ability to 'stay off the milk' as it were, but so far so good. The only problem is the new addiction of vanilla flavoured milk on my cereal – that just can't be good for you!
Last night NB and I went to Uchi Lounge, a little Japanese restaurant tucked away on Brisbane Street in Surry Hills, which had been highly recommended by one of our friends. I figured that any soy/tofu based week was the perfect opportunity to indulge in some Japanese cuisine.
A night without rain, can you even imagine?! – For those of you not in Sydney it has been raining nearly constantly here for the past month – But just in case the weather planned to change I decided to drive to the restaurant so I can let you know that there is nearby parking, although you may have to drive around for a while to find a spot. (After 7pm the parking meters will only cost about $5 and be sure to check Commonwealth St and some of the little alleys…or Liverpool St at a stretch).
Reviews about this place are mixed, a lot of diners have commented on the dishes being 'uninspired', while others think it's the perfect place to go for a first date (perhaps their idea of a first date is somewhat underwhelming in itself?!). The best reviews have been of the downstairs bar with it's massive list of Sake, which we didn't try but maybe that's the drawcard.
Upstairs in the restaurant there was only one other table occupied, two men finishing up their post-work dinner. It's always awkward when there are more restaurant staff than diners, for the four of us eating there was also a waitress, a girl behind the bar and two men in the kitchen. We should have all sat down together and relaxed over glasses of Sapporo, on tap.
The lack of diners, which will usually affect the feel of the place, actually didn't dampen the ambience. The room was dimly lit but not unmanageably dark in the trend of many Sydney restaurants, decorated with the certain minimalism that feels appropriate for Japanese eateries. The chairs were comfortable, another tick, although we kept running out of room on our small table. However the staff weren't exactly exuding warmth, the one waitress asked if we were ready to order while I was obviously still reading the menu and then tried to take away our plate of gyoza when there was still one left. I later heard her discussing the desserts with the men next to us and, upon asking for her recommendations, said she had only tried one of the dishes and wouldn't know what the chef would recommend but maybe the apples would be manageable. I hope they would be manageable if they are on the menu.
We started with gyoza and edamame (getting my soy/calcium and vitamin B hit!). The food came out straight away, which is a questionable sign in itself I think, and the gyoza were filled with a fluffed tofu but they were cold on the inside and really had no flavour, we ended up dunking them in bowls of soy sauce. The edamame were also cold, I think taken straight out of the fridge, and again we couldn't really taste the salt covering.
Mains were much better. We ordered a wagyu and potato casserole (an interesting word to see on a Japanese restaurant, it's really more a hotpot/steamboat type meal). This was lovely. Really thin strips of melt in your mouth beef with thick slices of potato, although more meat and less spud would have been even better. The broth was extremely drinkable, there's a certain taste that I'm yet to pinpoint, which takes me back to spending time in Japan, eating Udon at a Samurai theme park in the mountains of Nikko. We also had a beautiful sashimi platter – scallops, tuna, salmon, kingfish – which tasted sliced fresh to serve, not chilled. And yes, that is a giant rock and a giant shell on your plate.
Overall, the presentation gets a tick, the service not so much, and the food goes both ways, it might be the luck of what your order on the night, although I would happily recommend the wagyu and sashimi without feeling that I may jeopardise my reputation as a foodie!
Saying that, I probably wouldn't go back to this place, it's not exactly cheap, and while I'm happy to pay for quality I think Uchi Lounge is a little too hit and miss to spend $90.
Back home I had a cup of cocoa (yes made on vanilla soy) and a scoop of So Good Chocolate Bliss (ice cream substitute!). Pretty delicious with new season pears!


text:
Principles of Shared Responsibility in International Law: An Appraisal of the State of the Art by André Nollkaemper and Ilias Plakokefalos
English | 2014 | ISBN: 1107078512 | 400 pages | PDF | 2 MB
English | 2014 | ISBN: 1107078512 | 400 pages | PDF | 2 MB
The Shared Responsibility in International Law series examines the underexplored problem of allocation of responsibilities among multiple states and other actors. The International Law Commission, in its work on state responsibility and the responsibility of international organisations, recognised that attribution of acts to one state or organisation does not exclude possible attribution of the same act to another state or organisation, but has provided limited guidance on allocation or reparation. From the new perspective of shared responsibility, this volume reviews the main principles of the law of international responsibility as laid down in the Articles on State Responsibility and the Articles on Responsibility of International Organizations, such as attribution of conduct, breach, circumstances precluding wrongfulness and reparation. It explores the potential and limitations of current international law in dealing with questions of shared responsibility in areas such as military operations and international environmental law.

subset: commoncrawl


text: Broke down. Yes...Broke down today... My spouse is starting to work as a loan officer, thus we decided it's best she get a 'cellular phone'. I'm unsure if you, the reader, are familiar with this gagetry, but it seems one can carry a phone with them, cordless and everything, and people can call one at any time - provided the phone is within a 'communication cell' - an area in which the phone can reach a 'cellular phone tower/antenna'. I think it's witchcraft myself...but we've decided to bite the bullet on this one and go for it. Soon, we'll receive two phones via '2nd day air' from some company called 'UPS'. weird. I think we're the last people we know who, up until we get the phones, did not have such devices.


