VWXYNot?

New feature

Posted on October 1, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Did you all see the new Bragging Rights Central feature in the sidebar?

I’m planning to update it every week or so, and this post will serve as the archive.

Past winners (dates indicate date of removal from the main page; it’s easier that way):

VWXYNot? Comment(s) of the week:
October 3rd 2008: Okham for “No, no, wait a minute… it’s the other way around, SHE is the most accomplished blogger whose boobs OW ever got to stare at…

October 10th 2008: Bob for “You might as well not bother with the Canadian debate, you can watch it now. Just find the last Aussie election debate on YouTube.”

and Chall for “Biden shines sometimes but her teeth shines more (sorry, not really on the target)… and please take a Bingo plate and see how many mins it takes you to fill the first one up….”

October 17th 2008: Okham (again!) for “Yeah sure…. that’s how you wake up one day with GWB for president. It’s gonna be the eight years from hell, but, hey, at least you did not compromise your ideals and proudly gave your vote to Nader…”

October 24th 2008: ScientistMother for “Chall – I have read your blog and comments you have left various places. I was hoping we could be friends, but your support of the leafs prevents that from happening”.

and Dr J for “nothing more unbearable than smug Tories, the very thought makes me want to stay in Canada – to me at least smug British Tories are one thing worse than smug Canadian Tories.”

October 31st 2008: Ruchi for “I don’t understand what is so awesome exactly about being in the presence of God. Intellectually, I understand that it’s like being in the presence of Barack Obama only better, but emotionally, I just don’t get it.”

and of course Chall for “I gave you an in depth answer regarding the zombies”

November 7th 2008: Mermaid for “Some people are just made of humbug”

and ScientistMother for “What is the point of having an iPhone if not to be able to go to a lame hockey game (sorry but seriously, nashville?? do they have ice rinks outside of the 1 arena?) and get internet updates on the election?”

November 14th 2008: Microbiologist XX for “They are calling it for Obama. HOLY FREAKING CRAP! YAY!!!!”

November 24th 2008: Crystal for “i have a mac and i love it, but, like you, my only real reason is “because it’s cooler” so yeah. i mean, being cool is good i guess? right?

oh, wait, i just thought of another reason: lots of PIs and scientists use them. so, like maybe it will make us better scientists?”

November 28th 2008: Ruchi for “I can’t be too sad because I’m inappropriately drunk for whatever time it is in Vancouver. Damn times zones making me out to be a lush when I’m not! I swear I’m not!!!”

and ScientistMother for “You totally HAVE to have children! Only b/c then I won’t be jealous of you being a DINK. haha. […] Oh and the no sushi for 10 months was utter and complete HELL. BIL#2 was told that he was not allowed to come to the hospital to see his new nephew w/o sushi.

December 5th 2008: Hermitage for “Through lots of intensive study, I and other labmates have discerned that lab mice are a big fan of Jamba Juice. And getting sugar spaz highs. Anything is possible in this crazy world.”

December 12th, 2008: Kyrsten for “the park attached to that walkway is one of my favorite places to have lunch…just far enough from the office not to run into anyone :)”

and Lisbeth for “I’m homesick too – and I haven’t ever been to Vancouver…”.

January 8th 2009: Mermaid for “Parents!!! You try to raise them the best you can and they still scare the hell out of you :).”

and Dr. A for “I want to hold a lamb! in an Amish community!”

January 16th 2009: Bumper Xmas/New Year Edition!

Bob for “We had a Secret Santa when I was doing my PhD. I got our Welsh head of department, so bought him an inflatable sheep. I didn’t leap up and explain how it worked.

“Cuttlefish for “Your present will be sent when you get back!” (I encourage this kind of comment).

EcoGeoFemme for “As far as I’m concerned, anyone with cold/snow/slush can complain, even if others have it worse. Snow blows.”

