Topics of Utopic Tropics and Otherwise

Ethics

2011-10-01T02:20:00.000-07:00

We were taking with some friends about ethics last evening.

To make it as synthetic as possible, the issue was as follows; would you sacrifice a life to save other people? Yes? No? How many could you sacrifice in order to save... how many? Is there a "rank" that you would rather save? What does it determine it? The same goes toward the sacrificed ones...

So these questions opened more ethical questionings.

It all started by something I remember someone said once; "Even though to torture is illegal and ethically incorrect, it would be justified in order to safe hundreds of people". Think about the Twin Towers for example. If torturing someone would have lead you to the information to avoid it. Would have been justified?

Then I brought the subject of the Nazi experiments. It is well known that these experiments performed over human lives, "helped" safe people suffering from hypothermia when victims of the freezing waters of the Northern Sea. And what about "Sulfanamides", how many lives were saved due to the implementation of these antibiotics? And whether the "data" -hate to use that expression when it comes to this particular issue- obtained in that way could be still be considered "scientifically valuable"? I realized that when analysing these kind of issues, one has to look at it as on a dissection table, leaving all emotional context outside, just keep facts. And WHATEVER CONCLUSION YOU DRAW OUT OF IT HAS TO FALL INTO THE CATEGORY OF "UNIVERSAL", OTHERWISE IT IS NOT CONSIDERED ETHICS BUT MORALS WHICH RUN LOCALLY . -Refresh your knowledge of the difference between them both-.

So I started this morning looking into the net to see what I could find about this fascinating, never clean cut ethical dilemmas. I found this; from the Jewish Virtual Library. I had no idea of my source when I was reading, it was a very interesting surprise.

Holton Rower

2011-02-18T23:20:00.000-08:00

..and his site. Click here

21st century enlightment

2010-10-31T05:36:00.000-07:00

Justine Harari

2010-10-14T00:26:00.000-07:00

She has strongmarks of German expressionism in her photography. No one can denny either the intemporality suggested by Bacon in her art. A mixture of the echos of Sodoma and Gomorra and lonely desperate people in an endless, senseless passing by...
She is Justine Harari.

http://www.justineharari.com/

The Buddhist Monastic Code

2010-07-01T22:04:00.000-07:00

The Buddhist Monastic Code I
The Patimokkha Training Rules Translated and Explained
by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
© 2007–2010

The chamber of horrors: dogs pedigrees...

2010-05-13T09:17:00.000-07:00

A documentary on the great cynicism, ignorance and disrespect for animal rights. Where is in this case the amimal right protecction society? and what is the extend of the possibility of their actions?
There are a succession of videos up to number five. here is the first one. Just double click to get into youtube.

http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/item/210

An anatomy lesson

2010-04-20T03:48:00.000-07:00

Since I was a little girl I just loved medicine. I used to go to the study of my father in the very early morning on Saturdays and Sundays as everybody was still asleep, and pick on his medicine books. Specially I loved one on anatomy. There were many figures of drawings of dissections. to me to see all that labyrinth of veins and tendons was not spooky but fascinating. It was then, as I was little, watching these books with my dolls on my lap, that I realized how absolutely beautiful the human body was, and that there were no parameters to compliment someone for his nice bowels or pleura...The inner beauty we could not see...
Learn more about your body.
I rally like this link.

http://home.comcast.net/~wnor/

Image by Richard Russell

Avishai Cohen

2010-04-16T11:14:00.000-07:00

Isn't he gooooood!

"Curious pages" Recommended inappropriate books for kids

2010-03-31T23:33:00.000-07:00

I want to thank Elaine C. for this information, that I am shearing with you all now.

So! What a special Blog this is!

A site for all your reading disorders.

"Looking for books about teddy bears or rainbows or feelings? You’re at the wrong place. Here we celebrate the offbeat, the abstract, the unusual, the surreal, the macabre, the inappropriate, the subversive and the funky." This is their statement.

Fascinating. Come and give it a look!

Mircea Eliade

2010-03-19T18:07:00.000-07:00

As my parents had for diner this Romanian friend...ten years ago, I did learn how to pronounce the name of this other Romanian, historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. The influence of Nae Ionescu (b.1890), then an assistant professor of logic and metaphysics and an active journalist, was keenly felt by the young Eliade and the shadow which fell on the older scholar because of his involvement with the extreme right in inter-war Romania has darkened Eliade's reputation.
Eliade's Master's thesis examined Italian Renaissance Philosophers from Marcilio Ficino to Giordano Bruno, and Renaissance.
Humanism was one of his major influences when he turned to India in order to "universalize" the "provincial" philosophy he had inherited from his European education. Finding that the Maharaja of Kassimbazar sponsored European scholars to study in India Eliade applied and was granted an allowance for four years. In 1928 he sailed for Calcutta to study Sanskrit and philosophy under Surendranath Dasgupta (1885-1952), a Cambridge educated Bengali, professor at the University of Calcutta, and author of a 5 volume, History of Indian Philosophy (Motilal Banarsidass 1922-55).
He returned to Bucharest in 1932 and successfully submitted his analysis of Yoga as his doctoral thesis at the Philosophy department in 1933. Published in French as Yoga: Essai sur les origines de la mystique Indienne this was extensively revised and republished as Yoga, Immortality, and Freedom.
Eliade contends that the perception of time as an homogenous, linear, and unrepeatable medium is a peculiarity of modern and non-religious humanity. Archaic or religious humanity (homo religiosus), in comparison, perceives time as heterogenous; that is, as divided between profane time (linear), and sacred time (cyclical and reactualizable). Eliade undermines this concept, insisting that non-religious humanity in any pure sense is a very rare phenomenon.
"The sacred" has also been the subject of considerable contention. Some have seen Eliade's "sacred" as simply corresponding to a conventional concept of deity, or to Rudolf Otto's ganz andere (the "wholly other"), whereas others have seen a closer resemblance to Emile Durkheim's socially influenced sacred. Eliade himself repeatedly identifies the sacred as the real, yet he states clearly that "the sacred is a structure of human consciousness" (1969 i; 1978, xiii). This would argue more for the latter interpretation: a social construction of both the sacred and of reality. Yet the sacred is identified as the source of significance, meaning, power and being, and its manifestations as hierophanies, cratophanies, or ontophanies accordingly (appearances of the holy, of power, or of being).
This is a necessarily brief and incomplete list of Eliade's work. For a fuller bibliography, see Bryan Rennie, Reconstructing Eliade. See the following link for a partial listing of Eliade's fictional works.
Eliade, M. (1954) Cosmos and History:The Myth of the Eternal Return, trans. W. Trask, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. (Probably Eliade's most crucial and approachable short work. Contains his analysis of time as heterogenous for the religious and homogenous for the non-religious and his conception of the 'terror of history' and the ability to 'reactualize' religious time.)

----- (1958a) Yoga, Immortality and Freedom, trans. W. Trask. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. (First published in French as Yoga: Essai sur l'origine de la mystique Indienne in 1933, this informative and scholarly work analyses yoga as a concrete search for freedom from human limitations)

----- (1958b) Rites and Symbols of Initiation (Birth and Rebirth), trans. W. Trask, London: Harvill Press. (The publication of Eliade's 1956 Haskell Lectures at the University of Chicago, 'Patterns of Initiation'. His analysis of initiatory themes implies their ubiquity and structure as a symbolic death and rebirth.)

----- (1958c) Patterns in Comparative Religion, trans. R. Sheed, London: Sheed and Ward. (An attempt to delineate the morphology of the sacred. Frequently criticized for its cross-cultural, and ahistorical approach, Patterns organizes religious phenomena by structural similarities regardless of time or place of origin. A valuable source of data despite this.)

----- (1959) The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion, trans. W. Trask, London: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. (Picking up where Rudolf Otto's The Idea of the Holy (Das Heilige) left off, the sacred is explicated through its relation to its binary counterpart, the profane. The complex dialectic of the sacred and the profane is outlined.)

