Ponding with Tom
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Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
How to get your Goldfish/Koi Pond ready for summer!
Monday, June 28, 2010
we have to rethink our inks
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
New Cooking Video
This video is the first with my new camera that my pretty wife got me for my bday. In it I cook one of Lyndsay's recipes in an effort to show how easy it is.
Also, I wanted something to film, and I like to make little cooking videos.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Julia & Julia
Note, if you make a whole bag of shrimp like me, you will end up with your coco being a paste at the end. This is okay, just put the paste on the platter and it will taste the same, although you will be docked major points for presentation.
One thing to stress is to not get sweetened coconut stuff, it's ok Turkish, I'm sweet enough.
I ran into a problem with my blender creating smoke and then the smoke burning my eyes. I think it had green onion something rather in it. My eyes got healed up and this really grilled up nice even from a frozen state.
Thanks again!
I had to call Ben to make sure that you blended it after it was cooked. I have never heard of doing such a thing. But also I have never made a soup.
I also had to send Holly out for some chicken broth cause I forgot that vegetable stock cannot make chicken broth.
Other than that, everything went very smoothly. Other than when you say big pot, you mean BIG POT. I had to use a big pot Massive, it was transplanted from a medium one. I had enough for lunch today and more at home, I put the leftovers in a juice jug!
Anyways, it was delicious, fucking fantastic. We combo'd it with some sandwiches. I had chicken with hummus on multi grain with a pickle.
The hot sauce really made it pop!
We got to make it together (Holly worked on the salad.)
We didn't have to make a salad too.
It gave us something to make my rents when we have them over sometime.
I got to do a few new things that I had never done before which improved my confidence! It's silly but when I was cooking the spice I was like, "what the hell am I doing, wait, it's working, wow, I'm not totally retarded."
Thanks again!! The next one looks like a winner for next week, tonight I'm making the ribs again!
Instead of a slow cooker, I popped them into the oven at 300 in a tented foil contraption inside a platter like you would use for Lasagna. I filled it 2/3 of the way full with rootbeer, I bought two litres and didn't use too much, haha.
Anyways, you are the Queen of cooking, more simple type recipes like this are needed. Just awesome stuff!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
My Standup
Monday, October 12, 2009
38 Days Later
Victoria has a lot to offer for those who can break in. By this, I mean that Victoria can reject you, preventing you from establishing yourself. And I say this not just from the perspective of someone who has had a tough time getting a job during this recession. I think Victoria is generally harder to break into. The economy runs off a large proportion of retirement money and public service employment. So, if you don’t find a profession in government, education or health care, and have no plans to retire in the near future, your options are severely limited. Sure, there are entrepreneurs and some private industry, but the proportion is severely less than most Canadian cities of its size. That said, even if you do break in, Victoria’s real estate is radically more expensive than the average. I think the median price for a house here is 450,000$. It takes a huge normative shift to want to commit to real estate here. But, let’s say you get the job you wanted and you decide to bite the bullet and purchase a house or condo here. You’ve made it over the biggest hurdles and you’re here. If you like getting out and exploring or enjoying what your tax dollars pay for, then it’s really amazing. It’s a really great city that values its green space and is very well taken care of. There is rarely any traffic congestion, and it’s easy to find your way once you know a couple major roads.
I’ve done some driving here, but the majority of my exploring has been on bike. There’s a major trail system called the Galloping Goose that takes you nearly anywhere in Victoria. I’ve been galloping a lot. And so do a lot of people in Victoria. It’s really a great place if you want to keep the car in the driveway (or not buy a car!) and bike to work. If you’re not on the Galloping Goose, the roads often have bike lanes and are increasingly being retrofitted to include them.
Here are a couple pics of some bike art and graffiti at Recyclistas, a Bike Co-op along the Galloping Goose.
They’re really great people there. The shop is at a fork in the trail, so it’s a great meeting place. They make art out of some their worn out bike parts. I ‘m going to start thinking of some things I can make with some of my old stuff. I’d like to make a mosaic out of old chains. There’s also a pic of me with a Monkey Tree. They’re cool. Some day I’m going to buy a monkey tree.
When I rode on Sunday the Victoria marathon was taking place, making downtown more hustly and bustly than usual. Here’s a statue guy painted in yellow and purple. He wanted money for his theatrics.
I then headed down to the beach. There are beaches like this everywhere. Just one of the benefits of being on an island. The giant tree trunk next to me has probably been there for years. There’s washed up wood everywhere. Maybe I can compete with Relic in the beachcomber biz.
There’s a lot of cool architecture here. Modern condos and houses have huge windows. If situated in the right direction, the windows can provide a lot light and have a heating effect on the house as well.
I wanted to get more pics of some cool houses in James Bay, but my camera died. I went to the dollar store and picked up an eight pack of Chateau AAs for 1.40$. They’re such crap that they couldn’t even turn on the cam. I’ll put up more pics of houses another time.
Here’s a pic of an old ship being torn down for scrap metal. Ironically, this metal yard is in one of the more expensive parts of town. It will probably be removed in the next few years, with trendy condos coming in to take its place. The area is called Selkirk. Jessie’s friend’s family business develops a lot of the residential and commercial property in the area.
Here’s the biggest tree I’ve yet to find. It’s a big Redwood in a park in the city.
Here's a picture of Jessie. "Look, a duck!"
Finally, what’s a life update without including Dr. Freeman's latest exploits! He’s been growing like a true scholar, and has had some adventures along the way. Here he is on the roof of Jessie’s parents’ house. Little rascal just can’t help but follow the big cats around. He’ll learn though that he’s not destined to be a feral crazy thing.
Victoria’s been great, but it’s not a place where your credentials or hard work necessarily allow you to break in. Nothing's a given, especially during the present. Once you’re established, it has a lot to offer, especially if you enjoy milder weather and the outdoors. As the guy who took my photo next to the beached tree stump stated, “Victoria has three seasons, spring and summer.”