text:
It's Week 4 of my "File It Friday" series – this week's free printable (click here) is for keeping track of your home service providers.
It's the place to record the provider who fixed your leaky roof, the one who hung your bathroom wallpaper, the pest control service that got ride of those pesky ants, etc. In addition to recording the name of the service provider, the type of service performed, and their contact information, I gave you two lines to take notes about each provider so you can remember if this was the great plumber who fixed the leak at a reasonable price or the one who arrived two hours late and never really fixed the problem. For my Home File, I also bought some business card pages to put under my Service Providers tab so I have an organized place to keep related business cards for easy reference. You can find these at any office supply store and they are relatively inexpensive – about $4 for a pack of ten pages that hold a total of 200 business cards.
If you haven't been in on this Home File project from the get-go, here are the blog posts with the links to the free printables from previous weeks:
Do your Presidents' Day weekend plans include hitting any sales? IKEA always has great deals over holiday weekends – for the weekend of Presidents' Day, they have a deal each day with some substantial savings if you're in the market for sheets, pillows, or a duvet cover set.
You also get free breakfast and coffee all three days before 11:00 am – love that!
- Arhaus is having a Warehouse Sale with 20-60% off floor models, discontinued, and overstocked items (there are usually some great deals to be had at these sales!)
- Z Gallerie has 15% off all art and all furniture over $750
- Pottery Barn has several sales including 20% off all baskets
- West Elm has 20% off all accent tables
- World Market has sales on framed art & wall decor, window panels & hardware, and coffee, end, & console tables.
- Crate and Barrel has 20% off all bedding


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Glenmorangie Cask Masters Tasting
Posted by Tom
Initially i thought i was going to be working all this week so pretty much any plans to do anything would be out the window, but it will be at least another week before i start so when i was asked if i would like to attend a whisky tasting of the Glenmorangie Cask Masters series I was over the moon at being able to attend.
As is the norm at this type of event the evening started with some Glenmorangie based whisky cocktails before we were introduced to the idea behind the Glenmorangie Cask Masters series before being led through a tutored tasting by Glenmorangie's Dr Bill Lumsden.
Dr Bill Lumsden
Dr Bill explained a bit more about the cask range and that each of the whiskies was approx 14-17 years old and had been matured initially in bourbon before being extra matured for around 7 years in their respective new casks.
My notes from the evening are below, the young gentleman in each of the pictures below is Mally Graveson (@mallygraveson) who really couldn't decide on which one he liked best and in the first picture is accompanied by Daniel Juett (@Rlemkit) who seemed to be one of the few that preferred Cask A:-
Glenmorangie Cask Masters Cask A
Cask A is extra matured in a Grand Cru Burgundy wine cask, being that i'm not normally a fan of wine or wine finishes i was a bit sceptical before nosing this but there was none of the wine influence i was expecting just a wealth of lovely fruity plum like notes, almost like a port finish, as well as natural truffles and the sweetness from homemade rum truffles.
|Bottle Name
|Glenmorangie Cask Masters Cask A
|Approx 14-17
|light fresh fruity not as winey as I was expecting there's some lovely plum notes and something a touch more earthy in there also and a touch of both natural and homemade truffles
|dark chocolate home made rum truffles there's a definite wine note in here like a summer fruit compote
|dry and tannic
Glenmorangie Cask Masters Cask B
Another wine finish, this time in a Grand Cru Bordeaux cask, and another whisky that doesn't taste "winey" which is great for me, there was some really big marmalade notes in here and the tropical fruit on the palate was devine, definitely my type of whisky.
|Bottle Name
|Glenmorangie Cask Masters Cask B
|Approx 14-17
|big notes of fresh seville orange marmalade intermixed with light fresh lemon and tropical fruits especially pineapple and mango
|juicy tropical fruits and ecuadorian dark chocolate with a touch of a menthol note that reminds me of Astar
|sweet and minty menthol
Glenmorangie Cask Masters Cask C
The last of the 3 casks has been matured in Manzanilla Sherry casks and i really was expecting a lot more Christmas Cake like fruit notes but it's more nutty and got more punch than that. It's definitely a lovely dram but I was a bit disappointed in it not being quite as fruity as i'd hoped so was a little let down.
|Bottle Name
|Glenmorangie Cask Masters Cask C
|Approx 14-17
|really light intially, takes a bit of effort to get anything out of, but when you do it's salty Parma ham with Chinese lemongrass dry roasted crushed mixed nuts and a touch of sea salt
|crushed mixed nuts and sea salt with sweet heavy treacle and oak
|oak and crushed mixed nuts
I really enjoyed all three of the casks and i would happily have a bottle of all three sitting on my whisky shelf, but for me Cask B was most definitely the pick of the bunch and I would love to spend more time with that dram. Since returning last night i popped onto the Glenmorangie Cask Masters website and changed my vote from Cask C (which i'd voted for based on Dr Bill's video notes on the website) to Cask B.
Why don't you check out my notes, and there will be others on the net now too, and Dr Bill's video notes before you make your choice at Glenmorangie Cask Masters
The Best one In my opinion, myself and Mally.


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Each week they have written sentences for their book with their partner. Today we worked on taking pictures to go with our sentences. We discussed what we might take pictures of, we thought about where we might get images for things that we couldn't create/act out and we reviewed how to take good, clear pictures. Then the students reviewed their sentences.
Throughout this book the teachers and I had been helping the students, by writing out their sentences so that the students could copy them into the book. This helped us hear their sentences and help them develop them into full sentences instead of phrases.
Because we had been doing this I thought that it would be a good idea to keep the paper and pencil going. This simple act of planning out what pictures each group wanted to take made all of the difference. After they reviewed their sentences they came to us and we asked them what they wanted a picture of. We wrote their ideas for them and then sent them off to collect their pictures.
This list allowed them to stay on task and work quickly to get their pictures taken. Both of the teachers make statements about how well they worked. How the came up with some creative ideas on how to find items to take picture of or how to create the picture that they wanted.
Over all I think that the little act of helping them plan their photos allowed them to work more efficiently and productivly.