Dr. J for “Yes, it will be nice to see the back of GWB. Harpoon I’m not so sure we will be so lucky, he seemed quite emboldened by failing to win the last election again.”

and finally Chall for “I will however say that part of my annoyment (anger) was the fact that ther swedes did not seem to be able to shoot at goal in the first period and to fail to make a goal (after finding it and shooting at it more than 23 times in the second) even when in silly amounts of power play. I guess that is the main reason though?! They failed to actually put the puck in the goal. which is, kind of obviously, important for winning…..

January 26th 2009: Anonymous for “I LOVE LOVE LOVE Scotland. I was there for a meeting a few years ago. Spoiler alert: Nessy is a damn sturgeon.

“Professor in Training for “I’m pretty certain my current city would do very well at “No School For The First Week Of The New Year Because We Forgot To Clear 5ft Of Snow From The Roofs” and “What Do You Mean Kids Can’t Walk To School If The Sidewalks Haven’t Been Cleared? They Can Walk On The Road”.”

and Mermaid for “I have been privileged to be a spectator for many of these events, and a competitor in a few as well. You forgot the ever popular Wake the Most Neighbours: Spin Your Wheels for 20 Minutes at 2am to Get Out of a Parking Spot event, though.”

January 30th 2009: Silver Fox for “there are better ways to clear windows than water. Water freezes! (I think you discussed that in an earlier post.)”

February 6th 2009: Professor In Training for “I’m sorry, did I read that correctly? 8 mins and 1 slide?? Shit! Glad you got through it all without passing out or throwing up on those in the front row”.

Bob O’Hara for “If Canada doesn’t have a deputy PM position, you should just claim it as your own. You can sort out the responsibilities later (just as Cheney did).”

and Easternblot for “I wanted to call my mom when I crossed the border there (on foot!) to land as a resident, but my phone said “No, you are not in Canada.” “But I just landed here and have stamps and paper and everything!” “No, you are in the US. Please pay a lot of money.”

February 13th 2009: Silver Fox for “I didn’t laugh – I Promise – until you said, “Anyone who laughed is fucking evil.””

Wayfarer Scientista for “I spent my day on skis. What superbowl?”

and Ruchi for “A friend of mine went to a wedding where a Bishop had performed the service, and she was in the receiving line and had to shake the Bishop’s hand, and she got kind of flustered so she ended up saying to him, “Nice hat.”But I think calling the nuns drunkenly probably surpasses “Nice hat.””

February 20th 2009: Dr J for “In Britain the same people that bleat on and on about the banning of fox hunting are the same people that couldn’t care less when the miners were all fired.”

and ScienceGirl for “Yay! Off the trauma cookies and onto the beer, I hope?”

February 27th 2009: Infinite Science for “maybe it’s because I’m a native westcoaster, but I don’t get it. Like “baby killer”? hmm. I guess that is odd”.

Propter Doc for “My parents use lol as lots of love as well. I just use it too now, seemed easier than trying to correct it.”

and of course Massimo for, oh, everything he said on this thread.

March 6th 2009: Hermitage for “When the ‘leader of the superpower of all time leader of the freeworld’ can’t tie his shoelaces without assistance and a boob grab, it makes everyone look fabulous in comparison. Further justification for charging George Bush with war crimes.”

and Bob O’H for “But Mr. Sangria always seems so nice. Unlike the beer monkey who us always stealing my money and shitting down my throat.”

March 13th 2009: ScienceGirl for “I am glad to see some of the old favorite pics on the side of the blog as I type this, but man, I could have lived without a reminder of that worm-looking thingy that tried living in your friend!”

and PhizzleDizzle for “Bike polo looks fun…to watch. I think I lost my taste for skinning my knees on my 9th birthday or so.”

March 20th 2009: MadHatter (yay!) for “You do realize that by posting those Google search strings, you’ve now effectively moved your blog up the list of hits the next time someone searches for “bot fly up your ass”!”

and Hermitage for “I would just like to you tell you I am 100000x more afraid of the outdoors thanks to that botfly post than I was before. And I already scream at the sight of butterflies!”