----- (1960) Myths, Dreams and Mysteries: the Encounter between Contemporary Faiths and Archaic Realities, trans. P. Mairet, London: Harvill Press. (Eliade's understanding of myth in the modern world, the mythic prestige of origins, and his analysis of the symbolism of ascension, flight, the labyrinth, and swallowing by a monster, among others.)

----- (1961) Images and Symbols: Studies in Religious Symbolism, trans. P. Mairet, London: Harvill Press. (More on symbolism, particularly the symbolism of the center, knots, shells, and pearls. Symbolism and history and some remarks on method.)

----- (1963) Myth and Reality, trans. W. Trask, New York: Harper and Row. (The structure of myths. More on the prestige of origins and on the survival of myths and mythic themes in modern thought.)

----- (1964) Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, trans. W. Trask, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. (Long a standard work in the study of Shamanism, a detailed and valuable source of information on the phenomenon.)

----- (1965) The Two and the One, trans. J.M. Cohen, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. (An important work for the analysis of the coincidentia oppositorum, the coincidence of opposites, or binary oppositions in the history of religious ideas. Androgyny is explored as are cosmogony and eschatology, the birth and death of the cosmos or worldview.)

----- (1969) The Quest: History and Meaning in Religion, London: University of Chicago Press. (An attempt at a more methodological work. The Quest pulls together articles previously published on Eliade's methodological and theoretical presuppositions, including his 'new humanism', his response to the quest for the 'origins' of religion.)

----- (1978) A History of Religious Ideas, vol. I, From the Stone Age to the Eleusinian Mysteries, trans. W. Trask, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. (Originally projected as a complete history of religion in one volume. This was an attempt to give Eliade's understanding of the entire history of religion from a unified perspective. A useful reference work, potentially readable in its entirety. Many of Eliade's categories survive in this mature work: the terror of history, the coincidentia oppositorum, the symbolism of the center, the hieros gamos or symbolic heavenly marriage.)

----- (1982) A History of Religious Ideas, vol. II, From Gautama Buddha to the Triumph of Christianity, trans. W. Trask, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

----- (1985) The History of Religious Ideas, vol. III, From Muhammad to the Age of the Reforms, trans. A. Hiltebeitel and D. Apostolos-Cappadona, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

----- (1987) Encyclopedia of Religion (editor-in-chief), New York: Macmillan. (Seventeen volumes of articles on every aspect of religion by leading scholars in the field. Currently the standard reference encyclopedia on religion.)

Information from Westminster Education
Thanks Brennie,

brennie@westminster.edu

Todas las palabras...

2010-03-18T01:21:00.000-07:00

Chet Baker, "Let's get loss"

2010-03-13T04:23:00.000-08:00

Chet Baker knew the jazz life in all its ugliness. Bruce Weber loved him for it. Want to understand both men? See "Let's Get Lost" at the Ken beginning tomorrow for a week.

Baker was Cool when it mattered, his music a feather on the wind. He played trumpet. And he sang, in a little voice full of romance and longing. He was James Dean before Dean was, a wild kid from Oklahoma who was a natural at playing jazz. No one seems to know why.

Charlie Parker, who hired Baker before anyone heard of Baker, told Miles Davis to watch out for that little white kid on the West Coast. He knew how to play, Bird said. Miles didn't believe him.

Someone once said Baker sounded like Miles. No way. His tone was in that soft, dark middle range like Miles', but Baker was vulnerable. Miles was in your face, even with that tone. Miles played a lilting "My Funny Valentine" that burned with tension. Baker sang it and made you cry.

Bruce Weber is a photographer, mostly fashion. You know his work for ads like Calvin Klein. Dark romantic shots of men, mostly, often in briefs. He loved dark tones and soft sensuality. No wonder he loved Chet Baker.

In the late 1980s he shot a film that looked like his photographs. He called it "Let's Get Lost" and it was a kind of documentary on Baker. It's not anything close to linear. It's scattered. The sound is all over the place. It's difficult to stay with. But it was all about Chesney Henry Baker Jr ... forever Chet.

That's another thing about Baker. He was beautiful. Women loved him. Men wanted to be him, or with him.

In the mid-1950s, Baker was the trumpet player in jazz. Not Dizzy. Not Miles. Chet. There was plenty of resentment about that. Jazz was black music. Chet was white and he forever had to live down that resentment.

In all its black-and-white beauty, "Let's Get Lost" captures that life Chet Baker lived. He cooperated in the filming. So did many of the women he lived with or married, and there were many of them, mostly unimportant things to Baker. They were just people to be with between gigs and drugs.

And those drugs killed that beauty, that outward exterior that Bruce Weber so obviously loved. To see Chet as a young man was inspiring. They made movies about him. "All the Fine Young Cannibals" with Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner was one.

To see him after the drugs, and after the beatings he took from dealers who knew he was a trumpet player so they knocked out his teeth, was horrific. Weber gets all that on film, that and the pain he caused those he was closest to in life, like his kids.

Chet died in 1988 before "Let's Get Lost" was originally released. He fell, or was pushed, from the upper stories of a hotel in Amsterdam. Suicide? Not Chet, he actually loved his life. Murder? Maybe, but most people think he was probably just sitting in the window and nodded out.

"Let's Get Lost" is not an easy film to watch. A lot of that is because Weber is not really a filmmaker. It's unfocused. The sound is of little importance, the story disjointed. But it's beautiful to see. It's beautiful to watch Chet Baker . . . and to hear him play his warm trumpet and sing in the little, vulnerable voice.

Let's get lost, lost in each others arms
Let's get lost, let them send out alarms
And if they think we're rather rude
We'll tell the world we're in a crazy mood
Let's defrost, in a romantic mist
Let's get crossed, off everybody's list
We'll tell the world that we have found each other
Darling, let's get lost

The New York Times, article about a new edition of the movie.
...and the old edition...down below (only the first part, you can look for more on youtube). What would be of our lives without it?

Invictus

2010-02-20T05:12:00.000-08:00

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley

Cucina Regionale Italiana: La Lombardia I

2010-01-04T02:58:00.000-08:00

Even though Lombardia is less known from what we call typical "Italian", more and more it makes part of the top restaurants in the world. Just think about "risotto", and even "polenta".
People of Lombardy eat their "minestrone" (mainly vegetable soup)hot in winter and cold in summer, with just a dash of olive oil.
One of my favourite dishes besides polenta, risotto and its derivates such as "riso al salto" and "suppli al telefono" is "tortelli di zucca". This is a specialty of the city of Mantova. Tortelli di zucca are basically a "ravioli of the north" filled with mashed pumpkin, crushed amaretti, parmigiano cheese and Mostarda di Cremona (candied fruit made in a mustard syrup, that you buy in the...pharmacy!) and it is served just with butter and sage plus greated parmigiano yummy cheese. Sometimes they bathe them with lughanica sausage and a light tomato sauce. So the idea is that all these flavours sweet and salty, appear into your mouth as you slowly blend them, and to me... it tastes like paradise.
Costoletta alla Milanese is the typical Viener Schnizel, and Austrian and Italians claim it as their invention...but as I always say when I prepare something original: "I invented something already invented"! This happens because food makes parte of the national pride.
Bresaola is a cold cut like viende sache (dry beef) really delicious with a dash of olive oil, lemon juice and capers. It comes from the area of Valtellina.
Lombardy claims to have invented the Panettone, this lovely brioche bread with candied orange peel and raisins that it is eaten all year round but specially for Christmas.
And lets not forget the king of blues: The Gorgonzola cheese! The creamiest of all blues (try it on a slice of ripe pear!)

And Mascarpone! Whithout which Tiramisu could not exist...
The "Vitello Tonato"? Some claim it was born here...may be the French will not agree and still call it "Vitel Thone"!

Caotica Ana...

2010-01-04T02:39:00.000-08:00

"Caótica Ana" is a 2007 drama movie by Spanish director Julio Médem.
I cannot say that I have only one opinion about it...but two things I loved from it: one, the camera is out of the box. Two: the music. For only these two reasons I would go to see it.
Here is some of it, interpreted by Cesarea Evora. Enjoy Monday.