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Ann Hoffman
A graduate of Xavier University and member of a third generation furniture family, Ann has over 30 years of experience in the Cincinnati furniture and interior design community. Her primary goal is to create an outstanding design that is perfectly customized for each individual. Ann excels at analyzing lifestyles, existing furniture, work habits, entertaining needs, color preferences, and budget to design a plan that will maximize your home's or office's ultimate potential.
Debbie Meyer Chamberlain
Debbie brings four decades of Interior Design excellence to the Greater Cincinnati area. A graduate of the University of Cincinnat's prestigious DAAP college, Debbie's portfolio demonstrates incredible diversity and the ability to deliver on time and within budget. In addition to her vast residential experience, she has an extensive commercial portfolio. One of Debbie's most notable awards was 1st place for Best Interior Design in Cincinnati's Homerama.
Diane, a graduate of the New York School of Interior Design, has been creating beautiful and functional designs for both residential and commercial clients for many years. Her vision for style, scale and color make working with clients an effortless, enjoyable process. For Diane, creating an environment of complete comfort by matching the client's needs with good form and function is a must.
As an Interior Architecture graduate of The Rhode Island School of Design, Heidi takes a structured approach to your design challenge in order to problem solve. As an artist, Heidi enjoys collaborating creatively to create a space specific to you and your family. With the help of sketches, pieces here on our showroom floor, finishes, fabric samples and any inspiration photos you may have collected, Heidi will work with you to reach your goal.
To Dream…To See…To Experience…
Sometimes one only needs a spark to create vision. As an interior designer for over 10 years, it has been Cynthia's privilege to enable vision. To be that spark that helps her clients to define that special environment within their homes or business. Not only is the overall look and feel important, but how one experiences their environment; how the space functions for living, working and entertainment. Cynthia invites you on an artistic journey to work as creative partners in the design process. Her degree from Sullivan College of Technology and Design combined with her decade of field experience, results in the use of the sound principles and elements of Interior Design to create that space that belongs to you.


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This is my first holiday card of the season. It's very well balanced and I love it. I don't make a bunch of cards for the holidays, just enough for close friends and immediate family.
I will be sharing all the cards I make this year on my blog. I may also be doing a short holiday card video series as well. I'm sure many of you have finished your cards, but I almost always wait until the last minute. I hand deliver all my cards, so it's not a problem for me.
I hope this card helps give you some inspiration for your holiday creations.


text: 26-Jan-2018 08:54 Nude jasmin free chat Lamore Morris, who's played Winston Bishop since season 1 of the show, revealed who got the most emotional — and it's not who you may think. He's a very emotional guy and it's nonstop the waterworks […] Alessandra Ambrosio was spotted vacationing in Hawaii this past weekend in a sizzling fire engine red two piece, which she kicked up a notch with some major accessories: a floral kimono, small-frame sunnies, a straw hat and gold jewelry. We can't get enough of her sophisticated cover up game and […] Celebrities know that nothing makes you feel brand new like a brand new hairdo, and that's why they're constantly changing up their locks with haircuts, extensions, hair color and bangs.


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Buy a Clear Blue (Clearblue) Pregnancy Test Online
You've had unprotected sex and you wonder if its possible you could be pregnant. An easy wasy to find out is buy and use a Clear Blue Pregnancy Testing kit.
Whether you're planning a pregnancy or not, home pregnancy testing kits let you know whether or not you are pregnant, even before your period is due.
They are incredibly accurate, as they measure the levels of HCG in your body. HCG stands for human chorionic gonadotropin. This is a hormone that is released from the developing placenta when you are pregnant.
While there are some rare medical conditions that can trigger a false positive result, the chances are against this being the case if you are otherwise healthy.
Clear blue pregnancy tests have 99% accuracy and can detect pregnancy from as early as 7 days before your period is due ( one week after conception).
If it returns a negative result, check again in a couple of days as you could still be pregnant. It all depends on how much HCG is circulating in your body at the time, and this varies not only from one to pregnancy to another, but each day in early pregnancy levels can double.
Signs and symptoms of early pregnancy include bloating, morning sickness, a change in taste, sore breasts and lethargy. There is usually no symptoms whatsoever in very early pregnancy, even though your body's hormone levels are changing.
Clear Blue Pregnancy Test
You can become pregnant even if you never had full sex.
Heavy petting can result in pregnancy, if the male sperm got released. Millions of live spermatozoa are released each time a man climaxes, and if he got any on his hands and touched you intimately afterwards there is still a chance you could be pregnant, even if penetration never took place.
The earlier you know you are pregnant, the better, no matter if you wanted to be or not.
In the first three months of pregnancy, commonly known as the first trimester, the baby's major organs are being laid down. In actual fact, most of them have already been started by the time you miss your first period.
From that time on, your baby is simply growing and maturing.
Certain drugs and medications can harm your child at this vital stage in its development, so it is important for your to know whether or not you could be pregnant.
This is where the early pregnancy detection kit is at its most useful.
Clearblue have been market leaders in the field for more than 20 years. They are a name you can trust to deliver accurate results.
When you buy online, complete confidentiality is guaranteed. No matter your circumstances, the buying and using of something so personal as a pregnancy testing kit is no-ones else's business.
Often, if you live in a smallish town, you may not want to buy one from your local drugstore, because the staff know you.
Buy your Clearblue Pregnancy Testing Kit online and avoid this type of embarrassment. Generally it is cheaper to buy online too.
If you have taken the test and are pregnant, congratulations!
Whether or not you want to be pregnant, I suggest you read Normal Pregnancy and Childbirth which has lots of photographs of the developing baby at all stages of pregnancy.
Great hub Izzy! It is amazing how many teens have been misinformed about heavy petting. It seems every generation has some crazy idea about what will make you pregnant and what will not. Again, great hub, rating up! :)
Too late..... Test done... I'm in trouble again...
Wow. Tricky spermatoza! It is better to know early like you said, for your own and for the health of the babay. Having these clear blue prgnancy tests easy to order online can help keep a personal event, personal! No shopping in a store where everyone can see what you're buying. And the video, kinda funny! Interesting information on human reproduction...


