Kitchen

Awesome!

So I just received notice that I have a PSP box of Unicos on the way from our host, but I never actually had one. I know a whole box purchase without trying one before is quite a gamble, but I have had the Don Alejandro and found them to be quite good (sad to see them get axed). How do the Unicos compare; do they have similar flavors? From the flavors I got from the Don Alejandro, I am assuming they should be quite good. A little too decadent to have all the time, but a nice treat.

I did a shoot for Illy Coffee about a month ago and get a few pounds of whole bean coffee out of it. Found it to be very good and different then what I normally drink.

Bottle of Zinfandel that was 15 years old. You can’t age Zinfandel and I knew it was a “what can I give him? Look here is a bottle of wine that had been sitting around forever.”

I'd go with every other one, create a zig zag.

Hmmm .... hmmm ... so you want me to prove that we are alone even though you can't prove we are not ... hmmm ... Just because we keep on finding planets in the goldilocks zone does not mean intelligent life exist on them. It could be that just life exist and nothing more. Insofar as your last paragraph, sure. My point being that if one did not have the resources, they would never be able to advance that far, let alone actually get off their planet.

Personally, I believe there is life out there. However, I also believe that intelligent life is an anomaly. If you look at all of the billions of life forms that have lived on this planet, only we are intelligent. Even if a life form evolves to potentially develop intelligence, a planet must contain many attributes that would allow for that development. (Remember, the more intelligent the life form, the more complex it is and the more susceptible to changes in the environment and, ultimately, the more bound for extinction.) For instance, its galaxy must be filled with giant planets not so close to disrupt said planet, but close enough to draw in rouge comets and astroids that would cause a total extinction. The planet must be big enough to retain a atmosphere, but not so big that the gravity just crushes everything. It must have a large enough moon to stabilize the tilt; even planets in our own galaxy continuously change tilt. A hot molten core with enough radioactive uranium to keep it molten and spinning, creating a magnetic field around the planet, deflecting the worse rays of the sun. Far enough from the sun to create liquid water, but not so close that the water becomes steam. The list just goes on and on. Even when intelligence actually evolves to the point of building things, the planet must have enough of every metal and natural resource to allow for the development of physics and the understanding of how the universe works to advance. Can you imagine how our world would be different if we did not have the amount of copper we do, or iron, or nickel, or even gold? Gold is used in many electronics because it does not grow whiskers when electricity is ran through it, a common problem with other metals that cause shorts in micro-boards. If we had no gold, we would have no micro-boards; just think how different the last 50 years would have been. There are so many factors to weigh in. It could be one planet in a galaxy can support intelligent life.

One the most disappointing things I saw on vacation was a McDonalds in Venice, and there was people eating in it. We then found a restaurant that had a sign on the door that read, "No Pasta, No Pizza, No Tourist Food!" And that is where we had one the best seafood meals of our lives.

Which HdM are these? Looks very good!

So I am heading to Long Island tomorrow for a project on Thursday and will be staying at Danfords. I took a look at the hotel restaurant menu and it appears they are cigar friendly, plus it's restaurant week. Anyone ever been? How is it? To be honest, I would love to sit outside at a marina bar and relax with a Churchill tomorrow.

If I had the opportunity to purchase and try a Westvleteren 12, I would certainly pay that much. I love Belgian beer. For anything else, even a Rochefort 10, that is too damn high.

Thanks. I hope we can get it finished in time for the holidays!

Thanks. I can see why it is a fav of yours!

What can I say, life is good and this year has been great. Not only have I been balls to the wall busy with work, with little time to relax, my other half and I managed to buy our first house not even two weeks ago, for about 35% below market value. If you’re wondering how, well you cant get a house that cheap without it being a fixer upper. Not that I mind; I’d rather design and renovate a house to my liking then buy something that is poorly designed. So in addition to photographing a ton of projects this fall, I have also been demoing our kitchen down to the joists and studs (I swear, removing plaster is the dustiest activity I have ever engaged in), meeting with a kitchen cabinet & countertop guy, electrician, plumber, and a roofer. Needless to say, I have not had time to celebrate, until now. Out in Rochester, MN this weekend for a project and have a whole lot of time to kill this Friday. So why not light up this Hoyo DC I brought with me. I have yet to try a Hoyo DC and have been looking forward to lighting this one up for the last few months. I am not sure of the exact date; picked this up with 3 other singles, but it is about a year and half old. So we here we go. Aroma at cold was a nice light coffee, and the first light brought out different shades of coffee, mainly light roasts. Wrapped in was a nice amount of vanilla and cream throughout, with a finish of light white pepper, just noticeable, but it quickly disappeared. The body was mild to medium and quite a nice start. Unfortunately, after I lit this up, it started raining and I was a mile walk from my hotel. So I was found a nice gazebo to hang out under to wait the rain out. After the stick got heated up a bit, some cloves and baking spices started to come out. The coffee aspect of the stick now moved to the finish but was still light in roast. The rest of the first third was an interplay of changing notes and a fight for dominance of flavor. Baking spices started transitioning in a out, with cloves being the dominate force. Cinnamon was there too, maybe nutmeg, if you really thought about it. Very much reminded of the Lotus Biscoff cookies that are served on planes at times. Vanilla also came in and out as a dominance flavor. As the first third comes to an end, the stick becomes pure coffee, and starts to take the forefront, becoming a more medium roast. Also the white pepper starts to introduce itself again. As the midway point approaches, the coffee starts to come back down to a light roast and that hazelnut/Frangelico aspect of Hoyo, we all love, starts to come in, although mild. This remains consistent, for the next 30 minutes or so, and was quite enjoyable. The final third stayed pretty much the same as the midway point, only the nuttiest got stronger. At first, the hazelnut aspect increased, but soon cashew and a touch of peanuts started to become introduced. After about 90 minutes, it was time to end it. The stick was getting quite warm at this point, become pure nuts and a little mongrel of its youth was coming out. All and all though, a great stick to celebrate a new house purchase. Now just to decide what to have when the renovation is complete. Hopefully it will not be too cold.

After reading up on this case from non-biased news sources who did not have an obvious agenda, yes, I think he is guilty as sin. There was just too much evidence presented (that was deliberately not even shown in the documentary) to not believe he was guilty. Now his nephew, that is a different story; I believe reasonable doubt exists on his case. Steven Avery though is guilty.