Christmas

2009-12-20T03:42:00.000-08:00

Christmas is one of the most vibrant festivities. One might like or dislike all the business around it, but the fact is that most of us love to see the Christmas lights on a dark night. Lights to compensate the darkest period of the year: December.

To me Christmas is the North and the snow, and the warm wine with cinnamon, and the candles, and I do not relate it to any other significance, but a pagan tradition which I love. Many people think otherwise and many people have their own way to celebrate. In however way you live through it, I wish you a great great holiday season! Merry Christmas!

Mercat de la Boqueria, Barcelona

2009-12-17T11:21:00.000-08:00

If you are a lover of fish and sea food like myself, and you happen to be around Barcelona, be ready for entering into paradise. Freshness and variety is a key word to describe the amazing stands in the Boqueria Marquet in Barcelona.

The genius of Bill Viola...

2009-12-06T04:45:00.000-08:00

Bill Viola Awarded XXIst Catalonia International Prize

The Generalitat de Catalunya, autonomous government of Catalonia in the Framework of the Spanish State, created the Premi Internacional Catalunya in 1989, to recognise persons who made key contributions to the development of cultural, scientific or human values. The jury has decided to give this year’s prize to the North-American artist Bill Viola, for his work both artistic and technical, personal and spiritual.

Previous winners include:

- Claude Lévi-Strauss Anthropologist. France. 2005
- Doris Lessing Writer. Great Britain. 1999
- Jacques-Yves Cousteau Oceanographer. France. 1991
- Karl R. Popper Philosopher. Great Britain. 1989

November 26th Thanksgiving...

2009-11-26T06:10:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in Canada and the United States. Traditionally, it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general.

I love the fact that Pablo Neruda Chilean poet (July 12, 1904 – September 23, 1973) understood the poetic dimension of regular food staples, and dedicated them "Odes", they are called, "Odas elementales". Through his poetry we come to understand the meaning and depth of gratitude in life, of recognition of the beauty in which we live submerged without even noticing.

In this blog I posted some of them, and here is another one that I like very much.

I wish everybody would find the space inside to connect to these things, because after all, this is much of what life is about...

Ode To a Chestnut on the Ground

From bristly foliage
you fell
complete, polished wood, gleaming mahogany,
as perfect
as a violin newly
born of the treetops,
that falling
offers its sealed-in gifts,
the hidden sweetness
that grew in secret
amid birds and leaves,
a model of form,
kin to wood and flour,
an oval instrument
that holds within it
intact delight, an edible rose.
In the heights you abandoned
the sea-urchin burr
that parted its spines
in the light of the chestnut tree;
through that slit
you glimpsed the world,
birds
bursting with syllables,
starry
dew
below,
the heads of boys
and girls,
grasses stirring restlessly,
smoke rising, rising.
You made your decision,
chestnut, and leaped to earth,
burnished and ready,
firm and smooth
as the small breasts
of the islands of America.
You fell,
you struck
the ground,
but
nothing happened,
the grass
still stirred, the old
chestnut sighed with the mouths
of a forest of trees,
a red leaf of autumn fell,
resolutely, the hours marched on
across the earth.
Because you are
only
a seed,
chestnut tree, autumn, earth,
water, heights, silence
prepared the germ,
the floury density,
the maternal eyelids
that buried will again
open toward the heights
the simple majesty of foliage,
the dark damp plan
of new roots,
the ancient but new dimensions
of another chestnut tree in the earth.

Pablo Neruda

Light houses for a stormy night....

2009-11-09T13:36:00.000-08:00

As I told you before, many nights when I could not sleep, I had two things in mind that would do the trick: One of them was to imagine that I was in a lighthouse while outside was stormy. The smell of good fish soup filled the air and it was warm and cozy inside...Well...nobody is perfect! : )
So I found this internet link as I was looking for a lighthouse to buy...I still thinks I want one!

Press Freedom: Reporters sans frontiers

2009-11-07T00:40:00.000-08:00

I am basically a defendant of freedom of Press.

It is as a value of democracy in our so called "Western civilization".

Press, as freedom of expression is also"highlighted", because it is a shaper of public opinion.

Even if journalism claims to be "objective" it is not. Can never be. Not only because perceptions are always formed by personal "a priori" experiences, but because unfortunately journalism is a huge part of the political maneuvering.

The defence of freedom of expression should not be an absolute. As everything else in life, there is a point of rupture where what it is good can be not so good.

So...as you see, we move by "principals" and then we discuss "issues".

Many journalists have been incarcerated while they were doing their job. Basically trying to open some information to the world. This link is to make us more conscientious of this fact, so we can gather some thoughts about it, and decide whether or not we need to take action.

AO

View Points

2009-10-29T12:08:00.000-07:00

I am doing much more photography lately. Still writing my book...that seems to go slow...and at the same time thinking of writing a book on Japanese food.
I want to post some photographs I made two days ago...

Old Japanese Labels

2009-10-16T12:44:00.000-07:00

I just found this site which I wanted to share with you as I find it particularly interesting...Most of the women in the adds look like transvestites and the music gives a special decadent atmosphere to it....
It is the Old Orient Museum...already the name makes me fall into a kind of "opium" dream. As you go in, turn toward your left to "Gallery" and then "Japanese"...but of course explore all you want around...and tell me!

Enjoy the bizarre experience!

Voyage...

2009-10-05T13:13:00.000-07:00

Painting by Alex Olivera
Maps from an antique collection of Japanes Maps

Writing and reading...

2009-10-05T13:02:00.000-07:00

My dear readers! I trust that this Blog is so full of information, that even if I am not "home" for some months, you will come in and enjoy anyway!

I have been doing so much lately that I found hardly any time to write on the Blog.

We spent Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in Tel Aviv. I was sorry to hear that there were riots in Jerusalem. I always love to go to the market over there, get some coffee with cardamom and just wonder around.

Just off road there are some great Arab restaurants in these little Arab villages, but sometimes the atmosphere is politically heavy so we avoid them.

My mind right now is in my novel, which is situated in Japan, therefore I am into deep writing and reading also.

I hope I will be able to finish by the end of this year...but it is going laboriously slow.

The weather here in Amsterdam is rainy and inviting to invent new foodies. I shall keep you posted as soon as I can.

Love

Give me wilderness...

2009-08-16T14:36:00.000-07:00

Photograph by Terry Evans

Chis Jordan

2009-08-11T07:12:00.000-07:00

Chris Jordan est un photographe atypique, il tente dans ses oeuvres de rendre des concepts abstraits plus facilement visualisables. Son dernière « photographie », Gyre, se base sur l’estampe d’Hokusai « La grande Vague ». Pour les couleurs, 2.4 millions de pièces plastiques sont disposées côte à côte, soit l’équivalent du nombre estimé de livres de plastique entrant dans l’océan chaque heure. Cette oeuvre s’inscrit dans une série de Jordan sur les déchets.

Voir son site. Clique ici.

The beauty of North-West Holland

2009-08-08T09:36:00.000-07:00

Today we decided to take the car and go and have lunch somewhere.The day was kind of cloudy, but it kept on changing during the journey.
We arrived in Enkhuizen, an adorable little fishermen's town and we managed to find a viswinkel, where they sell the freshest fish and they have a tiny place where they prepare it for you. Without exaggeration we can say, that we understood the me meaning of "holly Mackerel!" Never ever we came across such a fresh tender juicier smoked mackerel. Then we had fresh fried cod, made to perfection, in new oil, with a crispy batter coating...
We brought some mackerels back home, and tonight, we will be having a huge bowl of home made somen soup and mackarel on the side. Ah! we also bought a kind of smoked herring that looks just like the one we loved in Japan! Looking forward!!!

This is a little cemetery in Frisland, looks so peaceful, that even to die, here seems like a nice idea!

And we saw this chou-chou train! A real train that takes passengers from station to station...
Dit is een paradijs voor ons!
AO

Things that I love

2009-08-06T11:12:00.001-07:00

A pillow

A light

A room

A home

A song

Best baguette 2009

2009-07-24T23:20:00.000-07:00

On 17th March the 16th contest of the 'Grand Prix de la Baguette' for the City of Paris took place with this year’s victory going to Frank Tombarel, a young baker from the 15th arrondissement.