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Senators voted 174 in favour and 159 against to approve raising the age at which workers can retire with a full pension to 67 from 65. Parliament has already passed another key point, raising the minimum age of retirement to 62 from 60.
Disruptions to public transport, air travel and ports are expected on Tuesday as unions push to extend the duration of strikes and bring about concessions on the reform.
Air France's unions have called a 24-hour strike starting at midnight on Monday while a third of flights to and from Roissy-Charles de Gaulle and Beauvais airports and half of those to and from Orly are to be cancelled. Air France said all long-haul flights would be maintained.
A third of national rail services will be running while Paris' bus and metro transport face severe disruption, but Eurostar trains between London and Paris should run normally.
Teachers, truckers and postal workers will also take to the streets.
Three mass protests in the past month have only forced minor government concessions, but unions hope that their rolling strike call will strong-arm President Nicolas Sarkozy into calling off a reform.
Mr Sarkozy sees the reform's success as key to him being re-elected in 2012 and has vowed not to back down.
"(He) cannot give in, otherwise he will become a one-term president," one of his close aides told Le Monde, the daily newspaper, on Monday.
Union leaders are hoping for a repeat of 1995, when massive national strikes forced Jacques Chirac, the former president, to revoke his pension reforms and fatally weakened his government.
"This is one of the last chances to make the government retreat," said Francois Chérèque, head of the CFDT, one of France's main unions.


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As a Concord Coalition issue brief (written by my colleague, Cliff Isenberg) explains, they're just not very "forceful":
Process proposals such as caps, commissions, points of order and constitutional amendments are often appealing solutions for politicians because they frequently leave out the specifics of politically difficult decisions necessary to meet the targets. For elected officials, it is far easier to discuss a cap than it is to tell voters that their Social Security or Medicare benefits will be cut or a favorite tax deduction will be eliminated.
As a means of actually reducing deficits, the benefits of process proposals are less clear. In the past, similar proposals have had a mixed track record because they have frequently been poorly designed and weakened with exemptions. For a process proposal to have a meaningful effect on trillion-dollar deficits and our $14 trillion debt, these mistakes of the past must be avoided. An effective budget process proposal should limit exemptions, consider the entire federal budget to be on the table for deficit reduction, include realistic targets, and be accompanied by a bipartisan commitment both to enforce the targets and support the specific spending and revenue policies necessary to meet them.
It's a lot like our real-world experience with "pay-as-you-go" budget rules, and how we've ended up (instead) with "paying-for-hardly-anything-as-we-went" policies.
The sledgehammers turn out to have fly-swatter heads, and the "caps" turn out to be more like cheesecloths. (If you get what I mean.)
Unfortunately, there's really no easy way to force the tough choices.
Add/view comments on this post.
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We have over 20 years of PC migration experience. Regardless of the complexity, we have the solution. We migrate OS, domain, applications, settings, and data. All with little to no effort. Guaranteed! Contact us for a demonstration today.


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VALLEJO, Calif. --"That shouldn't have happened. We bring our kids to school to be safe," said Lyniqueah Hawkins as she stood in front of her child's elementary school in Vallejo, California.
Hawkins' 6-year-old son Famous is a first-grade special education student. On Friday afternoon, Hawkins received a phone call from the school.
"I was notified that my son may have been slapped by a substitute teacher," she said.
Hawkins' rushed to Highland and picked up Famous, even took pictures of his cheek. She told us she wanted to talk directly to the teacher, but that teacher had already left campus.
The Vallejo Unified Human Resources Officer Dr. Gigi Patrick sent ABC News this statement:
"The teacher in question was identified as a substitute, and immediately pulled from the site. This matter is currently being investigated by the Vallejo Police Department, and the District is cooperating in the investigation."
Hawkins told us she filed a police report, but Patrick could not confirm that the school district contacted police even though its own policy in such instances requires it.
ABC News did reach substitute teacher Patricia Holcomb. She told us she did "tap" Famous on the cheek, but claims the boy had overturned a classroom desk and was throwing chairs just prior to the incident.
"He told me that you slapped him because he asked for some space," said Hawkins, referring to Holcomb. "I never heard of my son flipping chairs and desks over like. Nice try, but no."
Vallejo police have yet to respond to questions about whether the teacher faces possible criminal charges.


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(Cut Here)
By: Mike Carey
Illustrated By: Jim Fern & Jose Villarrubia
Paperback: 128 pages
Publisher: Vetrtigo
Language: English
June 2007, $9.99
Genre: Graphic Novel/Comic
In Nagasaki, Japan, a twin brother and sister – Toshi and Kai Hara – are born on either side of midnight only a few minutes apart, but those few minutes will lead their lives down two very different paths. It's clear as she grows up that Toshi, the female twin, is something out of the ordinary. Nothing with a point or an edge can harm her: knives will snap or bend rather than break her skin. And when she reaches her teens, a mysterious figure who calls himself Aratsu, the lord of the knives, comes to claim her as his servant.
If Toshi agrees, she will have to leave Japan and the human world behind and cross into the world of the kami, the spirits who live in and rule over the everyday objects we make and use. If she refuses, the consequences for her and for her family will be terrible beyond imagining. That is, unless her brother Kai can figure out what kind of hold the kami world has on Toshi – and on the rest of the Haras. But Aratsu is only going to ask three times…
For those of you who have been reading Confessions for a while, you will know that I have recently renewed my love for Mike Carey after falling in adoration with his Felix Castor series of novels and the Lucifer series. I have been picking up what I can and have even thought about revisiting some Hellblazer comics just for kicks. So it should hardly be a surprise, I am fairly predictable that way, that I picked up Crossing Midnight. It looked fairly interesting, and yes sometimes I am drawn in by interesting and pretty covers.
The narrative flows fairly well, the story interesting, and its something new which I can always appreciate. And its not light on the horror aspect of things. Maybe that's why I like it. No one is safe and that's life because sometimes bad things happen to good people. I also like the potential story and conflict between the two siblings. For as spirited as Toshi is, her impudence can make for some great storytelling as well especially considering how this first volume ended.
The artwork itself was just a tad stiff compared to some of the artists Carey has worked with in the past, but it did have some moments. Its not my favorite of Carey's, but I still enjoyed it enough that I look forward to reading the next one.
3.5 out of 4 happy bibliosnark bookmarks
Have your own review? Let me know and I will post it.


