Shopping List

Here’s a little view into my recent visits to our local shops. There is a supermarket near work which I tend to go to if needed, but we have discovered a few more deli/health shops near us in Leith which is good for those items which it’s worth buying quality for the taste. Plus its better to support the local shops. We have a fishmonger near our place too which we can only visit on saturdays due to their funny hours, but fresh fish is delicious.

FISH
2 fillets of Sea Bass
1 Bag of frozen prawns (good for stir frys)

DAIRY
1 tub Live Yogurt (for amber’s berry smoothies)
Skinny cow desserts (little tubs of frozen yougurt/ice cream – delicious)
Eggs (for omlettes)
Pilgrims choice Cheese (nice mature cheddar)
Wedge of Blue cheese (nice and stinky – good for omlettes)

VEGGIES
Brocolli (2 for 1)
Vine Tomatoes (just tastier)
Sugar Snap Peas (crunchier than snow peas (mangetout))
Onions
Garlic
Fresh Ginger
Fresh Basil (delicious)
Mushroom Burgers (not too bad, but we prefer the black bean ones)

FRUIT
Fairtrade Bananas
Braeburn Apples (nice and crunchy)
Scottish Strawberries
Plums
Raspberries (to put on cereal)
Blackberries (to put on cereal)
Bag of Roasted Monkey Nuts (the term for peanuts over here)

BAKERY
Loaf of Bread (Wholewheat granary)
Crackwheat rolls (as burger buns)
Pita bread (for the hummus)

PRODUCTS
1kg bucket Organic Peanut Butter (basically crushed roasted peanuts)
McCains Oven Chips (quicker than making my own)
Roasted Red Pepper hummus
1 jar of marinated artichokes (delicious in pasta)
1 jar Caramelised Red Onion Chutney (good with everything)

364, 365 days…

One year. Thats how long its been since we left New Zealand, bound for a brief stay in Malaysia on route to Canada, then Scotland. The year seems to have gone so quickly, but thinking about each month, I can remember all the things i’ve done, places visited, and the daily trawl to work. Its been cool exploring Edinburgh over the months and learning all its secrets as we come full circle back to Autumn.

I’ve got plenty more ideas of some trips during the year to come. Probably less spontaneous ones, a little more planned out, exotic, distant, and less travelled. While over this way I want to visit those who I can, and still have a few people on the list to see. Hopefully repeated visits even. One of the best things in New Zealand, was having many people around that I had missed, and notice the difference over this way, with a handful of people. It seems as we age, distances spread apart but friendships remain the same, possibly stronger as long as there is that degree of contact. Even some lost ones can quickly be reunited by a simple email or an actual visit (depending if you are in the right country or not).

 Anyone got a comfy couch free?

Giddy-up!

I found this one in the morning news… 

In a Newsweek poll after British authorities foiled a plot last week to blow up US-bound planes, 55 per cent of Americans voiced approval of Bush’s handling of terrorism and homeland security, a jump of 11 percentage points from May.

“And that plot is, and this building, and the work going on here is really indicative of the challenge we face, not only this week, but this year and the years to come, because the United States of America is engaged in a war against a(n) extremist group of folks, bound together by an ideology, willing to use terror to achieve their objectives,” Bush said.

Competition Entries

Well, I’ve sent two photos off for the BBC competition mentioned below. Quite fun to see what I could come up at short notice, expand on an idea, and make the most of what I can capture a photo of. The pics are on my photo page.

On this earth

This is a site that Paradine sent me a while ago. The book was already on my Amazon wishlist. Just some very cool photos of East Africa, more portrait like than wildlife photos. Beautiful!

On this Earth – Nick Brandt

Fringe Reviews

Well, we have been to a few different fringe shows now and are about 1/2 way through the festival. I love the buzz of excitment in the city, things happening all around, and something around each corner. Many of the locals at work moan and groan about the tourists, and the prices of things. Sure the amount of people can get annoying, but I’d gladly put up with it for a month compared to the entertainment possibilities it provides. It’s much better to live somewhere that does something for the public rather than some quiet little town where nothing ever happens. In the countries I’ve been in during the last few years, there are annual events people look forward too, whether by tradition, or as a new creation, which helps enrich the community.

 Anyways enough rambling – here are some quick reviews of the shows so far:

Comedy: Best of Irish (4 stars)
We watched 3 Irish comedians in a little comedy pub. Two out of the three were definitely my style, some good laughs all round. Squeezing a few into an hour meant that they kept the flow nice and fast. Plus picking on the audience is always good fun, luckily I didn’t get singled out during the descriptions of the typical Irish appearance (red hair/fair skin)

Comedy: Dwight Slade (5 stars)
Its weird to see someone that you associate with someone else famous. In this case, Dwight is the best friend of the late Bill Hicks, both performing stand up together at the age of 16 in a bar in Houston, Texas. Even more weird when you hear Bill’s accent for an hour as well. Since those days, Dwight has spent 25 years doing comedy and has come up with some funny stuff along the way. Lots of physical stuff in the act which makes the storytelling even better. Great fun.

Theatre: Chanbara (5 stars)
Some Japanese theatre, with a smokey sillouttee of bamboo trees on stages reinforced with large-biceped women pounding on massive booming drums, gongs, and trying to look cool playing some tiny splash cymbals. In the foreground is a combination of dance and storytelling scenes all involving samurai’s. A totally different world, with a nice balance of excitement and moods. They had a great comedy scene where they are practising the moves and speeding up with the clapping of the audience. Very cool.

Comedy? Trans-Canada Highway (1/2 star)
The guides mention you should see at least one bad show to have a story to tell and by which to compare the others against. And this is it. Taking advantage of the “anyone can perform” openess of the fringe, this was an attempt to tell stories about hitching across Canada. Nothing like we expected at all. Just plain bad. The half star is the courage to do this for 20 nights - good effort in that department, but thats about it.

Photo Blog

This is photo blog of a Canadian guy that Paradine sent through to me. Lots of protests, markets, and other events around Toronto, with some very nice pics. I’ve added the link below and chucked it in the link section as well. Enjoy!

Mute – Photoblog

BBC Photographer of the Year 2006

I stumbled across this while surfing round my sites at lunchtime. The BBC have a current photography competition on, with different themes running over the next few weeks. The photos are pretty cool so far. I’m going to consider the themes for the next few weeks and see if I can come up with anything worth entering. Something nice and abstract…

Vote on the current entries or you could enter the contest yourself

Harry Benson

On the weekend we went along to a photography exhibition about the work of a guy named Harry Benson. I’d never heard of him, but he is one of the most famous PhotoJournalists in the last century. After starting out in a Glasgow and being told his photos weren’t good enough on early newspaper/competition attempts, he managed to climb to the top and photographer many of the major happenings (usually political) of last century, with his most famous stuff being a pillow fight of the Beatles.

All the pictures are interesting, as they all tell a story but the expressions on faces, moments, and environment around them. Would be so bizarre to be allowed to merge into the background with your camera upon flights, in hotel rooms, conventions, etc. And then having to grab that single moment in which something happens which will mark history.

Here is a brief of the exhibition and a few of the pics..

Another recipe

A picture for you all of the linguine pasta that I posted a while ago. Have put up another recipe of one that we have been making lately – a nice classic spagetti dish. Delicious! Just got a new curry book, so trying out a few of those as well. You know it’s gotta be good when part of the recipe is making the coconut milk yourself. I just used the canned stuff though