With 161 candidates against last year’s 143, the 2009 Award already holds a record for participation in terms of numbers. This is proof that the competition, created in 1993, has achieved its aim of creating a healthy competitive spirit among the capital’s bakers thereby increasing the quality of the average “traditional” baguette. Invented in 1830, this specifically Parisian institution is, more than ever, a symbol of France’s appreciation of good food, as attested by the healthy sales of the national jambon-beurre (ham and butter) sandwich (2.2 million of which are sold every day, or in other terms, 8 baguette sandwiches for every hamburger sold) and by the proliferation of French boulangeries in New York and Tokyo.
The jury was not standing for any nonsense with regard to the rules. Thirty-one baguettes were automatically eliminated for not complying with the criteria of size and weight peculiar to the “baguette tradition.” (The measurements must be 60 to 70cm with a weight of 250 to 300 grams.)

The jury was chaired by Madame Lyne Cohen-Solal, the deputy Mayor of Paris, and consisted of 17 members from the professions of bakery, catering and journalism. One hundred and thirty baguettes made that very morning at 7 Quai d’Anjou (on Île Saint-Louis) were thus carefully examined from 2 to 6pm, at this venue which has been the historical headquarters of master bakers since 1843.

This are the winners 2009

1st: Le Grenier de Felix, Frank TOMBAREL, 64 av Félix Faure
2nd: La Pomme Verte, Benjamin TURQUIER, 134 rue de Turenne
3rd: Stéphane EURY, 98 rue de Meaux, Paris 19ème
4th: Eran MAYER, 100 rue du Théâtre, Paris 15ème
5th: Le Grenier à Pain Abbesses, Djibril BODIAN, 38 rue des Abbesses
6th: Stéphane HENRY, 2bis bd Morland, Paris 4éme
7th: FOURMONT, Thierry RACOILLET, 50 bis rue de Douai
8th: Boulangerie Pichard, Frédéric PICHARD, 88 rue de Cambronne
9th: Jean-Marc TOUCHARD, 111 rue Saint-Dominique
10th: Le Grenier à Pain, Bertrand POUGNET, 52 av d’Italie

Crazy for Russia...

2009-07-12T07:24:00.000-07:00

Paris: Exposition "Costume Populaire Russe"

(link)

Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent - Du 18 Mars au 30 août 2009
En collaboration avec le Musée Ethnographique de la Russie, la Fondation Pierre Bergé -Yves Saint Laurent consacre sa 10ème exposition au « Costume populaire russe ». Un ensemble de 45 silhouettes accessoirisées datant du XIX ème et du début du XX ème siècle dévoile la réalité ainsi que la création du monde rural. Ce parcours est illustré par une série inédite de photographies de la fin du XIX ème siècle issue des collections du Musée Ethnographique de la Russie.
Pour information clique sur titre.

Amsterdam: Aan het Russische Hof

(link)

Inaugural exhibition At the Russian Court presents more than 1,800 treasures from St Petersburg
From June 20th 2009, 10 a.m., a major new European cultural destination, the greatly expanded Hermitage Amsterdam, will welcome visitors to its elegantly restored 17th-century building in the historic heart of Amsterdam. Founded to bring the richness and grandeur of Russia’s artistic heritage to one of the West’s most charming capitals, this independent cultural institution will inaugurate its spacious new home — ten times the size of the previous building — with the exhibition At the Russian Court, a dazzling display of more than 1,800 treasures from the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg.

For more information click on the title!

"Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha" Mantra

2009-07-03T22:55:00.000-07:00

TARE shows that Mother Tara liberates living beings from samsara, from true suffering, or problems. You can relate this to the particular sufferings of human beings: birth, old age, sickness and death; meeting undesirable objects and experiencing aversion; not finding desirable objects or finding them but gaining no satisfaction. No matter how much pleasure you enjoy, there is no satisfaction. No matter how much you follow desire, there is no satisfaction at all.

TUTTARE, liberates you from the eight fears. There are eight fears related to external dangers from fire, water, air, earth, and also from such things as thieves and dangerous animals. However, the main dangers come from ignorance, attachment, anger, pride, jealousy, miserliness, doubt and wrong views. These eight disturbing thoughts that you have in your mind are the main dangers. By taking refuge in Tara and doing Tara practice, you are liberated from these eight internal dangers, these eight disturbing thoughts. In this way, you are also liberated from external dangers, as these external dangers come from the inner disturbing thoughts.

TURE, liberates you from disease. Now, of the Four Noble Truths, TURE shows the cessation of suffering, which is the ultimate Dharma. In terms of liberating from disease, the actual disease we have is ignorance not knowing the absolute nature of the I, and all the disturbing thoughts that arise from this ignorance. These are the actual, serious diseases that we have. With cessation of all these diseases of disturbing thoughts, all the true sufferings, all the resultant problems, are also ceased. By liberating us from disease, TURE actually liberates us from the true cause, disturbing thoughts, and also the true sufferings.

The rough meaning of these three words TARE TUTTARE TURE is: "To you, embodiment of all the Buddhas' actions, I prostrate always—whether I am in happy or unhappy circumstances—with my body, speech and mind."

The final word SOHA means establishing the root of the path within your heart. In other words, by taking refuge in Tara and doing Tara practice, you receive the blessings of Tara in your own heart. This gives you space to establish the root of the path, signified by TARE TUTTARE TURE, in your heart. By establishing the path of the three capable beings within your heart, you purify all impurities of your body, speech and mind, and achieve Tara's pure vajra holy body, holy speech and holy mind, which are signified by OM. Your body, speech and mind are transformed into Tara's holy body, holy speech and holy mind. This is the rough meaning of OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA.
Peace.
A.O.J.

Venice...where time stands still

2009-06-25T00:07:00.000-07:00

I have the pleasure and the privilege to have a talent like Axel Vervoordt close to our lives.
I believe Axel, maneged to incorporate the quality of Japanese sense of time(-less)and space, and translated into "Western elements". He has this gift. He understood something that most of the architects and interior designers don't. He adds a deeply spiritual quality to what he does.
"IN-FINITUM" is the name of the exhibition that is taken place now at Palazzo Fortuny, where he is the curator among others.
For more information click here.

Hermann Schlegel: Vogels van Nederland

2009-06-19T12:36:00.001-07:00

Aangezien er een studie gaande is naar Hermann Schlegel (1804-1884) en het culturele klimaat waarin hij in Leiden leefde, vul ik deze rubriek voorlopig nog niet in. Het is immers overbodig hetzelfde onderzoek dubbelop te doen. Wel citeer ik hier hoe ’s Rijks Museum van Natuurlijke Historie, waaraan Hermann Schlegel vanaf 1825 werkzaam was, vanaf 1828 als conservator en vanaf 1858 als directeur, voorkomt in de Camera Obscura van Hildebrand (1814-1903).

Volgens de Levensschets van Hermann Schlegel, zoals gepubliceerd in 1884, schreef Leanders vader maar liefst 134 kortere en langere studies. Hieronder de tweede herziene druk van De vogels van Nederland, in 1878 uitgegeven bij G.L. Funke in Amsterdam.

A song we love...

2009-06-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

To my dear May, hoping for the best recovery!

2009-06-09T11:52:00.000-07:00

From Alex

Rust...

2009-06-09T07:11:00.000-07:00

I always loved the look of rust.
When I was a child my nanny and her loving husband used to take me for a walk. My favourite place was always the Port.
Pieces of old dismantled ships rusting by the weather were all over...
Enemy of "progress", loud laughing law of enthropy!...rust looks like the coming back of life where the metal was bind-ed up by the paint. There it is, sooner or later...blooming in the sun, the full colours of her ultimate existence!The triumph of nature over un-natured...comming back to her true self...

My corners IX

2009-06-09T03:50:00.000-07:00

Detail of the small room. Photograph by Alex Olivera

Stuff

2009-06-06T23:01:00.000-07:00

The great late George Carlin....Enjoy!

History of stuff

2009-06-06T22:16:00.001-07:00

Enjoy the amazing and easy explanation of Annie Leonard, about the destructive consumers cycle we are in.