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BRITISH SOCIETY of HYPNOTHERAPISTS.
Est 1950
In conjunction with supporting high standards of training and practice among its members, the Society, a non-profit organization, is involved in initiatives to implement high standards of hypnotherapy training and practice in the UK, Europe and other parts of the world.
The Society gathers information on hypnotism and hypnotherapy from many sources throughout the world and maintains contact with other professional and learned bodies. It disseminates information on hypnosis, its use in therapy and training, to the media and the general public. The Society and its personnel are widely regarded and quoted in the media and elsewhere as authorative sources of information on hypnosis and the practice of hypnotherapy.
The Society is also widely referenced in books and magazines as a body to whom members of the general public can direct enquires regarding hypnotherapy and hypnotherapists. It operates a Code of Ethics, Standards of Practice and a Complaints Procedure.
The Society operates a Continuing Professional Development policy and has guidelines on supervision of therapists and personal therapy for therapists. Membership of the Society is open to individuals who have undertaken extensive training in hypnotherapy. Approved trainer status is available to members who have acquired the training and experience and fulfill other requirements of the Society.


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Samuel Banks
Bassoonist Samuel Banks joined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in September, 2009. Previously he was a member of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, a position that he held for five years. As an orchestral musician he has performed with the National Repertory Orchestra, the New York String Orchestra Seminar, and as a substitute musician with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He has performed at the Breckenridge, Blossom, Peninsula, and Ravinia festivals.
A native of California, Samuel Banks took up the bassoon at the suggestion of his middle school band director, and was immediately captivated by its dark tone and challenging technique. He played in local wind ensembles and youth orchestras, and was very lucky to be accepted into the University of California's Young Musicians Program, which he attended during his high school years. He then attended Northwestern University, where he studied with Robert Barris. After graduation, he performed as a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.
As a soloist, Banks made his New York debut in 2008, performing Mozart's Bassoon Concerto with the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra. He has performed recitals and master classes across the United States and Canada. He is dedicated to engaging new audiences to music, and has participated in public school projects and performances through the Indianapolis and Toronto symphony orchestras as well as the Barossa Quintet, of which he was a member in Chicago.
Away from music, he enjoys cooking, travel, and long-distance running.
Give to the TSO
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#10 – NinaRibena's Lighthearted & Playful Colour
Hey Ya'll – This post has been moved to AT San Francisco, as we've been told it's a good 3000 miles closer……(if you're wondering, we've also found out that Australia is 7568 miles from SF and 7641 from Los Angeles). CLICK HERE to go to ATSF.
Name: NinaRibena
Location: Canberra, Australia
Type: Bungalow, Newly extended to 5 bedrooms.
Why I use color:
Life without colour would drive me mad, it gives life to my own environment. The design of a home should absolutely reflect who lives in it, and mine is constantly evolving. I have tried to use colour in a way that adds warmth and fun…
I have two small children and I choose to credit them with good taste, and so avoiding primary colours in my decoration, I have teamed slightly more sophisticated reds and chartreuse with muted shades of grey/brown in a fun way. Many of the artworks and furnishings are all my own creations, the tall painting in the dining room and the apple-art in the family room tie the colours together perfectly and keep the mood light hearted and playful.
I like my home a little bit zany, luckily I have a husband who lets me go for it (well most of the time)!
2 Good color tips:
1. all-over room coverage in candy colours can only end in madness (our house when we bought it!)
2. use a theme board or sample board to put your look together before you go for it…and don't be boring!
Favorite type and brand of paint:
Wattyl ID, matt acrylic.


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Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee: Triodion Begins Today
January 28
Tone of the Week
Tone One
First Orthros Gospel
The Pharisees were an ancient and outstanding sect among the Jews known for their diligent observance of the outward matters of the Law. Although, according to the word of our Lord, they "did all their works to be seen of men" (Matt. 23:5), and were hypocrites (ibid. 23: 13, 14, 15, etc.), because of the apparent holiness of their lives they were thought by all to be righteous, and separate from others, which is what the name Pharisee means. On the other hand, Publicans, collectors of the royal taxes, committed many injustices and extortions for filthy lucre's sake, and all held them to be sinners and unjust. It was therefore according to common opinion that the Lord Jesus in His parable signified a virtuous person by a Pharisee, and a sinner by a Publican, to teach His disciples the harm of pride and the profit of humble-mindedness.
Since the chief weapon for virtue is humility, and the greatest hindrance to it is pride, the divine Fathers have set these three weeks before the Forty-day Fast as a preparation for the spiritual struggles of virtue. This present week they have called Harbinger, since it declares that the Fast is approaching; and they set humility as the foundation for all our spiritual labors by appointing that the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee be read today, even before the Fast begins, to teach, through the vaunting of the Pharisee, that the foul smoke of self-esteem and the stench of boasting drives away the grace of the Spirit, strips man of all his virtue, and casts him into the pits of Hades; and, through the repentance and contrite prayer of the Publican, that humility confers upon the sinner forgiveness of all his wicked deeds and raises him up to the greatest heights.
All foods are allowed the week that follows this Sunday.
Resurrectional Apolytikion
First Tone
When the stone had been sealed by the Jews and the soldiers were guarding Thine immaculate Body, Thou didst arise on the third day, O Saviour, granting life unto the world. Wherefore, the powers of the Heavens cried out to Thee, O Lifegiver: Glory to Thy Resurrection, O Christ. Glory to Thy Kingdom. Glory to Thy dispensation, O only Friend of man.
Seasonal Kontakion
First Tone
Your birth sanctified a Virgin's womb and properly blessed the hands of Symeon. Having now come and saved us O Christ our God, give peace to Your commonwealth in troubled times and strengthen those in authority, whom You love, as only the loving One.
Blessed Feast Day
Share the feast of Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee: Triodion Begins Today with an icon greeting ecard.