March 27th 2009: Eva for “I mostly say “I’m not religious”, because I didn’t even learn the word “atheist” until I was 15 or so and thought “Oh! It has a NAME!”. As a kid I thought I had a religion that was called “public” because I went to “public school” and the “public library”.”

and Massimo for “Huh ? Not a good day ? I think it was an excellent day. Remember, each time the Pope says something like that, one more christian says “OK, I have had it with this”.”

Post(s) of the week:
October 3rd 2008: Ruchi for “Making The Environment A Right, Left, and Center Issue”

October 10th 2008: Jennifer Rohn for “In which science becomes a sport – hypothetically speaking”

October 17th 2008: The Digital Cuttlefish for “Modern Technology Meets Bronze-Age Morality

October 24th 2008: Dan Savage (via PZ Myers) made me cry with “In Defense of Dignity”. But then Uphilldowndale made me laugh with “Delusions”.

October 31st 2008: Richard Grant for “We Are Stardust”

November 7th 2008: No contest this week: Isis the Scientist wins hands down with “You and your HPV-free vagina…”

November 14th 2008: Female Science Professor for “Kitten X Gets Tenure”. (And you thought I’d choose an election post – suckers!)

November 24th 2008: Hermitage for “n00b images”

November 28th 2008: Eva Amsen for “Autism: the musical”

December 5th 2008: PhysioProf (@DrugMonkey) for “How not to write a scientific manuscript.”
December 12th 2008: a very cute trio this week!

Christie Wilcox for “Gay Penguins Resort to Crime to Become Dads”

EcoGeoFemme for “Finding Your Bee-People”

and (shamefully), I Can Has Cheezburger? for “Oldest Ever Lolcat Found *gasp* (Iz From Teh 1905)”

January 8th 2009: The Bean-Mom for “On leaving the bench”

and Okham for his joyous use of the strike-out tag in “iPhone and Projector”.

(And, this week only, the prize for best comment thread EVAH goes to Brian Clegg for “Get poetical, now!” This might just be the most fun I’ve ever had on the internet. The audio version is awesome, and I can’t wait to see the promised animation!)

January 14th 2009: Bumper Xmas/New Year edition!
Vanessa Woods for “New Years Resolutions…

“Eva Amsen for “A Squishy Topic” and also “I Dream of Jenny”

Ruchi for “Are The Feminist Movement and The Personal Environmentalism Movement Compatible?”

Christie Wilcox for “My Definition of Cool Eco-Art”

and Cuttlefish for “The Worms Go In”.

January 26th 2009: Todd Oakley for “The Glamour of Marine Biology”

and EcoGeoFemme for “Thick Skin”

January 30th 2009: PZ Myers for “For God’s sake, have Bryan Appleyard’s articles made any difference to our lives?”

and Arlenna, who beat me to it with “Fun with blogrolls”.

February 6th 2009: Katherine Haxton for “Great chieftan o’ the puddin’ race” (make sure you read the linked article too!)

and Henry Gee for “Let’s all throw used gorilla poo at creationists”

February 13th 2009: A poem, a cartoon and a LOL this week. I love the blogosphere.

Henry Gee (two weeks in a row!) for “Lines on the future of human evolution”

Viktor Poór for “Catfight”

and I can has cheezburger? for “Licks me, I dare ya”

February 20th 2009: Anthony Fejes for “Epidemiology and next-generation(s) sequencing” (read this research presentation summary first)

and River Tam for “The River Tam blues”

February 27th 2009: ScienceGirl for “Welcome back to the 1940s”

and Mike Fowler for “What can the church teach us about science?”

March 6th 2009: Dr J for “An open letter to my fellow cyclists”

and Vanessa Woods for “Nicholas”

March 13th 2009: The Digital Cuttlefish for “Dude….”

and Henry Gee for “The amphibians of lurrve”

March 20th 2009: MissPrism for “Tuesday Evo-Psych Bollocks from the Institute of Pissing About”

March 27th 2009: Stephen Curry for “This is not good enough”

and Sarbjit Lall for “Be afraid, be very afraid…wait, why?