Baryshnikov

2009-05-25T06:42:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share with you this short moment of the film "White nights" performed by Michail Baryshnikov. The song is from Vladimir Vysostsky, it is called "koni priviredliviye".

The fastidious horses
Russian title: Koni priveredlivye

By the cliff, along the precipice, right over deadly ground,
With the whip, I strike my steeds; strike them hard to urge them forward.
I am getting short on air, gulp the haze, drink the wind, yet
With a fatal rapture, sensing: I am done for, I am done for!

Slow down a bit my horses, slow down, please!
Don't you listen to my stinging thong!
But the horses -- just my luck! -- are so hard to please!
Neither lived I so long, nor will I finish this song...
I will let horses drink, I'll complete this refrain,
Just a little bit more I will stay on the brink...

I will vanish from the Earth, swept by a storm like fluffy feather;
At a gallop, in the morning by the snow they'll drag me over
Can't you please prolong my journey to the end of my tether?
Can't you ease your dash, my horses, carry on a little slower?

Slow down a bit my horses, slow down, please!
Don't take orders from my whip and thong!
But the horses -- just my luck! -- are so hard to please!
Neither lived I so long, nor will I finish this song...
I will let horses drink, I'll complete this refrain,
Just a little bit more I will stay on the brink...

Just on time - one can't be late arriving at God's quarters!
Why do the angels over there sound like some nasty mortals?
Or, perhaps, it's just a sleigh-bell that's gone mad and burst out sobbing,
Or it's me shouting at my steeds to slow down my sled from dashing.

Slow down a bit my horses, slow down, please!
I am begging you, don't rush along!
But the horses -- just my luck! -- are so hard to please!
Since I haven't lived long, let me finish this song...
I will let horses drink, I'll complete this refrain,
Just a little bit more I will stay on the brink...

Cucina Regionale Italiana: La Toscana I

2009-05-06T05:11:00.001-07:00

The region of Tuscany includes cities like Volterra, Siena, Lucca, San Giminiano, and Florence and it opens to some islands on the Mediterranean sea.
There are many different landscapes from the sea to the cattle roaming "pratti".
Tuscany is a place to go in Autumn time, because most of its fabulouse food is Autumn comfort kind of.
When I lived in Italy Porccini and Ovali mushroom hunting was one of the great Autumn time musts. After the rain and into the forests...they would make a good part of our food staple, stewed, fried, raw in salad...

Yes, definitely Tuscany is Autumn.
The Tuscans celebrate the bread more than any region, and is omnipresent in their soups and bruschette.
Pappardelle - a kind of broad cut egg pasta (they do not use dry pasta)- with boar ragu made like goulash, beans Tuscan style made in the "fiasco" with garlic, olive oil and sage, the soup of pasta and beans, and the green and golden hills where the vines grow...and the good Chianti wines.
Chestnuts grow beautifully in this area, and they are used many times to do gnocchi or cakes and bread.
Tuscans are proud of some of their sweets like the Cantuccini that they have with Vin Santo after the meal. One of my favourites Tuscan sweets is Pan Peppato which comes in two varieties.
Whenever you go, make sure that you can enjoy their great cold cuts, specially their salamis! You will understand why Tuscany calls for Autumn times...

Cups

2009-04-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

Old postcard...

2009-04-24T13:46:00.000-07:00

River Cottage

2009-04-24T00:12:00.000-07:00

River Cottage is a former weekend and holiday home, that used to be a former game keepers lodge in the grounds of Slape Manor, Netherbury, Dorset. In 1998 it was used by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall as a setting for three television series: Escape to River Cottage, Return to River Cottage and River Cottage Forever, in which viewers follow Hugh's adventures as a downshifted smallholder. These were supplemented by the series The View from River Cottage which was a combination clip show and retrospective of the previous series.

River Cottage brand logo
The River Cottage brand left the holiday home to follow Hugh's progress as he sets up a new business from old dairy buildings near Broadoak, Bridport, Dorset in the later series Beyond River Cottage. In September 2006, the show would leave those buildings, then known as River Cottage H.Q., to move on to the Park Farm location near to Uplyme in Devon. Here at the new River Cottage H.Q., the team would film the 2006 series The River Cottage Treatment where Hugh would attempt to convert junk food lovers' eating habits. The 2007 series, River Cottage: Gone Fishing, saw Hugh travel to fishing locations throughout the British Isles in order to promote the culinary benefits of sustainable fishing cultures.
The river Cottage team also opened a local produce store and canteen, River Cottage Stores Ltd, which is located in the centre of Axminster, Devon.
In 2008, Channel 4 began broadcasting River Cottage Spring, later followed up by River Cottage Autumn, which shows Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall using home-grown produce in recipes. The series also tracks a group of families in Bristol who attempt to convert a large bramble patch into a small-holding, now known as Bramble Farm, growing vegetables, and rearing meat.
In March/April 2009, a new River Cottage restaurant is opening in Bath.

Information by Wikipedia

Valrhona

2009-04-23T01:38:00.000-07:00

Valrhona focuses mainly on top-quality luxury chocolate marketed for professional as well as for private consumption. Though considered one of the finest chocolate makers in the world. Valrhona produces vintage chocolate made from beans of a single year's harvest from a specific plantation, primarily the Grand Crus which is grown in South America, the Oceania and the Caribbean. Currently three brands of vintage chocolates – Ampamakia, Gran Couva and Palmira are in production with plantations on Madagascar, Trinidad and in Venezuela respectively.

They organize courses for the people intrested in patisserie and of couse chocolate!

Find out about stages and courses at Valrhona' s site.

Great voices of the Opera

2009-04-19T23:56:00.001-07:00

One of the things I love about these recordings is the sound of the paste record.
I invite you to enjoy the most incredible voices of the past, interpreting the classics.

Enjoy the feast!

All these files are supported by Real Player. You can download RP here .

The discovery of Jan Švankmajer

2009-04-13T23:12:00.000-07:00

Jan Švankmajer is a Czech surrealist artist. His work spans several media. He is known for his surreal animations and features, which have greatly influenced other artists such as Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam, The Brothers Quay and many others.(Quoted from Wikipedia. His work is not what you could call light. It much rather reflects border areas that enter into a full description of human psychopathology.
The personification of the "Unmeimlich".
There are certain features always present such as the banging of doors, and small claustrophobic places, disintegration and mutations, in a world of immediateness that reverses all symbolic meaning.One of the most amazing "put into scenes" in the description of psychotic states.Not for everyone.
Here is a documentary on him. You can also refere to youtube.

DIV

Springtime

2009-04-03T00:03:00.000-07:00

I do not know how to leave in a place where seasons don't change...

It is so amazing to feel the spring coming...spring to me is a symbolic kind of hope.

We went two days ago to the greenhouse close from home called "Tuincentrum". This is in Osdorp. The Dutch export flowers and have one of the most significant corpus of "know how". To go to Tuincentrum in spring is close to an ecstatic experience.

We got some humble examples for our kitchen...and here they are.

Spring

2009-04-03T00:02:00.001-07:00

The past is never dead, it is not even past. William Faulkner

2009-03-30T01:18:00.000-07:00

Remembering is a fundamental part of our identity as individuals and as a society. A treasure to be passed on from generation to generation.
There are many grand-parents that take care of that. But once the grand-parents are gone, we are the ones in charge to take over the memory, to make it alive, to handle it over our children.
One of the most sensitive places of memories is located on the beaches of Normandy, where the D-Day took place, on the 6th of June 1944.
This humble place is not made of gold like the great Buddha, nor is magnificent like the Chinese Wall...but it is situated in an area that goes between a natural monument and a pilgrimage sanctuary. Brushed by the waves, as time brushes away...
In a world mostly deprived of political heroism, we need today more than ever, to remember...
Pia and Roel Klinkhamer take care of many people that come to these beaches year by year. They want to go back where their parents or grandparent disembarked to free Europe from the Nazi tyranny. These men made possible a more free and moral world.

The events that took place that day, marked a new road in the history of human kind.
Contact Pia and Roul at Victory Tours. (click on the link).May be you will also find time to be pampered at their castle, where they run a B & B, and may be you also enjoy the great sea food of Normandy and meet great people.

