Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
Cooking with Babel Fish
I found a Dutch food store, and went to visit it on Friday. I picked up some tasty Dutch treats, and two packages of Bahmi Goreng mix.
I love Bahmi Goreng - it's Indonesian food, but if you ask anyone in Holland, they consider it authentic Dutch food (which amuses me). It can be very spicy, but I choose to make it much, much milder.
Anyway, I flipped over the package and realized all the instructions on how to prepare this meal are in Dutch. This isn't too big a problem for me, as I can always type up the directions and email them to my Dad, but I don't want to bother him if I can figure it out myself.
Enter Babel Fish.
I typed in the Dutch instructions as they are written on the package, and got some interesting results. This is how you prepare Bahmi Goreng, according to the literal internet translator:
Mmmm... tasty!
I love Bahmi Goreng - it's Indonesian food, but if you ask anyone in Holland, they consider it authentic Dutch food (which amuses me). It can be very spicy, but I choose to make it much, much milder.
Anyway, I flipped over the package and realized all the instructions on how to prepare this meal are in Dutch. This isn't too big a problem for me, as I can always type up the directions and email them to my Dad, but I don't want to bother him if I can figure it out myself.
Enter Babel Fish.
I typed in the Dutch instructions as they are written on the package, and got some interesting results. This is how you prepare Bahmi Goreng, according to the literal internet translator:
INGREDIENTS
250 grammes mie
250 grammes ongezouten pig flesh (“bacon??”)
50 grammes ham in cubes
300 grammes vegetable to choice
sambal oelek or sambal tjampoer
2 eetlepels conimex wok oil
DIRECTIONS
- cook the mie according to the instructions for use
- however, the contents of this small pocket in 100 ml boiling water (minimum 10 minutes)
- barge it cut in dobbelsteentjes flesh brown in the wok oil.
- joint the welled mix drill bahmi goreng with 1 tea spoon sambal
- joint the fresh vegetables and back these 2 minutes
- joint finally ham and the cooked mie and warmly whole under constant omscheppen well
SUGGESTIONS
- barge a omelette and serves the bahmi with omeletreepjes and peanut sauce
- serve with relish and kroepoek
Mmmm... tasty!
Friday, October 26, 2007
Librarians in "Happiness(tm)"
I just finished reading "Happiness(tm)" by Will Ferguson. It's the first thing I've read by him (other than his website) and I really enjoyed it. Kinda depressing, but very funny. I love a dark sense of humour :)
So, here's his take on a library in a tiny nearly-ghost town:
*~*~*
The library, in proud late-Victorian sandstone, was still the most impressive building in the county, even though its once grand square had been reduced to a scraggy patch of brown grass around a fountain that hadn't seen water in years.
...
Inside, there was dust and darkness, and in contrast to the blistering sun outside, there was if not a coolness, at least a certain lack of heat. The librarian, a tall thin-lipped woman with a fire-and-brimstone air about her, was hiding behind a stack of old books and had to be prodded out.
"Hello? Anybody here?"
Nothing. They could see her, huddled down, pretending not to notice, hoping they would go away.
(pg. 289)
....
He looked at the stacks of books, the shelves lined up on three floors, the old rolling ladders lying rusted in their tracks. The smell of must and mildew permeated the air. The entire place was heavy with words and deep with ideas. It was less a library than a depository of lost words.
"We haven't had any new additions since the 1920s," the librarian noted with a certain amount of misplaced pride.
(pg. 291)
So, here's his take on a library in a tiny nearly-ghost town:
*~*~*
The library, in proud late-Victorian sandstone, was still the most impressive building in the county, even though its once grand square had been reduced to a scraggy patch of brown grass around a fountain that hadn't seen water in years.
...
Inside, there was dust and darkness, and in contrast to the blistering sun outside, there was if not a coolness, at least a certain lack of heat. The librarian, a tall thin-lipped woman with a fire-and-brimstone air about her, was hiding behind a stack of old books and had to be prodded out.
"Hello? Anybody here?"
Nothing. They could see her, huddled down, pretending not to notice, hoping they would go away.
(pg. 289)
....
He looked at the stacks of books, the shelves lined up on three floors, the old rolling ladders lying rusted in their tracks. The smell of must and mildew permeated the air. The entire place was heavy with words and deep with ideas. It was less a library than a depository of lost words.
"We haven't had any new additions since the 1920s," the librarian noted with a certain amount of misplaced pride.
(pg. 291)
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Hmmm....
I may have made an eensy mistake while knitting my scarf....