Posted in meta | Comments Off

Recipe sniping: vegetable curry

Posted on September 30, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

The latest set of recipes are up! Yum and yum. This was the toughest contest so far for me, but I eventually decided to vote for PhysioProf once again, despite the fried egg fiasco that I am going to pretend I didn’t see. Arctic char, mushrooms, leeks, asparagus, red wine and Jameson’s whiskey all in the same recipe = WIN! Dude knows his fish.

Ignoring the guidelines again, I am turning my student cooking version of the second fish course into a vegan main course. I hope that any readers who actually know what they’re doing with Indian food will not be too unkind about this recipe that I made up for my vegan cousin! Purists will indeed be dismayed, but this is a great weeknight recipe. I made a curry completely from scratch once and it was fabulous; almost worth the investment of time and effort.

1 medium yellow onion
1 medium aubergine / egg plant (the long thin ones that I buy in my local Indian store seem to work better than the fatter, darker ones I’m more familiar with from European cooking)
Okra (optional, I know lots of people don’t like it. You can always throw some green pepper in with the onions if you want to break up the predominantly red / orange colour of the dish)
1 can chick peas
1 can baby corn
Madras curry PASTE (NOT curry sauce. Patak’s is good)
1 large (and I do mean the LARGE size) can of diced tomatoes
Garlic to taste
Cumin powder to taste
Dried thyme to taste

Fry the chopped onions and garlic in oil. After a couple of minutes, add the cumin and thyme. At this point it will already smell fantastic and people will think you are a genius.

Meanwhile, roughly dice the aubergine / egg plant and boil for a couple of minutes. This prevents it from soaking up too much oil when you add it to the main pan. Drain and add to the onions; cook for another few minutes.

Stir the madras curry paste into the onions and aubergine until they are well and truly coated with the spicy goodness. The amount to use is a matter of taste. I like mine reasonably hot and add a good few tablespoons. If you’re not sure, just use a little bit and you can always add more in later, although it does seem to taste better if you add it all at this stage.

Add the can of tomatoes and stir well. Continue to stir frequently as the tomatoes come up to a gentle simmer. If you are using okra, add it now and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes. This prevents the dreaded sliminess… most of the time. And the rest of the ingredients mask most of it anyway. I happen to love okra enough to put up with a little slime. If you are not using okra you don’t have to wait the full 15 minutes, just wait until it looks ready and then…

Add the chick peas and halved mini corn. It is always a good idea to rinse the chick peas in water a few times before adding them if you know what I mean.

Serve with rice, mango chutney, hot lime pickle and an icy cold beer.

See also:
Amuse bouche
Salad
Appetisers

Posted in blog wars, food glorious food | 10 Comments

The Palin effect

Posted on September 27, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Here’s a sample screenshot from my StatCounter “Recent Keyword Activity” page.Hmmm, wonder what’s going on?

Sarah Palin TERRIFIES me. “Drill, baby, drill”, “Alaska is near Russia”, and all that. The thought of a McCain-Palin victory… well, it’s like Margaret Thatcher squared, at the very least.

However, I do think that long term, Palin’s vice presidential nomination is going to be good for the status of women in politics, in the US and beyond. Hear me out – I’m not just trying to put lipstick on a pig here…

The reason occurred to me shortly after reading the comments on ScienceGirl’s post. Specifically:

“A number of people who knew I voted for Clinton in the primaries assumed that I would now vote for Palin […] I don’t think they listen when I explain my views, because in the first case they cringed and accused me in voting for the chromosomes, but now they would be more then happy if I did just that”.

I think that the presence of two women with such different policies in this Presidential race will really help the cause of aspiring female politicians, all over the world but obviously especially in the USA. The longer the debates and campaigns go on, the clearer it will (hopefully!) become that Sarah Palin is the polar opposite of Hillary Clinton. This improves the odds that the next female candidate will be judged by her policies and not, as ScienceGirl says, by her chromosomes. Plus, women from both US parties now have a role model, a predecessor who paved the way and makes the concept of a female President that much more tangible.