Photograph At Utah Beach, members of an American landing party help others whose landing craft was sunk by the Germans off the coast of France. The survivors reached Utah Beach, near Cherbourg, by using a life raft.

Francoise Hardy

2009-03-09T00:22:00.000-07:00

2009-03-09T00:11:00.000-07:00

The Adhan

2009-03-07T11:05:00.000-08:00

2009-02-22T23:58:00.000-08:00

"When the branch brakes, the bird flies."

Menehem Kahana, fotógrafo.

2009-02-06T23:57:00.000-08:00

To find out more about Menahem click on the title!

Winter

2009-01-29T04:40:00.000-08:00

Back on track and some lovely hot chocolate

2009-01-29T04:26:00.000-08:00

Hi! I am back from a million and one things. During this month we spent sometime in England, which is still the best inspirational location for my "urban" painting, and then we went to Paris and Normandie, which I discovered I adored.
Winter is still here -today the lake is frozen- so I thought it is a good time to present you with some hot chocolate!
This particular recipe belongs to David.

Hot Chocolate for a cold day

1 quart (1l) half-and-half or whole milk
8 ounces (230g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
4 ounces (115g) milk chocolate, finely chopped
tiny pinch of salt.
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Warm about one-third of the half-and-half or milk, with the chopped chocolates and salt, stirring until the chocolate is melted.

2. Whisk in the remaining half-and-half or milk, heating until the mixture is warmed through. Add the cinnamon.

3. Use a hand-held blender, or a whisk, and mix the hot chocolate until it's completely smooth. Serve very warm.

At Wittamer, it's served with a poof of whipped cream and chocolate curls. (but that is about to much!)

Enjoy!

All the posts about the Middle East you can find...

2008-12-30T15:28:00.000-08:00

...in

"The Hurricane's Eye"

A philosophical approach to the Middle Eastern politics.

Know your butter

2008-12-28T07:21:00.000-08:00

BEURRE FERMIER Made artisanally on the farm with raw cream. Highly perishable.
BEURRE LAITIER Made in dairies with raw cream. Highly perishable; keeps 15 to 20 days.
BEURRE PASTEURISÉ Made in dairies with pasteurized cream. Keeps well refrigerated for a month or more.
BEURRE DEMI-SEL Butter with a maximum of 5 percent added salt. Initially, salt was added for conservation purposes; it still performs that role but is now more frequently added for taste, often in the form of crunchy grains of fleur de sel. Beurre demi-sel may contain between .5 and 3 grams of salt per 100g butter.
BEURRE SALÉ Butter with 5 to 10 percent added salt. It may contain about 3 grams of salt per 100g butter.
BEURRE PÂTISSIER Also known as beurre concentré and beurre pasteurisé déshydraté, it contains no water and has a 99.8 percent fat content, compared with the 80 to 82 percent fat content of regular butter. Using this butter requires the addition of water to recipes.
BEURRE CRU Also known as beurre de crème crue, it is made with raw cream.
BEURRE FIN Made with pasteurized cream and kneaded; 30 percent frozen cream may be added.
BEURRE DE BARATTE Butter that is churned rather than blended.
BEURRE ALLÉGÉ Contains between 41 and 65 percent milk fat, with the addition of water and other substances including cornstarch.
BEURRE AOC Butter made from milk that comes from a designated geographic area and made according to strict methods that respect the local identity of the product.

Savoy Cabbage soup

2008-12-28T03:10:00.000-08:00

Savoy Cabbage soup

Ingredients

1 onion
1 carrot
1 celery stick
2 garlic cloves
1 tbsp olive oil , plus extra to serve
550g floury potatoes , peeled and cut into small cubes
1 l chicken or vegetable stock
A little box of smoked bacon cut into squares, with as little lard as possible.
A quarter medium savoy cabbage(the curly leaf one )(about 200g/8oz).

Directions

Add the bacon to a pan, and over medium to low hear degrease it. Strain it and put it on a paper towel.

Chop the onion, carrot, celery and garlic in a food processor.

Heat the oil over a medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the vegetables and potatoes, season well, then reduce the heat and cover the pan. Gently cook for about 5 mins until starting to soften, then add the stock, turn up the heat and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 mins more, or until all the vegetables are tender. Shred the cabbage, discarding the core.
Whizz the soup in the food processor until smooth, then return to the pan and add the cabbage and the bacon. Simmer for a few mins until the cabbage is just tender, then season to taste and serve.

Totalitarian democracies

2008-12-27T12:18:00.000-08:00

When you come to see these terms together, it visualizes as completely contradictory in itself.
Anyone that has in mind democratic governments imagine that people have full participation in their election. Well, sometimes, this is not so.
The Israeli historian J. L. Talmon, uses this term, to refer to a system of government in which lawfully elected representatives maintain the integrity of a nation state whose citizens, while granted the right to vote, have little or no participation in the decision-making process of the government.

2008-12-22T12:27:00.000-08:00

Robert and Shana Parke-Harrison

2008-12-22T12:23:00.000-08:00

"The Pleasure is all mine"

2008-12-22T12:14:00.001-08:00

Björk "Unravel"

The Hanukkah Queen: Potato Latkes

2008-12-22T00:41:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

1kg/2lb 4oz old or baking potatoes, peeled, soaked in cold water until needed
1 big onion , peeled
1 heaped TS plain flour or fine matza meal
2 free-range eggs, beaten
salt and freshly ground white pepper
olive or vegetable oil, for frying

To serve
soured cream
apple sauce

Directions

1. For the latkes, finely grate the potatoes and onion and mix together.
2. Place the grated potato and onion into a colander and squeeze out as much moisture as you can. Or roll up the potato and onion in a clean kitchen tea towel and wring well to extract the liquid.
3. Mix the potato and onion with the flour, eggs and salt and freshly ground white pepper.
4. Heat the oil in a frying pan until moderately hot and then place heaped tablespoons of the mixture into the pan to shallow-fry. Lower the heat to medium, flatten each latke with the back of a spoon and fry for about five minutes on each side, turning over when the edges turn golden-brown. If the heat is too high, the latkes will become dark-brown on the outside before they are cooked inside.
5. Remove the latkes from the pan and drain very thoroughly on brown paper bags (they absorb the oil, leave the latkes crisper and the latkes won't stick to the paper).
6. Serve the latkes hot with soured cream and apple sauce.

Rompope

2008-12-21T23:50:00.000-08:00

Rompope (Mexican Eggnog)

Rompope is strong, sweet and meant to be sipped, so small glasses. Refrigerated, it will keep indefinitely.

1 quart whole milk
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 cup finely ground almonds or almond meal (optional, see Note)
12 egg yolks
2 cups light rum or brandy
Combine the milk, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon stick (and ground almonds, if you are using them) in a large saucepan. Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring constantly, for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, and cool to room temperature.

Beat the egg yolks until thick and lemony. Remove the cinnamon stick from the milk mixture, and gradually whisk the egg yolks into the milk mixture. Return to low heat and, stirring constantly, cook until mixture coats a spoon. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.

Add the rum or brandy to the mixture, stir well. Transfer to a container and and cover tightly. Refrigerate for 1 or 2 days before serving. Makes 1-1/2 quarts.

Do one thing for Christmas!

2008-12-21T23:38:00.000-08:00

To find out how you can create Breathing Places just click on the link!
Have a Merry Christmas!!

Sir Anthony van Dijk...

2008-12-02T23:55:00.000-08:00

... Is the name of one of Antwerp favourites, when it comes to restaurants.
The food is excellent, and so is the house wine (by the glass) and the wine list. Settings are classic and there is fireplace that burns in cold days, which in this part of Europe can be frequent.
Price wise it is also very convenient. They worked up a real good set up menu also.
Just click on the title and come on in!

2008-12-02T14:18:00.000-08:00

2008-11-25T12:11:00.001-08:00

More of markets around the World!