Is there a way to undo that whole triangle without unknitting the whole thing?
The thing that bugs me is I know exactly what I did wrong too... and that I didn't catch it until just now. I really ought to pay more attention to what I'm knitting when I'm knitting it!
Is there a way to undo that whole triangle without unknitting the whole thing?
The thing that bugs me is I know exactly what I did wrong too... and that I didn't catch it until just now. I really ought to pay more attention to what I'm knitting when I'm knitting it!
Monday, October 15, 2007
My webskillz are a little rusty...
I spent a good hour this morning trying to figure out how to code Javascript 'random images' into the blogger header, to no avail. I figured out the Javascript okay, but I can't get it to work with blogger.
So, instead, I just uploaded a new header image the old fashioned way. I wanted it to rotate between 7 images each time the page is loaded...
Has anyone seen a blogger blog that has a header image that does this? If you do, please send me the link. I'd like to take a peek at their code.
So, instead, I just uploaded a new header image the old fashioned way. I wanted it to rotate between 7 images each time the page is loaded...
Has anyone seen a blogger blog that has a header image that does this? If you do, please send me the link. I'd like to take a peek at their code.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
My favourite Queen...
What are you doing reading this blog, when you could be watching Elizabeth: The Golden Age?This movie is just as gorgeous to watch as the first one was, and Cate Blanchett is stunning as Elizabeth I. A few historical innacuracies (what historical film doesn't have them?) but overall a magnificent movie.
Incidentally, the debate over whether or not Mary Stuart was actually in on the plot to kill Elizabeth is still raging. After doing some of my own research (for a university paper), I believe she was a naive and unwitting pawn in the whole ordeal. She genuinely believed that her cousin Elizabeth would save her and put her back on the Scottish throne... but you can form your own opinions.
Go see the movie!
P.S. The photos came from here and here
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Sunday, October 7, 2007
I'm thankful for...
Some photos for your fine turkey weekend ...
My cousin's baby, Hannah, came to visit from Ottawa. Here she is, at 8 weeks old, with my mom. Technically, she's my first cousin once removed, but it's a lot easier to just say my baby cousin Hannah. Isn't she adorable?
And, Dee sent me a fantastic pattern for a nifty diagonal scarf. I'm enamored with it :D
You caught a brief look at it in my last post, when I held it up in front of the ROM, but here's what I have done so far:
and...
Now I'm off to pack and visit my family for some turkey! Yum!
My cousin's baby, Hannah, came to visit from Ottawa. Here she is, at 8 weeks old, with my mom. Technically, she's my first cousin once removed, but it's a lot easier to just say my baby cousin Hannah. Isn't she adorable?
And, Dee sent me a fantastic pattern for a nifty diagonal scarf. I'm enamored with it :D
You caught a brief look at it in my last post, when I held it up in front of the ROM, but here's what I have done so far:
and...
Now I'm off to pack and visit my family for some turkey! Yum!
Monday, October 1, 2007
Word.
Yesterday was Toronto's Word on the Street festival! Onto the photos!
Word on the street...
We heard Melanie Watt read "Scaredy Squirrel Makes A Friend" and "Chester"
... and I got her to sign two books for me :D
There was a memorial service honouring fallen firefighters, just outside the festival, so we saw a parade of firemen in dress uniform
They also had a giant flag hanging from two fire trucks.
After the exhausting book festival, we sat in front of the new addition to the ROM (which I dislike) and I took a picture of the diagonal scarf I'm knitting in front of the diagonal ROM
(more on the scarf in a later post)
Heather decided to take some shots of her knitting too... so here's a shot of her setting up for her knitting shot :)
And a picture of me, with my many tiny buttons and the signed copies of Scaredy Squirrel :D
Last, but not least, I leave you with a demonic squirrel
Word on the street...
We heard Melanie Watt read "Scaredy Squirrel Makes A Friend" and "Chester"
... and I got her to sign two books for me :D
There was a memorial service honouring fallen firefighters, just outside the festival, so we saw a parade of firemen in dress uniform
They also had a giant flag hanging from two fire trucks.
After the exhausting book festival, we sat in front of the new addition to the ROM (which I dislike) and I took a picture of the diagonal scarf I'm knitting in front of the diagonal ROM
(more on the scarf in a later post)
Heather decided to take some shots of her knitting too... so here's a shot of her setting up for her knitting shot :)
And a picture of me, with my many tiny buttons and the signed copies of Scaredy Squirrel :D
Last, but not least, I leave you with a demonic squirrel
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