Just please, for the sake of all that is good in this world, not in the next 4 years…

I just made myself all depressed and sad again. So here are some related videos for your amusement.

Palin for President

Tina Fey on SNL – as soon as I saw my first picture of Sarah Palin, I thought “wow, she looks a lot like Tina Fey, this could be fun!”

And again:

Posted in bad people, politics, silliness, videos | 6 Comments

A Thursday miracle

Posted on September 26, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I have two bikes – a speedy one-year old hybrid, and a clunky old gear-slipping rust bucket of a mountain bike that serves as back-up. This morning however I was in the unfortunate situation of having left both bikes in the storage room at work, leaving me with a commuting conundrum.

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I HATE taking the bus. I need to take two to get to work, the first one heading North from a stop about 2 blocks from my house. I don’t always manage to get on the first bus that comes by. Or the second. Sometimes I have to walk South for a couple of blocks and get on the bus closer to its departure point. Anyone trying to get on between my stop and the intersection with the main East-West transportation corridor (24 blocks away) is SOL during rush hour.

And the bus stops TWICE on every single one of those 24 blocks. Once for traffic lights, and once for the bus stop. (Why do they have to have them on every single block?) So we repeatedly lurch forwards and then come to a juddering stop, pitching people into each other like drunken sardines in a can. (I never get a seat. No reading on the bus for me, just the pleasure of having my face crammed into someone’s armpit).

I usually get on the first connecting Westbound bus, but not always. And I show up at work all dishevelled and pissed off.

BUT! There is a new East-West bus route! It starts at the existing Skytrain system in the East (light rail to downtown and Eastern suburbs), goes right past my house, connects to the soon-to-open downtown-airport Skytrain route, swings North to take me within 6 blocks of work, then carries on to the main University campus that I need to visit every now and then. The Eastbound stop is 1 block away from my house, and the Westbound stop is 2 blocks away.

It was funny to see how Mr E Man and I reacted to the pamphlet that got pushed through our door a few months ago, telling us about this new service. Mr E Man was worried about the noise of the buses* and the potential of having a bus stop right outside our house**, whereas my reaction was “only every 15 minutes during the week?! And less on weekends?!”

I guess they have to start off that way to build a passenger base before expanding the service, because – wonder of wonders – I got a seat this morning! On my first time trying the route! Not that I had enough time to read much, seeing as I got to my work stop in 9 minutes flat. See, that’s what happens if you leave 2 – 5 blocks between stops. (Including waiting for connections, the old route takes more like 20 – 30 minutes). Not only that but there was a cute little boy on the bus who insisted on saying goodbye to each of us in turn when his Mum made him get off, and I saw two cute dogs being walked and another cute kid (waving to me from a window) on the short walk to work.

I arrived at work with a smile on my face. Bus bliss – who’d a thunk?

*turns out they don’t start running until 6 am on weekdays, later on weekends. So we’re already up when they start, and they’re super quiet anyway.

**justified – people throw enough garbage over our fence as it is, thank you. Although this doesn’t seem to have got any worse since the stop 1 block away went into operation.

Posted in cycling, personal, Vancouver | 10 Comments

Reasons why today is better than yesterday

Posted on September 25, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

1) I didn’t go to the gym before work, so I was on the road later than yesterday and there were crossing guards outside the school.

2) It was raining ever so slightly, which as usual increased the average speed of the cyclists on my route.

3) Did I mention that I didn’t go to the gym?

4) I brought lunch with me, so I didn’t have to face Safeway or idiot pedestrians. Not only that but lunch was super-tasty vegetarian Thai red curry that Mr E Man made last night.

5) Instead of going grocery shopping after work, I get to have dinner with friends, including one hilarious out-of-towner who we don’t see nearly often enough.

6) I saved the best for last: DOG IN THE OFFICE!! (Although a replacement dog sitter was located by lunch time, so this was only a temporary pleasure).

People still need to learn how to use roundabouts though.