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"We are pleased that our partnership with FAST delivers an innovative new solution to address the traditional challenges of business intelligence," said Harry Gould, senior vice president of alliances at Informatica. "By combining the capabilities of Informatica and FAST, organizations can gain new levels of information access, productivity and insight."
Unlike traditional BI, which is often limited to pre-defined reports developed by in-house IT staff, FAST's Business Intelligence Built on Search empowers business users to simply explore and analyze enterprise data. By empowering business users and reducing demands on IT staff, FAST's products allow users to benefit from timely answers with the utmost efficiency. The addition of Informatica's complementary data integration software eliminates much of the complexity associated with accessing information from various enterprise systems.
"Corporate decision making is often decentralized, requiring business managers to access trusted information in real-time across various data silos", said Davor P. Sutija, senior vice president of enterprise products at FAST. "By working with Informatica, we can enable greater data interoperability and unlock the true business value of BI. We are advancing BI to the next level by providing pervasive access to data for ad-hoc query and analysis and giving decision makers a tool that allows them to make more intelligent business decisions."
About FAST
FAST is the leading global provider of enterprise search technologies and solutions that are behind the scenes at the world's best known companies. FAST's flexible and scalable enterprise search platform (FAST ESP) elevates the search capabilities of enterprise customers and connects people to the relevant information they seek regardless of medium. This drives revenues and reduces total cost of ownership by effectively leveraging IT infrastructure. FAST's solutions are used by more than 2,600 global customers and partners, including America Online (AOL), Cardinal Health, CareerBuilder.com, CIGNA, CNET, Dell, Factiva, Fidelity Investments, Findexa, IBM, Knight Ridder, LexisNexis, Overture, Rakuten, Reed Elsevier, Reuters, Sensis, Stellent, Tenet Healthcare, Thomas Industrial Networks, Thomson Scientific, T-Online, US Army, Virgilio (Telecom Italia), Vodafone, and Wanadoo.
FAST is headquartered in Norway and is publicly traded under the ticker symbol 'FAST' on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The FAST Group operates globally with presence in Europe, the United States, Asia Pacific, Australia, South America, and the Middle East. For further information about FAST, please visit www.fastsearch.com.
Informatica Corporation (NASDAQ: INFA) is the leading independent provider of data integration software and services. With Informatica, organizations can gain greater business value by integrating all their information assets from across the enterprise. More than 2,950 companies worldwide rely on Informatica to reduce the cost and expedite the time to address data integration needs of any complexity and scale. For more information, call +1 650 385 5000 (1 800 653 9871 in the U.S.), or visit www.informatica.com.
Note: Informatica and PowerCenter are registered trademarks of Informatica Corporation in the United States and in jurisdictions throughout the world. All other company and product names may be trade names or trademarks of their respective owners.


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Thanks to Carole and Patricia, I have information on a knitting group in Lake Charles. Carole says there used to be a local yarn shop, but now some of the people who met there, meet at Joe Muggs in Books-a-Million on Ryan Street. Patricia (Labeelady on Ravelry) says the next meeting is Oct. 4, and that they meet every other Saturday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Next time I'm in town, I hope to stop by and visit. Thanks for the great information, everyone!
I've made lots of progress on the camo blanket I'm making for my husband. It's a huge acrylic monster, so it's hard to want to knit on it. Sitting in a dark, warm house after the hurricane got me a few inches! It's just too big now to take on a plane or bus, so it's pretty much a home only project.
I was working on a Lace Capelet, but I misinterpreted the pattern in one key spot and cast on too tightly. So now I have over half a capelet that won't fit over my shoulders and with an incorrect lace pattern. It doesn't look bad, so I'm considering cutting the cast on edge and juryrigging something. I've never done something so potentially destructive, so I'll keep you posted. I'm also thinking about putting this aside and casting on for Ice Queen with a ball of the same yarn … and possibly unraveling the capelet if I need more.
I've got some serious knitting ADD going on. With the blanket being so un-fun to knit, the capelet not working out well, and me not really wanting to work on anything else I have on the needles, I keep dreaming of what I wish I were knitting instead!


