01 February 2010
28 January 2010
somethingcool: Sound Opinions' Interview with Frank Black
Musicians can often be dull or pretentious when giving interviews, but Frank Black's interview on Sound Opinions is great. Black is very laid back in this interview, funny and has a lot of interesting things to say about influences, the early Pixies days and how he goes about making music.
25 January 2010
Garlic and Cream Soup
I came up with this recipe using a combination of two recipes I found on foodtv.com. One recipe was a pure garlic soup, and included eggs, but I didn’t want that. Another was a garlic and eggplant recipe, and I didn’t have any eggplant. So I took what I liked from both recipes, added a personal touch, and I came up with something that I enjoy.
6 tablespoons light olive oil
½ cup of chopped herbs (oregano, basil, parsley)
10 -12 cloves of garlic, cut in half
½ large white onion, chopped
Black pepper
Garlic salt
1 1/2 quarts of vegetable or chicken stock
½ cup of heavy cream
½ loaf of French or Italian bread, cut into 1 inch cubes
Preheat oven to 175C. Heat the oil and seasonings in a large (at least 2 quart) saucepan or pot. Add the garlic and saute until mushy. Remove the garlic and set aside. Keep the heat on low.
Pour about half the oil over the diced bread in a bowl and toss well to coat. Sprinkle well with salt and pepper and spread out on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp through, and set aside.
In the saucepan or pot, add the onions and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic (as much as to your taste) and saute for another 2-3 minutes. Stir in the stock and bring the liquid to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for another 10 minutes. Stir in the cream and continue to simmer for another 3 minutes. Season the soup with salt and pepper. Add croutons as you like. Serves four.
6 tablespoons light olive oil
½ cup of chopped herbs (oregano, basil, parsley)
10 -12 cloves of garlic, cut in half
½ large white onion, chopped
Black pepper
Garlic salt
1 1/2 quarts of vegetable or chicken stock
½ cup of heavy cream
½ loaf of French or Italian bread, cut into 1 inch cubes
Preheat oven to 175C. Heat the oil and seasonings in a large (at least 2 quart) saucepan or pot. Add the garlic and saute until mushy. Remove the garlic and set aside. Keep the heat on low.
Pour about half the oil over the diced bread in a bowl and toss well to coat. Sprinkle well with salt and pepper and spread out on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp through, and set aside.
In the saucepan or pot, add the onions and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic (as much as to your taste) and saute for another 2-3 minutes. Stir in the stock and bring the liquid to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for another 10 minutes. Stir in the cream and continue to simmer for another 3 minutes. Season the soup with salt and pepper. Add croutons as you like. Serves four.
23 January 2010
21 January 2010
17 January 2010
Move Your Money
Here is your New Year's resolution for 2010: move your money out of the big banks that have taken taxpayer money to keep them solvent, but have hoarded the money or used it for things other than loaning it to individuals and small businesses. Here is a four-minute video that makes the case.
The government's attempt to punish the big banks -- by imposing a new tax on the banks -- will only hurt consumers, who will bear the brunt of this tax through increased fees and higher interest rates. Most of the community banks avoided the worst of the collateralised debt obligation (CBO) crisis because they took fewer risks, didn't prey on people who had no chance of paying off their mortgages, and treat customers as people and not just numbers. Isn't it time we got back to community banking? Since the government can't hurt the "too big to fail" bank's balance sheets, should we consumers do it instead?
For more information see: The Huffington Post and www.moveyourmoney.info
The government's attempt to punish the big banks -- by imposing a new tax on the banks -- will only hurt consumers, who will bear the brunt of this tax through increased fees and higher interest rates. Most of the community banks avoided the worst of the collateralised debt obligation (CBO) crisis because they took fewer risks, didn't prey on people who had no chance of paying off their mortgages, and treat customers as people and not just numbers. Isn't it time we got back to community banking? Since the government can't hurt the "too big to fail" bank's balance sheets, should we consumers do it instead?
For more information see: The Huffington Post and www.moveyourmoney.info
16 January 2010
Breaking Up is Easy
When you break-up with your beau but decide to remain friends, and keep him / her in a prominent place in your life, there is bound to be trouble when the new beau comes around. And when the new beau is an old friend, it makes it even more complicated.
