halloween is one of my most favorite holidays.
i went to some hipster house party where a couple cool bands (narwhal and show me the pink) rocked the house.
i dressed up as a cast and had people sign me with various colored pens.
best signage, "have a great summer!"
my pumpkin is also pretty decent this year.
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
nam prik gaeng kheo wan (thai green curry)
thai green curry is the hottest, most fresh tasting curry i've ever had. the thai green chili (a.k.a., bird's eye or bird shit chilis) is really really hot. pick firm and small chilis. the smaller and greener the hotter. for this paste, you can freeze it so it will last about 6 months, or you can fry it in oil and jar it in the fridge for about 3 months.
Thai Green Curry (Yields 4-5 T)
dry ingredients:
1 t coriander seeds (roasted until brown)
1/2 t cumin seed (roasted until brown)
1/2 t black peppercorn (warm em up just for fun)
1/2 t salt
fresh ingredients:
1 t ginza/siamese ginger/galangal (skin removed & chopped)
3 T lemongrass (lower 1/3 only, chopped)
1 t kaffir lime peel (chopped - can substitute local lime peel)
2 T coriander root (chopped - can substitute coriander stalk)
2 T shallots (chopped)
1 T garlic (crushed)
1 t shrimp paste (ignore the awful smell and use it!)
1 t tumeric (skin removed & chopped)
20 small, green chilis (stems removed and chopped)
1 C sweet basil leaves
Make a powder of the dry ingredients in a mortar and pestle. Then add all the fresh ingredients and pound to a paste. This takes a while, 15-20 minutes of heavy mashing. But its totally worth it. The smells of all the ingredients will create this beautiful complex relaxing aroma. Its a very meditative process. The paste should be very very smooth and should stick to the pestle. If you'd rather use a food processor you can add a little water, but for some reason it just doesn't taste the same. Use immediately for best results.
Gaeng Kheo Wan Gai
Green Curry with Chicken (serves 4)
this dish is also good with tofu
1 1/2 C chicken breast (thinly sliced)
1 C thick coconut milk
1 C thin coconut milk
4 T green curry paste
3 long eggplants cut into 1 cm pieces
1/2 C small eggplants
2 T palm sugar
2 T fish sauce
2 kaffir lime leaves torn into pieces (discard the stem)
1 C sweet basil leaves
1 big green chili
1 big red chili
Heat a wok over high heat. Fry the thick coconut cream until the oil begins to crack out of the cream. When you see the oil, add the curry paste and fry until fragrant (about a minute). Then add the chicken or tofu and fry quickly until it turns white. Since tofu is already white i guess you can just keep going. Add the thin coconut milk and when it boils add the egg plants. Simmer until the eggplants are slightly soft. Add palm sugar, lime leaves, and fish sauce. Stir until the palm sugar dissolves. Add half the basil leaves. Garnish with the red and green chilis and the rest of the basil. Drizzle some coconut cream over the top if you have any left for a nice effect. Eat. Marvel at your genius.
Thai Green Curry (Yields 4-5 T)
dry ingredients:
1 t coriander seeds (roasted until brown)
1/2 t cumin seed (roasted until brown)
1/2 t black peppercorn (warm em up just for fun)
1/2 t salt
fresh ingredients:
1 t ginza/siamese ginger/galangal (skin removed & chopped)
3 T lemongrass (lower 1/3 only, chopped)
1 t kaffir lime peel (chopped - can substitute local lime peel)
2 T coriander root (chopped - can substitute coriander stalk)
2 T shallots (chopped)
1 T garlic (crushed)
1 t shrimp paste (ignore the awful smell and use it!)
1 t tumeric (skin removed & chopped)
20 small, green chilis (stems removed and chopped)
1 C sweet basil leaves
Make a powder of the dry ingredients in a mortar and pestle. Then add all the fresh ingredients and pound to a paste. This takes a while, 15-20 minutes of heavy mashing. But its totally worth it. The smells of all the ingredients will create this beautiful complex relaxing aroma. Its a very meditative process. The paste should be very very smooth and should stick to the pestle. If you'd rather use a food processor you can add a little water, but for some reason it just doesn't taste the same. Use immediately for best results.