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"Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you." John 20.21
We are all sent. It is built into the identity of a Christian. We are sent by God with the gospel as disciples to go make more disciples…who go make more disciples. And the great news is we as 'sent' ones of God, are sent with the power of God himself at work within us (Acts 1.8)! Which means God, not you, is going to make things happen when you go about his business of making disciples. This is great news for disciples.
I think where this hits us is in how we in the local church train our leaders to be makers of disciple makers. To say it another way: I think the WIN for a small group leader should not be in how many attend their group, but in how many are SENT to plant new groups. This is a much healthier barometer of success for us as pastors & leaders in the local church.
Identifying and developing a person whose next step is to make more disciples is a joyful work for any disciple maker.
By and large we all agree with this in principle. But we parrot this concept to our group leaders who look at their group and go "sure, that sounds nice, but…nobody in here could be a leader." I think I've heard that statement more than anything else, and when I start to dig, the reason I find is that they are often looking for an "ideal" instead of a few tangible signs that this person is headed in the right direction. Here are some things I help small group leaders look for in our church to figure out who is next to plant a new small group from theirs.
3 Markers for Who is Next
1. Actively Maturing in Christ. Notice, I am not saying they are "mature" in Christ. Let me explain. We often have this mythical spiritual scale that has a red line on it somewhere, and once a person passes that red line in their spirituality, then they are qualified to lead. Can I tell you something…there is no line. Let me hedge that: I am not saying a new convert should be in leadership in the church. Paul warns us against this very thing (1 Timothy 3.6) as it can set them up to swell with pride. That said, who in your group is showing clear signs of walking with Christ? Are they generous? Do they live and breathe the Scriptures? Are they sharing their faith? Is all of this coming out of the gospel? Again, not "who is the perfect christian" but who is showing signs of belief?
2. Commitment to the church and the group. Who in your group has moved from "church shopper" to "committed?" Do they get pumped about the vision of the church? Can you count on them every week to be there at group? I bet you can think of these names really quickly. Who is "in?" These are some of the most likely people to get excited about the idea of leading a small group. While they may not feel they can lead, they do love their church and are committed to its health. This is huge in leadership.
3. Evidence of biblical leadership in their lives. Not the "CEO" leadership skill set, but biblical leadership. This is closely related to #1. In their relationships and responsibilities right now, are they leading out in what God has called them to? Is the husband leading his family in Christ? Is the college senior honoring God in her studies? Is the single 27 year old exalting Christ in how he works? BASICALLY: Do they have the character & courage to follow christ in the circles of influence he has placed them in right now? If they do, then you can be confident they will do so as a group leader.
Use these 3 markers a fresh set of lenses to look at the faces in your groups. Now, very few will embody a "yes" to all three. But that just means you now have some tangible pieces of a discipleship plan for those not yet ready to be sent out!
Are they a YES to any of them? Then start there and work with them on the others.
We are sent by God himself to make more disciples. Which means truthfully the best thing you can do for your leaders is pray. Pray God would press this on them as a joyful expression of the gospel in their life.
As you get ready for your fall Small Group season, start thinking & praying about how you can change your culture from an "attending" one to a "sent" one.
Spence is the Small Groups Pastor at the Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, NC. He blogs at http://spenceshelton.wordpress.com/


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4325 Williams Blvd. SWCedar Rapids, Iowa 52404
UnityPoint Clinic Pediatrics - Westdale
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"Location is perfect for us, Seth is an excellent provider and seems to care and is good with my kids."
"Seth Webb and Dr. Lance Goodall are the favorites in our house! We would highly recommend their care. Thanks for making our boys feel safe!"
"Seth is amazing, I highly recommend him!! He's so friendly and thorough, puts my kids right at ease! His nurse, Jordan, and all the staff are phenomenal with kids!"
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American Board of Pediatrics: General Pediatrics


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Denny Hamlin won Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star race from Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Denny Hamlin began the five segment event on the pole after setting the fast time in qualifying. The first segment was won by Kasey Kahne. After a round of pitstops, Brad Keselowski on just two new tires would win the second segment and then added the third segment for good measure. Fan vote winner Danica Patrick retired due to engine problems in the third segment.
Kurt Busch won the fourth segment but it was Keselowski with the best average finish who would lead them onto pit road before the final 10 lap segment. Denny Hamlin would win the race off pit road thanks to his pole earlier in the day while Keselowski was caught speeding on the exit of pit road putting him to the back of the pack. Hamlin was able to hold off Harvick to take the checkered flag and claim the $1 million purse.


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|Moleskin Smart Writing Set
This then is a bit of faff in finding notes at a later date or sharing with colleagues. Scanner apps that create PDFs help, but I usually forget and take a photo that I then ping off by email.
Imagine my excitement when I heard about the reMarkable tablet in development:
The paper tablet for people who prefer paper. Here to replace your notebooks, sketchbooks and printouts. Paper-like reading, writing and sketching with digital powers.Sounds great! This has the potential to do for note taking what the Kindle did for eBooks. But it is still only on pre-order and my birthday was this month. So for around the same amount of money I have got two tools.
The Moleskin Smartpen with "paper tablet". This is a smartpen with a moleskin pad that has a tiny pattern printed on each page. The camera in the pen picks up where the strokes land on the page to store in memory. This is then uploaded to an iOS or Android app via Bluetooth.
I have only used this for a short while but what I like already is the blend of analog and digital. It doesn't need a change in working behaviour for me to get some benefit. It also degrades gracefully. If the pen runs out of ink then you still get an electronic copy. Also if the battery dies, still have the paper version.
One neat feature, if you have the app open and place the pen on the mail icon in the top right corner. It will then export the current page to PDF and attach to an email. Not a massive time saving, but a nice connection between the physical and digital actions.
The people behind the smartpen technology - Neo - also have a section on their site where you can download NCode PDFs. This is the format that the Moleskin pads are printed in. This allows you to use full A4 pages with grid, line, and graph patterns.
Another thing that I hadn't considered before I uncovered during setting up the auto sync. With Evernote, Google Drive and OneDrive all supported I get redundant backups for free. This also avoids vendor lock-in. Both things that enterprise internal IT departments tend to love.
|Acer Chromebook 14
In fact, it was surprising how much was already setup from details used on another device type. For example, my LinkedIn account details were saved in my tablet, so didn't need to log in when accessing site for the first time.
The specs would probably be quite low for a Windows but I find it speedy. One annoyance is a general one from the Google/Android ecosystem. Finding apps that "support" your device. This isn't really an issue in the iOS or OS X worlds, and one of the reasons I stayed with iPhone and Mac Mini. It would have been nice to use the Moleskin M+ Notes app on my Chromebook, given its long battery life. I am hoping that they add Android app support to my Chromebook soon. I don't suppose I need to worry too much with the range of auto sync options available.
My next task is to investigate tools like:
- Codeanywhere and Cloud9 (online IDE and dev environment VM),
- Caret (simple text editor in the style of Sublime),
- Pixlr Editor and Polarr (online photo editor in the style of photoshop),
- WeVideo (online video creator and editor)
- Office Online (Microsoft's free online version of Office, inc editing ability)
- Draw.io Desktop and Mockflow
As I see how much of my side project can be done not only using free tools but also a largely online and cloud-centric approach.