Posted in cycling, food glorious food, furry friends, personal, silliness | 13 Comments

Is your UBI really a PGT?

Posted on September 24, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

The BBC website has a great article today about the dying art of medical slang.
Apparently, increasing rates of litigation are inhibiting doctors from scribbling such gems in their patient notes as TEETH (Tried Everything Else, Try Homeopathy) and TTFO (Told To, erm, go away, but passed off by one quick-thinking doctor as To Take Fluids Orally at a recent trial).
Incidentally, I thought my Essex-born, Norwich-bred friend was having me on when she told me about local doctors writing NFN (Normal For Norfolk) in their notes, but apparently not. Perhaps Dr Gee can advise?

Posted in Uncategorized | 25 Comments

Hell is bad days are other people

Posted on September 23, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I seem to be in a bad mood. Why? Well, here’s a list of things that annoyed me today. (WARNING: contains rants, whining and bad language).

1) Slow cyclists who insist on coming around me and stopping RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME at a red light that I have reached first. Dude, I’ve now passed you TWICE, are you really gonna make me do it a third time? It’s not entirely safe, what with all the idiot drivers on the bike routes.

Which brings me to:

2) People who drive straight through a pedestrian crossing that is RIGHT OUTSIDE an elementary school when there is a KID on it, about one third of the way across and coming in their direction. And who then turn left without signalling, cutting off a cyclist (me) who has just started moving again after, y’know, STOPPING for the kid.

and

3) People (drivers and cyclists) who have no idea how to use a roundabout.
___________________

4) Gym users who don’t know how to use the circuit training area properly. It is NOT DIFFICULT, you do 30 seconds of weights, have about 10 seconds to get organised, do 30 seconds of cardio, another 10 seconds to get organised, do 30 seconds on the next set of weights, etc etc. There are gigantic flashing lights that say START, then STOP, then GET READY, then START again. But somehow, in an area with (I think) 12 sets of weights and therefore room for 24 people to pass around the circuits at the same time, even a much smaller group is enough to cause recurrent conflicts between 2 or 3 people trying to use the same piece of equipment at the same time. This is caused by people who a) jump into the middle of the circuits without checking which machines the cardio-doing users are about to move onto next, b) people who just want to use one piece of equipment, for like 5 minutes at a time, and only (resentfully) move off it when asked to by the person who is trying to get on, c) people who skip the cardio component, do double shifts on each machine, completely ignore the flashing lights and go at their own pace, go the wrong way round the NUMBERED circuit, or just generally DON’T GET IT. Oh, and d) people who put down a stretching mat and lie on top of the big stepping bench that runs the length of the room and that most people use as the cardio component. That didn’t cause any equipment conflicts, it was just really fucking annoying. But the guy was big and muscly and scowly, so what can you do? My circuit took about 8 minutes longer than usual (usual length: ~24 minutes), so I had to skip my usual short post-circuit rowing machine workout, and instead went to find a staff member to ask about official gym policy regarding circuit use, and what I should do the next time any of this stuff happens. (The “Circuit training only – no exceptions” signs would only prevent 2 of the 4 annoying behaviours listed above – IF they were actually enforced).

Which brings me to:

5) Gym staff who leave the reception desk unattended and who are generally nowhere to be found when you want to complain about something.
___________________

6) People who are clearly retired but do their big weekly Safeway or London Drugs shop on a weekday between 12 and 1, when people who work (and there are a LOT of us in this area) are trying to grab a sandwich and some milk on their lunch break. ESPECIALLY if they decide that now is a good time to chat to the cashier / query a 3 cent discount they think they should have got / reorganise their handbag. Do you not SEE all the people standing behind you? (Same goes for tourists who use public transit during the peak commute / rush hour. Unless they are going to the airport, bus, train or cruise boat terminal. Which, if they are on my bus, they are most likely not. This didn’t happen to me today, but does piss me off).
___________________

7) People who suddenly stop dead or change direction in the middle of the sidewalk, or who stand right outside the doors of an arriving elevator so the people inside can’t get out. Extra points for giving me the evil eye if I walk into you.
___________________

To summarise: if you want to avoid pissing me off, follow these two easy rules:

1) be aware of your surroundings
2) consider the effects of your actions on the people who currently share your surroundings

(Please note that I chose not to use my “bad people” tag for this post. With the exception of #2, I’m sure that all of these annoying people are perfectly pleasant members of the human race. They just need to WAKE UP and follow my rules).