Gaeng Kheo Wan Gai
Green Curry with Chicken (serves 4)
this dish is also good with tofu
1 1/2 C chicken breast (thinly sliced)
1 C thick coconut milk
1 C thin coconut milk
4 T green curry paste
3 long eggplants cut into 1 cm pieces
1/2 C small eggplants
2 T palm sugar
2 T fish sauce
2 kaffir lime leaves torn into pieces (discard the stem)
1 C sweet basil leaves
1 big green chili
1 big red chili
Heat a wok over high heat. Fry the thick coconut cream until the oil begins to crack out of the cream. When you see the oil, add the curry paste and fry until fragrant (about a minute). Then add the chicken or tofu and fry quickly until it turns white. Since tofu is already white i guess you can just keep going. Add the thin coconut milk and when it boils add the egg plants. Simmer until the eggplants are slightly soft. Add palm sugar, lime leaves, and fish sauce. Stir until the palm sugar dissolves. Add half the basil leaves. Garnish with the red and green chilis and the rest of the basil. Drizzle some coconut cream over the top if you have any left for a nice effect. Eat. Marvel at your genius.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
tao no. 49
Sages have no fixed mind;
they make the mind of the people their mind:
they improve the good,
and also improve those who are not good;
that virtue is good.
They make sure of the true,
and they make sure of the untrue too;
that virtue is sure.
The relation of sages to the world
is one of concern:
they cloud their minds for the world;
all people pour into their ears and eyes,
and sages render them innocent.
they make the mind of the people their mind:
they improve the good,
and also improve those who are not good;
that virtue is good.
They make sure of the true,
and they make sure of the untrue too;
that virtue is sure.
The relation of sages to the world
is one of concern:
they cloud their minds for the world;
all people pour into their ears and eyes,
and sages render them innocent.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
buy local
from LocalHarvest:
Why Buy Local?
Most produce in the US is picked 4 to 7 days before being placed on supermarket shelves, and is shipped for an average of 1500 miles before being sold. And this is when taking into account only US grown products! Those distances are substantially longer when we take into consideration produce imported from Mexico, Asia, Canada, South America, and other places.
We can only afford to do this now because of the artificially low energy prices that we currently enjoy, and by externalizing the environmental costs of such a wasteful food system. We do this also to the detriment of small farmers by subsidizing large scale, agribusiness-oriented agriculture with government handouts and artificially cheap energy.
Cheap oil will not last forever though. World oil production has already peaked, according to some estimates, and while demand for energy continues to grow, supply will soon start dwindling, sending the price of energy through the roof. We'll be forced then to reevaluate our food systems and place more emphasis on energy efficient agricultural methods, like smaller-scale organic agriculture, and on local production wherever possible.
Cheap energy and agricultural subsidies facilitate a type of agriculture that is destroying and polluting our soils and water, weakening our communities, and concentrating wealth and power into a few hands. It is also threatening the security of our food systems, as demonstrated by the continued e-Coli, GMO-contamination, and other health scares that are often seen nowadays on the news.
These large-scale, agribusiness-oriented food systems are bound to fail on the long term, sunk by their own unsustainability. But why wait until we're forced by circumstance to abandon our destructive patterns of consumption? We can start now by buying locally grown food whenever possible. By doing so you'll be helping preserve the environment, and you'll be strengthening your community by investing your food dollar close to home. Only 18 cents of every dollar, when buying at a large supermarket, go to the grower. 82 cents go to various unnecessary middlemen. Cut them out of the picture and buy your food directly from your local farmer.
Why Buy Local?
Most produce in the US is picked 4 to 7 days before being placed on supermarket shelves, and is shipped for an average of 1500 miles before being sold. And this is when taking into account only US grown products! Those distances are substantially longer when we take into consideration produce imported from Mexico, Asia, Canada, South America, and other places.
We can only afford to do this now because of the artificially low energy prices that we currently enjoy, and by externalizing the environmental costs of such a wasteful food system. We do this also to the detriment of small farmers by subsidizing large scale, agribusiness-oriented agriculture with government handouts and artificially cheap energy.