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Discussion in 'Middle East - General' started by Annie, Jun 7, 2005.
This is pure genius:
Just sixty plus yrs later. Good find Kat! This artical should be mailed to every congress person on the hill.. Just for a REMINDER.
Reading this post reminded me of a Rush Limbaugh program I listened to a few years back, about a year into the WOT. Rush's program was not about the division within the Roosevelt Administration about whether they should or should not go to war with Germany, but rather it was about how the MSM was reporting on the war once it had been declared. The same negative, pessamistic comments we heard about the WOT (and continue to hear today) were reported in the MSM about the war with Germany. As the old saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Great find Kathianne!
On D-Day 2005, the MSM would also send live graphic images of the death and destruction on Omaha Beach directly into the homes of Americans, thereby undermining the determination to fight the war. As the MSM images of the horror of combat splashed across the screen, punctuated by toothpaste and home equity loan commercials, Americans at their dinner tables would ask, Our boys are being slaughtered to save Belgium and France?! No way! Bring them home. We lost in Viet Nam for many reasons, but especially because America lost the will to fight as the MSM beamed images of the horror of combat directly to the dinner tables of Pennsylvania and Iowa. Our boys are being slaughtered in a jungle bloodbath to save Viet Nam?! No way. Bring them home. And that is what finally happened.
Separate names with a comma.


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Siemens AG Power Generation, Erlangen 91058, Germany
Institute of Technical Thermodynamics, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Pfaffenwaldring 38-40, Stuttgart 70569, Germany
Institute of Technical Thermodynamics, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Pfaffenwaldring 38-40, Stuttgart 70569, firstname.lastname@example.com
All pressure values in the text are given as absolute pressure.
For the future market potential of parabolic trough power plants with direct steam generation (DSG), it is beneficial to integrate a thermal storage system. Heat storage media based on phase change materials offer heat transfer at constant temperatures needed for the evaporation process. Different options for a plant layout are presented and discussed. The interactions between the three subsystems—solar field, power block, and thermal storage—are analyzed, and boundary conditions arising from the thermal storage system are identified. Compared with a system without storage the number of operating points increases significantly since different combinations of storage charge and discharge operations go along with a varying power output of the solar field. It is shown that the large number of theoretical operating points can be reduced to a subset with practical relevance. Depending on the live steam parameters a reheat is necessary within the power block. Compared with parabolic trough fields with a single phase heat transfer medium such as oil, a special heat exchanger configuration is needed for a DSG plant. Different alternatives based on available technologies are presented and evaluated.
Reference plant configuration
Operating modes for the solar field
Plant configuration with storage feed-in at thelower pressure stage
Operating point diagram for a plant without thermal storage
Theoretical operating point diagram for a plant with thermal storage
Practical operating point diagram for a plant with thermal storage
Solar field efficiency at 100 bars/400°C for a system with 50 parallel loops
Design of a parallel-flow heat exchanger with a minimum temperature difference of 12 K
Principle layout of the 400°C/110 bars system
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Ted Grinter, who lives near Tonganoxie, has 47 acres of sunflowers.
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Dinosaurs are ALWAYS cool. Don't ask.
Hi everyone ! Zugzwang Productions is almost one year old now, and I am very excited to see how things are going for 2012. As the title points out (because that's what titles are for, duh), we have a lot of ZZP related news ! Here's what's coming for the next months :
Yep, that's plural. More about that in a future post.
HUATA : First, thanks to anyone who bought a tape of Huata - Atavist Of Mann. With only 50 copies, we underestimated the success this album would meet, so the tapes are already sold out ! A reissue of 50 copies is coming soon, PLUS a reissue of 33 copies of their first EP Open The Gates Of Shambhala. Both reissues will be made with their original ZZP packagings. Another color of paper will be used, to help distinguish the two series.
PROUD FATHER : This release is a bit different from the others, as it wasn't me but Proud Father who took charge of the production process. I'm supposed to receive them soon, hopefully at the beginning of march (but you know what happens when I start setting deadlines). For those waiting for this release, be sure that I'll keep you updated.
LOCAL NEWS : ZZP is starting to infect the real world ! For the French lads and ladies living near Angers, France, you can find some of my products at Biblio Graphik, a small shop dedicated to posters, screenprints, alternative books and exposition. At the moment, only ZZP-003 // Resonance Of Spiral - DEVBLU EP and ZZP-004 // Zalhietzli - Sainte Rita are available there, but hopefully I intend to put a small amount of each release. Click the link above for address and contact.
Plenty of good stuff here ! Yummy for the eyes !
Also, on Feb. 10th I had the pleasure to be invited to the radio show Hors Cadre, aired on Radio G, and independent radio from Angers. The show is hosted by Simon Batardière, a very nice guy and great artist, performing with Jérôme Leclair under the moniker JLSB. Saxophone, field recordings, sound manipulations, improvisations.
You can hear the radio show here (in french). We talk about Zugzwang Productions and my solo musical project Zalhietzli. Concerning ZLTZ, I hope to release something for 2012, but I can't tell much more yet.
Stay tuned !


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Scarlett Johansson & Joseph Gordon-Levitt: 'Don Jon' TIFF Premiere!
Scarlett Johansson rocks a little black dress while attending the premiere of her new film Don Jon during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival held at Princess of Wales Theatre on Tuesday (September 10) in Toronto, Canada.
The 28-year-old actress was joined by her handsome co-star Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who also directed the movie.
PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Scarlett Johansson
"The character I play in Don Jon is very staid in her opinions and her ideals," Scarlett recently told Variety. "Where is this character (Under the Skin) is much more of a metamorphosis, it's a transformation."
The day before, Scarlett donned a polka dot dress at the Under the Skin premiere.
FYI: Scarlett is dressed head to toe in Saint Laurent.
25+ pictures inside of Scarlett Johansson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt attending the Don Jon premiere…