Sunday 2 February 2014
black hole or all light is mute amid the gloom
There were a lot of singular influences, like the anime feature Galaxy Express 999 (1978), where an orphaned little boy shuns technology promising immortality by having ones memories but not emotions transferred to robotic vessels, plus also other Disney productions, which discounting all fairy tales, were not really made for young audiences, like the Witch Mountain (1975) series, about telekinetic extra-terrestrial children on the lamb from the government, or Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971, compare to the Narnia or the Middle Earth sagas) which is a story about coping with evacuation during the Blitz of London during WWII and a sorceress defeats the Nazi invasion. Formative, I am grateful that kids' entertainment was not handled with kid-gloves and subject to censor and psychologists.
pastiche
We tried something new in the kitchen with a vegetarian pastitsio (Pastizio)--sort of the Greek equivalent of a lasagne or macaroni casserole. It was pretty fun to prepare and tasted very good.
For four servings, you will need:
- Approximately 360 grams (13 ounces) of macaroni noodles
- 200 millilitres (7 fluid ounces) of soy-based cream or milk
- 200 grams (7 ounces) of sour cream (Schmand)
- 200 grams (7 ounces) of tofu as the base for the bolognese sauce—one could also substitute ground beef
- A 200 gram (7 ounce) lump of fresh mozzarella
- 1 cube of vegetable stock
- 1 medium onion
- 1 carrot
- 2 garlic cloves
- 200 grams (7 ounces) of tomato puree (passierte Tomaten, sonst Tomatenmark)
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- Oregano, thyme, basil, salt, pepper, red pepper power and cinnamon to season
Bring to boil the noodles in water with a bit of salt and then drain and set aside—about four minutes and not thoroughly cooked. Preheat the oven to 220ยบC (425ยบF).
For the filling (where the metaphorical meaning of pastiche comes from and you can try your own mix of ingredients), finely chop up the carrot, onion and garlic in a food-processor and fry in olive oil and then puree about four tomatoes (or use puree from a can) and add that and the tofu to the pan.
Introduce the bullion cube and season with salt, pepper, oregano, thyme and basil. Allow the sauce to continue to cook until it really thickens up. Transfer the bolognese and noodles to a large casserole dish and mix together while pouring in the cream or milk. Next spread the top of the dish with a thick layer of the sour cream.
Tear the lump of mozzarella into large, flat pieces and cover the surface and season with the red chili power and a bit of salt and pepper. Lastly, sprinkle the entire surface liberally with cinnamon. Bake for around 45 minutes. The cinnamon seems like an unusual ingredient but really enhances the medley of tastes and no one notices the meatless bolognese.
catagories: food and drink, lifestyle
the wedding planner
Here's a fun gallery of wedding photographs from Russia, which are anything but traditional—I think, and a lot of them employ image-manipulation tools to superimpose the happy couple—or render themselves as centaurs.
catagories: ๐ท๐บ
boreal, austral
catagories: ๐ก️, ๐, ๐ข, environment, networking and blogging, travel
Saturday 1 February 2014
continuum or billions and billions
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson will be hosting an updated version of the television programme Cosmos: A Personal Journey, Carl Sagan's seminal series on astronomy and space exploration, with the support of another fan and curator, animator Seth MacFarlane, whom has endowed the US Library of Congress with a collection of lectures, papers and correspondence from the renowned scientist and his wife (Kottle shares an interesting artefact and more news about the upcoming show—I received a letter from the late Dr. Sagan in response to a physics question I posed, as well), Ann Druyan, who selected the musical compositions etched into the golden records carried by the Voyager space probes. The series will be called Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey and will be produced for the National Geographic Channel and syndicated by the Fox Network.
sistine candles or in the room, the women come and go, talking of michelangelo
In exchange, the group had exclusive rights to reproducing high-quality images of the interior and documented each stage of the restoration work. Their rights have since expired but the ban—more or less, still remains in effect. It is really a sight to behold in person, as Goethe said after visiting in 1797, “Without having seen the Sistine Chapel one can form no appreciable idea of what one man is capable of achieving.” No photographs can do it justice and if you must take mementos, please tread lightly.
god didn't make the little green apples
Who knew that trees could be so apparently anti-social? One of the most poisonous trees in the world—I am not sure what others are in this category—is native to Florida and the Bahamas and Caribbean and are called Manchineel—from the epithet that early Spanish explorers gave to their poison fruit manzanita de le muerte, little apples of death.
catagories: ๐ฑ, environment, the Caribbean