Cheap oil will not last forever though. World oil production has already peaked, according to some estimates, and while demand for energy continues to grow, supply will soon start dwindling, sending the price of energy through the roof. We'll be forced then to reevaluate our food systems and place more emphasis on energy efficient agricultural methods, like smaller-scale organic agriculture, and on local production wherever possible.
Cheap energy and agricultural subsidies facilitate a type of agriculture that is destroying and polluting our soils and water, weakening our communities, and concentrating wealth and power into a few hands. It is also threatening the security of our food systems, as demonstrated by the continued e-Coli, GMO-contamination, and other health scares that are often seen nowadays on the news.
These large-scale, agribusiness-oriented food systems are bound to fail on the long term, sunk by their own unsustainability. But why wait until we're forced by circumstance to abandon our destructive patterns of consumption? We can start now by buying locally grown food whenever possible. By doing so you'll be helping preserve the environment, and you'll be strengthening your community by investing your food dollar close to home. Only 18 cents of every dollar, when buying at a large supermarket, go to the grower. 82 cents go to various unnecessary middlemen. Cut them out of the picture and buy your food directly from your local farmer.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
diaper rash
the NYT ran an op-ed today highlighting the differences in how american and asian babies are potty-trained. there is even a support group for people determined to do it. the jist is that you can train your child to not need diapers after they are only three weeks old. i have no idea why i'm so interested in this - maybe because i thought those little asian kids with their butts hanging out of their pants were cute - but from an environmental and efficiency standpoint i'm glad to see people (adults) weening themselves off the diapers. the author makes the point that western culture attempts to make the baby independent earlier by use of cribs, strollers, and jump seats, whereas the diaper phenomenon seems contradictory to that aim. in asia, the kids are attached to their parents: they sleep with them, they are carried until they are too heavy to be, and basically just touched more. and you know what? all the kids i saw were sooooo well behaved. i think that we can and should investigate how we raise our children. and i think we should take lessons from those cultures that have methods that work. there's too many screaming brats around.
Friday, October 07, 2005
bike nation
well, its eco-day in brandon's brain. despite all the bitching you're about to read, i'm really settling into portland well. i just went for a run in the park directly behind my house and there was sun and the smell of damp earth. i'm about to make some green curry paste to go with all the vegetables i'm about to buy at the big saturday farmer's market. good stuff.
when i hear people complain about the price of gas i get annoyed. the price of gas isn't remotely high enough because of all of the hidden costs (see below). the cost would go even higher when you include fiascoes like the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, both of which are motivated by oil. If you still don't believe that, you need help and I can't help you.
from adbusters:
ride a bike.
when i hear people complain about the price of gas i get annoyed. the price of gas isn't remotely high enough because of all of the hidden costs (see below). the cost would go even higher when you include fiascoes like the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, both of which are motivated by oil. If you still don't believe that, you need help and I can't help you.
from adbusters:
What would it cost to drive if the price tag of gas and cars included air pollution, road construction and maintenance; property taxes lost from land cleared for freeways; free parking paid for by taxes; noise and vibration damage to structures; protection of petroleum supply lines; sprawl and loss of transportation options; auto accidents; and congestion? A number of researchers have tried to answer this question, and John Holtzclaw of the Sierra Club profiled eight studies that, when averaged, estimated the true price of gas at $6.05 a gallon.
Source: John Holtzclaw “America's Autos On Welfare” Sierra Club
As for vehicles, transportation analyst Todd Litman has calculated that the external costs of driving would add $42,363 to the sticker price of a shiny new car, based on a 12.5 year lifespan.