2008-11-16T04:34:00.000-08:00

Goa (India)

Mapusa Market -- This market comes alive on Friday, the traditional market day. People from surrounding villages and towns come to Mapusa to sell their wares. This fair has a lot of local flavor and specializes in agricultural produce, vegetables, locally grown fruit, spices, clothes and even plants (mainly during the monsoon planting season). From lottery tickets displayed in great swathes to barbershops, the bazaar sells just about anything you could imagine.

Delhi (India)

Chandni Chowk -- This is one of the oldest and busiest streets in central north Delhi. The markets here offer saris, authentic Indian food, delicacies and more than 1,000 kinds of sweets. There are lots of narrow lanes with many shops selling books, clothing, shoes, leather goods, electronics and consumer goods. Chandni Chowk is home to several famous restaurants/confectioners (Halwais).

Phuket (Thailand)

Wat Chalong Street Fair -- Chalong Temple, or Wat Chalong, is replete with history and legend. Many stories have been told about the miracles performed there and how the wat played a pivotal and healing role in the fighting between Chinese secret societies ('Angyee') in 1876. This site is also a place for vendors to sell their goods from fruits and vegetables to the local arts and crafts that Phuket locals have to offer.

Apia (Samoa)

Marketi Fou -- This is the new market in Apia. It is the place where a large number of Samoans go to either buy or sell fresh produce. All the fruit you would expect to see on sale is available: mangoes, pawpaw, pineapples, coconuts, bananas (four or five types), breadfruit (which is eaten like a vegetable) and more. You may also see a smallish round green fruit called vi. These are generally eaten hard and have a sharp refreshing sort of taste. Of the vegetables that are sold here, most common are the taro and ta'amú. Taro is traditionally the staple food in the islands, but because of a virus called taro blight it has become quite scarce. Ta'amú, a large tuberous vegetable about a meter in length has become a popular substitute.

Paris (France)

Rungis Market -- The market covers 573 acres, an area larger than Monaco. It welcomes 26,000 cars every day and nourishes one-fifth of the French population. Meat, fruit, vegetables, fish and flowers converge here from across France, Europe and the world, before scattering to supermarket aisles or the finest restaurants in Paris. The market opens at 3 a.m., when most Parisians are asleep. Trucks deliver produce from neighboring countries, fish from the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, cheese from Spain, Italy and every corner of France.

Palermo (Sicily)

Vucciria Market -- It's easy to see how the Vucciria Market got its name, which translates in dialect as "voices" or "hubbub." Palermo's most established outdoor market in the heart of the centro storico is a maze of side streets around Piazza San Domenico, where hawkers deliver incessant chants from behind stands brimming with mounds of olives, blood oranges, wild fennel and long-stem artichokes. One hawker will be going at the trunk of a swordfish with a cleaver, while across the way, another holds up a giant squid or dangles an octopus. Morning is the best time to see the market in full swing.

Ballaro Market -- Wind your way through the Albergheria district and the historic Ballarò Market, where the Saracens did their shopping in the 11th century -- joined by the Normans in the 12th. The market remains faithful to seasonal change as well as the original Arab commerce of fruit, vegetables and grain. Go early; the action dies out by 4 p.m. most days.

Los Angeles (United States)

L.A. Farmers' Market -- More than 90% of all the shops and stalls at Farmers' Market are independently owned and operated. Farmers' Market, the Market Plaza and North Market are home to at least 85 different shops and restaurants. Farmers' Market has been described (by the Los Angeles Times) as "the number one place in L.A. to spot stars." Visit L.A. Farmers' Market website for more information.

Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)

Addis Ababa Market -- The Merkato is the largest outdoor market in the world, and you can get anything from tourist goods (T-shirts, wood crafts, etc.) to fabric to metal goods there. Haggling and bargaining are standard procedure, and foreigners (especially those of European ancestry) should expect to be charged higher prices. To ensure a positive experience, maintain a sense of humor, don't be afraid to negotiate aggressively, and above all, don't let yourself be bullied by the many "brokers" who frequent the market. You will be able to negotiate lower prices if you can avoid brokers, and especially if you have a local friend or guide to buy things on your behalf.

Kampala (Uganda)

Nakasero Market -- The market is located at the bottom of Nakasero Hill. It's a vibrant African street atmosphere with shops and roadside traders where you can find textiles, shoes, cheap electronics, budget hotels, restaurants, markets and the busy matatu taxi parks. The Nakasero fresh food market is one of the most colorful in the country.

St. Petersburg (Russia)

Kuznechny Market -- A trip to the Kuznechny Market is an experience in itself, never mind the need to buy anything. Vendors aggressively promote their wares to hapless visitors in a way that only market traders know how. Before you know it, you'll be eating fresh fruit from the tips of knives being thrust in your face, or sampling wafers dipped in more types of honey than you knew existed. If you're planning to purchase, be prepared to put your poker face on and haggle as the starting prices can be expensive.

Guangzhou (China)

Quig Ping Market -- It has over 2,000 stalls along a 1-km-long Qingping Lu and Ti Yun Lu in the north of Shamian Island. It is the largest street market in Guangzhou; over 60,000 people shop there every day. Just like a take-away zoo, you'll find both live and dried starfish, snakes and leopards. Behind the packed crowds and stalls, there are also some jade and antique stalls and the antique shops along nearby Daihe Lu are also worth a visit.

Beijing (China)

Donghuamen Night Market -- This market is a good option when you want to try one of the local dishes. Simmering beef balls, hand-rolled fungus and roast pork pancakes, grilled squid skewers, sea urchins on the half shell -- it's all here. Be sure to bring your appetite if you're heading to this bustling night market.

Wangfujing Market -- This is the largest and busiest market street in Beijing, known not only in China but also abroad. Its southern end connects to the East Chang'an Avenue. The Beijing Department Store is the center of the market street. For newcomers to Beijing, it is an ideal and safe place to shop since most of the shops are state-run, so you will not be cheated or overcharged. You may want to spend your money elsewhere if you are confident in your bargaining skills. Wanfujing shops are expensive!

Batallas (Bolivia)

Batallas Market -- This bustling animal market opens up just before dawn. Many of the animals brought here go directly to restaurants in La Paz. Tourists can sample lamb kidneys, tripe, bull penis soup, and Chanfaina, a soup made with parts of the cow, including the veins, lungs, heart, liver, and kidneys.

La Paz (Bolivia)

Witches' Market -- Located within the lively tourist market, the Witches' Market sells mainly herbs and folk remedies, but also a variety of ingredients intended to manipulate and supplicate the various helpful and harmful spirits that populate the Aymara world. The most prominent products available in the Witches' Market are dried llama fetuses, which are usually buried in the foundations of new constructions or businesses as a cha'lla (offering) to Pachamama. Other common products are colorful herbs, seeds and various parts of frogs and insects for Aymara rituals that help with a variety of problems from illness to bothersome spirits.

Santiago (Chile)

Mercado Central -- Mercado Central offers an eclectic selection of handicrafts, fruit and vegetables. The speciality is fish and shellfish, which can be sampled in the small kitchens down the side of the building, or in the more formal restaurants that are interspersed throughout the market. Enjoy a plate of fish marinade or razor clams in parmesan sauce, while being serenaded by a local mariachi band. Open every day of the year, except on election day.

From Andrew Zimmern Travel site

Et voila Paris...

2008-11-16T00:58:00.000-08:00

For the people that enjoy Paris, there is now this wonderful guide in Internet.
You will be able to find shops like the one of the "affinteur" of cheeses Laurent Dubois. He keeps all his cheesy treasures in a controlled humidity cellar. According to Andrew Zimmern this place is "the feet of G'd".

Song for a Saturday morning

2008-11-15T00:12:00.000-08:00

Good morning to everyone!
To those that are awaking, those that did not yet wake up. North and South Hemispheres in this corner of a virtual world.
Today it is an autumn morning here in Amsterdam. But you know, we have such a short fall, jumping too fast into a long winter.
For people that can stay at home, few things are more pleasurable than Saturday morning, when the whole week end is open.
I love to just go around home, listening to music, cooking for friends to come...
So I hope you enjoy this week end too.
With love and affection,
this music is for you.
Alex

2008-11-14T08:42:00.001-08:00

Pears...a crunchy issue

2008-11-14T07:52:00.000-08:00

Pears are just wonderful. Aren't they?

