These are my favorites so far!
snowflakes… melting snowflakes….
I tried to see if I could set up inside and then transport snow inside. More comfortable but the snow flakes melt rather quickly. 🙂
You can make out my tripod legs reflected in the melted drop of snow below.
Snowflakes, again.
I really need a focus rail.
Binge Watching: Zatoichi style
My friend DM lent me his Criterion Zatoichi box set. As you can see from my movie list I have watched the first six films in the series, each film around 90 minutes. Thank god that Peter Jackson didn’t direct any of these. There is a noticeable shift in the narrative away from the original hero in the 1948 story based on an actual historical figure in the late Tokugawa. This Zatoichi has become more dark and the kill count is steadily increasing. He is still the haunted anti-hero with the lightning fast sword but without the more frequent slapstick scenes from the earlier films.
Merry Christmas!
Sherlock is back 🙂
Now that’s an icicle
This icicle is just around the corner from my place. It isn’t along the wall, it is an ice stalactite! I challenged some friends to document a longer icicle!
Catholicism redux
As most know, I was raised Catholic. I served mass and all that. I loved the devotion and the message of peace and reconcilation. These messages have stayed with me and guide my life even though I haven’t been to a church for quite some time. I have found that the spirit has many guises but the message is eternal. I see the eternal everywhere. I continue to follow the path, and try every day to be a better man. Some days I am successful.
But I digress. All this to say that this new Pope, Francis, is quite interesting. Evidently even atheists are welcome now. How is this for a message of peace and reconciliation?
Merry Christmas
Snowflakes
My friend KE sent me a link to a Russian photographer that does macro work with snowflakes. So I decided to give it a go. Needless to say, it is quite a challenge. By the time I finally got my tripod set up correctly I realized that my batteries in my shutter were dead and so I switched over to the timer on my camera. All the while my fingers got colder and colder. By the time I snapped a few, the night had set.
Next time I will use a focus rail, earlier in the day. I will dress warmer and get fresh batteries 🙂
Early Christmas Dinner :)
I have been really busy, hence the lack of posts.
The snow has fallen! It really looks like Christmas now! I cannot wait to grab some photos!
I had a fantastic time over at T&Ks last night! We had an early Christmas dinner with Darren, Katie and family, and another friend in from Toronto (who totally lucked out on his choice of days to visit T&Ks!!)
we started in the early afternoon… see photos below… and early apologies for the shaky iphone images… ill blame the wine 🙂
Marion made a hearty soup made from roasted winter squash with almonds and sunflower seeds.
That was for us while we prepared for dinner!
The starter was a warm beet salad on baby arugula and toasted almonds. Beets were, as usual, a pain to cook and Tristan’s idea of a pressure cooker is on point for next time.
I decided to cook a Beef Bourguignon. Go big or go home.
That’s right. I channeled my inner Julia Child and downloaded a few recipes and watched some videos. I made a point of reviewing the stages and planned out each step. It paid off!
I got 5 pounds of beef from the butcher and asked him about the salted pork needed. He called in the back for his grandmother who happily explained the process and key points of perfect Beef Bourguignon and sauce. It pays to be nice and ask questions!
Anyways, on to the photos!
This is the three of us busy in the kitchen. We had christmas carols playing and wine flowing. The snow was already beginning in the early afternoon so it was nice to be inside!
Yup. That was the hunk of beef prior to Tristan’s samurai skills with possibly the sharpest knives ever.
#Best.Bacon.Ever.
and then the diced beef was added to cook in the bacon grease (and butter) …. yeah…. my friend RP was probably pleased with how healthy my cooking was last night 🙂
That is me hard at work!
Tristan and Marion starting on the desert (I did take some of that home!). Amazing!
And in went the meat. That process itself took almost 25 minutes to cook the beef sections in multiple rounds, carefull not to crowd the meat!!
Oh… thats the soup that we had during the prep!
Then the cook down with the wine and the carrots. Pearl onions. Several hours of cooking. Beef Bourguignon, complete:)
I had a fantastic night! It was really great to cook with my friends and laugh while eating WAY too much. Merry (early) Christmas!
Ho Ho Ho!