Source: Todd Litman, “Transportation Costs & Benefits,” June 2004
Here's a comprehensive yet highly readable discussion of driving externalities produced by Redefining Progress:
Source: Beyond Gas Taxes: Linking Driving Fees to Externalities by Mark M. Glickman, March 2001
ride a bike.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
the land of ports
i wanted to let you all know (because you care!) i've returned from
asia and am now living in portland.
the subsequent culture shock of returning to the
states was a bit rough. suddenly i could understand
everyone's conversations on the bus. if you've spent
a good deal of time on public transit, you know this
isn't a good thing. i had sticker shock too. $5 for
a beer! $5 buys 5 beers in asia! i forced myself to
stop converting everything becuase i was getting
depressed. i would, as it turns out, have to get a
job sooner rather than later. a hard pill to swallow
after more than a year off.
arriving in portland i quickly realized its
surprisingly difficult and arduous to find a place to
live. portland, like every city i guess, has distinct
neighborhoods and every time i went to look at a
place, the people would explain to me the culture of
the particular neighborhood. alberta is where the
artists live, the pearl is shi-shi, hawthorne is for
hippies, and northwest is for yuppies. "but what
about if you're me?" i wanted to ask them. "the real
people live in the east, the fake people in the west."
"the east is suburbia, the real city is in the west."
the fact that its a "renter's market" and having so
many places to choose from only confused me more. i
could stay in a dungeon that stank of mold and had
slanted floors for $300, i could get a 1 bedroom for
myself on a nasty street for $450, i could live in a
nice little house but be terribly far away from
everything and as long as i didn't bring meat in the
house (this includes fish sauce - a key thai
ingredient i won't give up) i wouldn't be burned at
the stake in their next seance.
my dad was gracious enough to stick it out in the
search with me for a few days, but when that turned up
empty, it was me, my bike, and my backpack along with,
luckily, the sunshine. i had to start my classes
(anatomy and physiology at the local community
college) soon and i needed a place to sleep, so i
stayed in a hostel that happened to be filled with
mostly americans looking for places to live in
portland as well. a far cry from the hostels in asia,
i assure you. but it was pleasant and they had a
great cat and cheap pancakes.
i eventually found an awesome place in northwest,
making me a yuppie. its a 1920s apartment building
with beautiful hardwood floors and a view of the city
and mt. saint helens - on a clear day. its got a gas
range and room for me to do yoga in my room. its
raining today, but i'm headed outside to the columbia
river gorge anyway - you just gotta learn to love the
rain. the artists, yuppies, and hippies all agree on
that.
asia and am now living in portland.
the subsequent culture shock of returning to the
states was a bit rough. suddenly i could understand
everyone's conversations on the bus. if you've spent
a good deal of time on public transit, you know this
isn't a good thing. i had sticker shock too. $5 for
a beer! $5 buys 5 beers in asia! i forced myself to
stop converting everything becuase i was getting
depressed. i would, as it turns out, have to get a
job sooner rather than later. a hard pill to swallow
after more than a year off.
arriving in portland i quickly realized its
surprisingly difficult and arduous to find a place to
live. portland, like every city i guess, has distinct
neighborhoods and every time i went to look at a
place, the people would explain to me the culture of
the particular neighborhood. alberta is where the
artists live, the pearl is shi-shi, hawthorne is for
hippies, and northwest is for yuppies. "but what
about if you're me?" i wanted to ask them. "the real
people live in the east, the fake people in the west."
"the east is suburbia, the real city is in the west."
the fact that its a "renter's market" and having so
many places to choose from only confused me more. i
could stay in a dungeon that stank of mold and had
slanted floors for $300, i could get a 1 bedroom for
myself on a nasty street for $450, i could live in a
nice little house but be terribly far away from
everything and as long as i didn't bring meat in the
house (this includes fish sauce - a key thai
ingredient i won't give up) i wouldn't be burned at
the stake in their next seance.
my dad was gracious enough to stick it out in the
search with me for a few days, but when that turned up
empty, it was me, my bike, and my backpack along with,
luckily, the sunshine. i had to start my classes
(anatomy and physiology at the local community
college) soon and i needed a place to sleep, so i
stayed in a hostel that happened to be filled with
mostly americans looking for places to live in
portland as well. a far cry from the hostels in asia,
i assure you. but it was pleasant and they had a
great cat and cheap pancakes.
i eventually found an awesome place in northwest,
making me a yuppie. its a 1920s apartment building
with beautiful hardwood floors and a view of the city
and mt. saint helens - on a clear day. its got a gas
range and room for me to do yoga in my room. its
raining today, but i'm headed outside to the columbia
river gorge anyway - you just gotta learn to love the
rain. the artists, yuppies, and hippies all agree on
that.
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