NBC, what were you thinking? Was that old platonic friend -- Jay Leno -- still giving you a warm fuzzy feeling? Obviously he was, because you couldn't part with him; you simply had him move into the house next door. Were your friends (i.e. advertisers) complaining about how Old Coke was better than New Coke? Was your old beau pleading for a second chance, even after he was the one to break it off in the first place? Was Conan not doing it for you in the bedrooms of American viewers? More likely it was your other friends - your NBC affiliates, who complained because Leno's show and the whole re-shuffle or programming was hurting their late night news ratings. It doesn't matter now. Conan O'Brien's exit from NBC seems to be a done deal. A disgraceful and costly divorce for NBC.
I won't pretend that I know what NBC was thinking. Conan's ratings are competitive with Letterman. Conan's demographic is sought after by the networks. By the "experts" reports, the show was hitting it's stride. Sure, it wasn't possible to to perform an extreme makeover of Leno's audience, most of them with one foot in the grave, and instantly turn them into the sort of people who enjoy Conan's sense of humour. To his credit, Conon took some of the bite out of his schtick in order to keep some of the greyhairs watching the show. But apparently NBC was worried that the "40-65 with no sense of humour" demographic was slipping out of their grasp, hence the change. For those of you who like Leno, some news: Leno isn't funny. He was rarely funny. The only time he was funny was when he tried to emulate Conan's style of comedy, and even then he couldn't pull it off like Conan. . . or Letterman.
Conan will get over the snub. This fall he'll be free to do what he wants. He can sit in New York and count the bags of money NBC will drop off at his doorstep every week. He could return to The Simpsons and inject some life into an aging (but still somewhat funny) show -- this would win him the Nobel Prize for Comedy, if such a thing exists. (Does it? If it doesn't, why not?)
The Keep Conan O'Brien page on Facebook has more than 14,000 fans, but why should he want to stay on NBC. Don't worry, fans. Conan may be going on a holiday for the spring and summer, but he'll be back. His ego shouldn't prevent him from doing something that is seen by some as a step back. Why not go back to your old 12:35 eastern timeslot -- but on CBS, just after Letterman, and become the heir apparent to Dave? From there, you could take on Leno -- if he and NBC are still around in five years.
However it works out, the world needs more masterbating bears.
* * *
The money-tweet: RT: @questlove RT @Almeister Just dawned on me. Before Conan leaves, he must have Triumph the insult comic dog poop on NBC
NBC, what were you thinking? Was that old platonic friend -- Jay Leno -- still giving you a warm fuzzy feeling? Obviously he was, because you couldn't part with him; you simply had him move into the house next door. Were your friends (i.e. advertisers) complaining about how Old Coke was better than New Coke? Was your old beau pleading for a second chance, even after he was the one to break it off in the first place? Was Conan not doing it for you in the bedrooms of American viewers? More likely it was your other friends - your NBC affiliates, who complained because Leno's show and the whole re-shuffle or programming was hurting their late night news ratings. It doesn't matter now. Conan O'Brien's exit from NBC seems to be a done deal. A disgraceful and costly divorce for NBC.
I won't pretend that I know what NBC was thinking. Conan's ratings are competitive with Letterman. Conan's demographic is sought after by the networks. By the "experts" reports, the show was hitting it's stride. Sure, it wasn't possible to to perform an extreme makeover of Leno's audience, most of them with one foot in the grave, and instantly turn them into the sort of people who enjoy Conan's sense of humour. To his credit, Conon took some of the bite out of his schtick in order to keep some of the greyhairs watching the show. But apparently NBC was worried that the "40-65 with no sense of humour" demographic was slipping out of their grasp, hence the change. For those of you who like Leno, some news: Leno isn't funny. He was rarely funny. The only time he was funny was when he tried to emulate Conan's style of comedy, and even then he couldn't pull it off like Conan. . . or Letterman.
Conan will get over the snub. This fall he'll be free to do what he wants. He can sit in New York and count the bags of money NBC will drop off at his doorstep every week. He could return to The Simpsons and inject some life into an aging (but still somewhat funny) show -- this would win him the Nobel Prize for Comedy, if such a thing exists. (Does it? If it doesn't, why not?)
The Keep Conan O'Brien page on Facebook has more than 14,000 fans, but why should he want to stay on NBC. Don't worry, fans. Conan may be going on a holiday for the spring and summer, but he'll be back. His ego shouldn't prevent him from doing something that is seen by some as a step back. Why not go back to your old 12:35 eastern timeslot -- but on CBS, just after Letterman, and become the heir apparent to Dave? From there, you could take on Leno -- if he and NBC are still around in five years.
However it works out, the world needs more masterbating bears.
* * *
The money-tweet: RT: @questlove RT @Almeister Just dawned on me. Before Conan leaves, he must have Triumph the insult comic dog poop on NBC
15 January 2010
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