They have this mystery about them. they are more sophisticated than the old homely apples, ans as versatile.

So no the period of pears in their most splendor had come to the north hemisphere and for us, it is about country walks to the old grove to pick up some of the most delicious staple of autumn.

So let me just give you some ideas about how to and what to:

Pears like apples get brownish if you peel them and leave them in contact with air. So, some lemon juice will do the job to keep them white and appealing.

-Use not very ripe pears to stew them together with dry pears in a compote, and put some mild spices in the stew such as clove or cinnamon. Garnish with caramelized violets at serving time.

-Do the same but instead of spices use rose water at the end and garnish with caramelized rose petals and some chopped pistachios nuts (the red variety).

-Slice them and serve them with Gorgonzola cheese and some pecan walnuts.

-Mix them in a salad of spinach.

-Make a strudel

-Make the Ritz warm Pear and almond tart with rose wine jelly

-Do them Belle Elene with chocolate sauce.

-Stew them with red wine, sugar, and spices.

-Use pears instead of apples and do a Tart Tatine, very caramelized.

-Eau de vie de poire and champagne?

The photograph is from "Mostlyeating"

2008-11-14T07:37:00.000-08:00

Photograph by Alex Olivera

My corners VIII

2008-11-14T07:33:00.001-08:00

Photograph
by Alex Olivera

Birthday of Jawaharlal Nehru

2008-11-14T00:04:00.001-08:00

Jawaharlal Nehru

14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964

Commemorative stamp issued by he USSR

Why Congo news are less trascendent than Irak news?

2008-11-11T23:19:00.000-08:00

Weeks of violence have forced more than 250,000 people to flee their homes or ramshackle camps where they had taken shelter, bringing the number of internal refugees from years of fighting above 1 million.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has repeatedly urged the divided Security Council to take swift action on MONUC's request for reinforcements, said that over 100,000 refugees were desperate and virtually cut off from aid.

Fighting between Tutsi rebels and pro-government troops and militias has subsided into sporadic clashes in recent days as African leaders pressed both sides to avoid a regional war.

A group of human rights and aid activists, speaking to reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York, said the council must act with urgency.

Anneke Van Woudenberg of Human Rights Watch urged the Security Council "to move fast to increase the number of peacekeepers and save lives."

British Ambassador John Sawers said the council would give Le Roy's request for reinforcements "serious consideration" but made clear that member states wanted first to be certain that troops now in Congo were as effectively deployed as possible.

The council will not make a decision before it receives a new report by Secretary-General Ban on MONUC next week and may take weeks to pass a resolution approving additional troops. Le Roy cautioned that it would take at least two months for any troop reinforcements to arrive in Congo.

Louis Charbonneau, Reuters.

Textiles from Kuba, Republic of Congo

2008-11-08T10:01:00.000-08:00

A Historical Day we lived to see...

2008-11-05T06:02:00.000-08:00

2008-11-02T23:21:00.000-08:00

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (March 4, 1678 – July 28, 1741)

"Autumn"

Autumn time: A Guide to Mushrooms

2008-11-02T22:58:00.000-08:00

Mushrooms can be very poisonous. Do not eat mushrooms that you have collected unless you have an expert eye to recognize them.

Click on the title, please.

2008-10-31T09:52:00.000-07:00

Podotroclear: a mirror of a passion with no limits...

2008-10-22T17:12:00.000-07:00

.
This site is a must for all the horse lovers: vet students, fans of Turf, Harness, or Quarter Mile racing.

The most trendy and complete Blog in the Spanish language comes to us at full power, showing another face of Turf, with hundreds of links and videos in English, that you will love!

Podotroclear is full of all kind of rich information that includes a lot of veterinarian issues developed skillfully, that surely will help young students to learn. Interviews, history, jockeys, articles about pedegree...Anything else? Just don't miss it. This month news about Dubai and and the construction of the biggest hippodrome in the world.

.
-Congratulations Miguel Almanza for such dedicated jewel of on the HIPPOI ATHANATOI-.

Enjoy!

To access to the site click on the photograph or on the title.

Alex Olivera

Making new friends...

2008-10-22T07:04:00.000-07:00

Photographs by Danny Johananoff

Tamasaburo: the genius of a performer...

2008-10-20T18:27:00.000-07:00

Please, as you finish this clip you will be able to see many others in little windows. I hope you enjoy his performances.

Why do women wear bindi?

2008-10-20T04:04:00.000-07:00

he word bindi is derived from the Sanskrit word bindu, which means "drop". There are two common meanings of bindi throughout India. The first is tied to Hindu religion and the second is social symbol. Throughout India , many believe it is suppose to be representative of the mystic third eye and become the central point of the base of creation Therefore, the traditional red dot (often made with tikka powder or vermillion) can be seen on men and women alike. When visiting a temple, it is common for the priest to mark, men, women and children with this mark using his finger. The second historical and cultural significance of bindi is as a social symbol, very similar to western wedding bands. Bindi were worn by married women in North India in the form of a little red dot. Red was chosen because that color was suppose to bring good fortune into the home of the bride. The red mark made the bride the preserver of the family's honor and welfare. Over time, they also became a fashion accessory and changed in shape and colors.

2008-10-14T22:06:00.000-07:00

Photograph by Danny Johananoff

Sweet Chinese sweets

2008-10-14T21:53:00.000-07:00

From a Chinese bakery catalogue, photograph Danny Johananoff

2008-10-14T21:49:00.000-07:00

Photograph Danny Johananoff

Since the time of the Olympic Games...

2008-10-14T17:18:00.000-07:00

Photograph by Danny Johananoff

I had time to think about the Chinese "Popular" Government and in items related to China in general.
I had come to China for what it is the first Congress ever held here for psychotherapy. Very badly organized but I understand they will get better.
I wrote at that time an article about "The global hypocrisy", and I sustain what I wrote then, but I feel in the moral obligation to ad to this my impressions two things at least.
China has a population of just over 1.3 billion people (1,330,044,605 as of mid-2008).
Anyone can see that this is a big country. It has been very hard to manage and in general terms quite efficiently.
At least in the big cities there is an emerging middle class which is a good sign.
China is opening to the world in an amazing way, promoting dialog between East and West.
Many things are still very controlled and there is an economic and social risk if not.
It is not easy for this kind of governments to change from morning to night psychologically speaking, because it is authoritarian and this does not erase even fifty years after. I just wanted to ad this because I do not want to be unfair and because I understand that I only know of a slice of this huge multicolor cake.

2008-10-07T19:43:00.000-07:00

.Interview to Tamasoburo Bando

2008-09-30T04:33:00.000-07:00

Maggy Taylor

A link to her magical site!
.

Things to be remembered...

2008-09-29T04:10:00.000-07:00

Rosh Hashanah

2008-09-28T03:04:00.000-07:00

During this period of the year, any time you are invited to some Israeli or Jewish home, you will get Leicach, deliciously chewy honey cake, that is a symbol of a sweet new year. So by the time you arrived to the Rosh Hashanah diner you did probably went quite heavy on the scale...but what can you do..this time of the year is just about a lot of...

LEICACH!

3 Eggs
1 1/3 cups honey
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup strong black coffee
2 tsps. Baking powder
3 Tbsps. Margarine, softened
1 tsp. Baking soda
4 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325.

Grease and flour a 9 by 13-inch cake pan.

In a large mixer bowl, beat eggs and honey together. Add sugar and mix again. Mix coffee with baking powder, and then add with margarine to the egg mixture. Add baking soda, flour, and cinnamon and beat together well.

Pour into greased cake pan. Bake for 55 minutes to an hour.

USE: 9 X 13-inch cake pan
YIELDS: 1 cake

2008-09-20T01:59:00.001-07:00

Ruffus Weinwright "Natasha"

2008-09-14T06:54:00.000-07:00

"Morning in Brugge"

Painting by Alex Olivera

2008-09-13T09:45:00.000-07:00

"Moon over Brugge"

Photograph by Danny Johananoff