January 2008 Archives

Once again I was apparently trendy without realizing it:

Popular culture is so anti-minivan today that driving one is so counter-culture, so in the face of popular biases, so keeping-it-real, that it's almost punk rock. In a utilitarian way, anyway.

After browsing through recent pictures of Jasper for Saturday's Caturday post, I realized that he's been my test subject for most shots using the new camera and the awesome 50mm primary lens without a flash in low-light conditions.  I've already got about 45 decent shots from the past week (plus about an equal number of junkers) so I'm initiating a project wherein I shall collect one hundred various shots of him over the next little bit, all meeting the criteria of using the 50mm lens with no flash, and when they are completed I'll assemble them unaltered (no Photoshop level adjustments, no cropping, nothing other than resizing) in a gallery to see just what combinations of settings and composition result in the best shots.

Here's one more preview of Jasper and a piece of maguro tuna sashimi.

New Kids On The Block reportedly going to reunite.

• KEXP 90.3 in the national advertisements for Microsoft's Zune music player (alas I can't find a screencap or link to the ad right now...)

• This on Google Chat's help page for sharing with your contacts the music that you are currently playing...

I guess there's always hope.

Jasper, exhausted from a long day of napping in the basket - Jan 23, 2008 (click image to enlarge)

So as part of my PB&J lunch campaign I've been buying fresh-crushed peanut butter at the grocery store (so much cheaper, fresher, and tastier than the commercial crap that's filled with preservatives and sugar...), and for lack of better knowledge of my jam options I've been buying Smucker's Simply Fruit, which is pricier than its compatriots but really is just fruit, juices, fruit syrup and pectin.  While this is good from the "no extra sugar and preservatives" standpoint, I figured I should look around some and see if there are other options available that better meet either the 'buy local' effort, or are a better price for quantity if I'm going to stick with a large commercial brand.  Besides, it's not as if this stuff is really all that great -- they add fruit syrup (probably pear and grape since those are cheap) to sweeten it and take up bulk, but it is still at least pure fruit and pectin, instead of high fructose corn syrup, when all is said and done.

Imagine my surprise to see this a few feet over on the same shelf...

Admittedly Knott's Berry Farm isn't much better than Smuckers in terms of corporate crap but it's a much larger container for the same price... great, right?

Let's take a peek at the back side of the container, shall we?  (Sorry for the blurriness, but that's my awesome cameraphone at its finest...)

A few times every January and February the skies clear, the nights get bitterly cold (or as close to it as we're comfortable with here in the weather-wussified Northwest), and mountains you forget are off in the distance become incredibly crisp, sharp backdrops that pop out around unexpected corners all over the city, looking so incredible that you'd almost think they were newly painted backdrops instead of snow-coated granite behemoths many miles in the distance. It's a good reminder of why we live in this rain-soaked and overcast city. All four of these shots were taken yesterday (Jan 21, 2008) and all have much larger pop-up images available.

That's MOUNTAIN, with a capital 'M'. (Kerry Park, Queen Anne)

Chop Suey (a local music venue, for those of you not in the know) has apparently started serving southeast Asian food in the back (or as they call it, at the Soy Cowboy Kitchen.)

Curiously, one item not on the menu? Chop suey. (In fairness they're primarily a Thai kitchen, but c'mon, the marketing potential is obvious!)


Also, six-word review of Hypatia Lake: lovechild of Spinal Tap and Queensryche.

Every January hundreds of bald eagles travel to the middle reaches of the Skagit River en route to nesting grounds, stopping for several weeks to enjoy delicious salmon, get photographed by thousands of tourists and be feted by locals. Heather and I trekked up there yesterday (and then onward to Deception Pass) to enjoy some unseasonably beautiful weather... once the fog finally burned off around mid-day.

Enjoy the new GALLERY.  (updated 2/27 to point to new gallery location at Flickr)

Shoppers: It's BYO bag in China

BEIJING -- Declaring war on the "white pollution" choking its cities, farms and waterways, China is banning free plastic shopping bags and calling for a return to the cloth bags of old - steps largely welcomed by merchants and shoppers on Wednesday.

Despite the fact that we're already nine days into the new year, here's my resolution (effective whenever the last few pieces of deli-sliced turkey in my fridge are finished.)

I'm joining the PB&J Campaign for lunch, because every step counts.

As an aside, although a few of the items from the original post are no longer accurate (no more worm bin, garden or CSA produce for me at the moment due to current living arrangements), others have improved:

• nearly all lighting is now CFL
• walk to nearly every store I shop at
• reusable totes for most groceries
• Jasper's litter is now corn-based and 100% biodegradable
• Moved my websites off-site so the computer (my main power drain) is now off when not in use
  

Oh, my soul, let me be in you now. Look out through my eyes, look out at the things you've made. All things shining.

The Thin Red Line