Ooooh, I actually feel better now!

What annoyed YOU today?

Posted in cycling, exercise, rants | 19 Comments

Recipe sniping: appetisers

Posted on September 22, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Two fish courses?!

TWO FISH COURSES??!!

Are you guys serious?!

Seeing as I’m just playing spoiler anyway, I’m not gonna play by those rules. I am a relative beginner in the fish cooking department, and I follow recipes to the letter. (I might be trying this week’s two proper recipes soon – I prefer PhysioProf’s recipe, but Isis’ cooking method sounds like more fun). And there’s no point in me just copying a recipe that you can find elsewhere – it’s much more fun to post recipes that I’ve adapted or invented myself!

Plus there are no vegetarian courses on the original menu, and I think that’s a shocking omission.
So here’s my ~~fish~~ vegetarian ~~course #1~~ appetiser!

This recipe is adapted from Crystal Surprise. The surprise is that my awesome local market does not sell polenta. I think the mushrooms work better anyway (sorry, Crystal!) as they hold the topping better.

Ingredients (all amounts are a matter of taste; you decide):
1 large portobello* mushroom cap per person (try to get ones that are shaped more like a bowl than a plate)
Cherry, grape or other small tomatoes, cut in half
Garlic, roughly chopped
Red onion, as finely sliced as you can get it
Black eyed peas or other bean-type things
Cilantro / coriander / whatever you call it**, the chopped fresh leaves, not the powder
Olive oil
Butter
Grated cheese (Parmesan is best)

Gently sauté the onions and garlic in the oil until they start to soften. Add the tomatoes and continue to cook on a medium-low heat. After about 5 minutes, add the cilantro and peas. Turn the heat down.

Place the mushrooms (gill side up, with small dabs of butter on the surface) under the grill. Cook until juicy and delicious. Put the mushroom caps on plates, fill the caps with the tomato mixture, cover with the cheese, and put back under the grill until the cheese is melty and delicious.

Also good as a side dish with pork chops, roast chicken or steak (as pointed out by Mr E Man when I first made them, as a main course with salad on the side. He also thinks my vegetarian quiche would be better with bacon in it, and my vegan curry would be better with lamb. But he also likes them – and me – just the way they are).

*apparently both this spelling and portabella are somehow correct

**regional variations exist

See also:
amuse bouche
salad
vegetable curry

Posted in blog roll, blog wars, food glorious food | 8 Comments

OMG guys

Posted on September 21, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I am sooooo hungover.

It was a party of such awesomeness that we didn’t get home until 3, then crashed out on the sofa before waking up and going to bed at 6. I really am too old for such behaviour.

These photos are from my phone because I completely forgot to take my camera.

The venue was classy

Boats, bridges and buildings seen from the deck

Downstairs: funky DJ, steak, lamb chops, chicken, “fun money” casino
Upstairs: jazz quartet, sushi, crab legs, prawns, freshly seared tuna, gag reel and set photos on a loop

There was THE MOST AWESOME BAR FEATURE EVER

Glasses cooling on a big block of ice

Night at the Museum ice sculpture. Note funnels at top

Mr E Man being shown how to collect his drink by a very nice, very drunk lady whose stiletto heels kept slipping into the gaps between the planks on the deck. Talking to her was very distracting.

My blue drink spiralling through the ice. Mmmmmm, frosty. And, blue.

There was poker

Mr E Man collecting his winnings

and, as previously mentioned, an open bar

This is what we got as our last order when they called time at the bar. (We gave away the Coronas to someone who’d missed the call). EcoGeoFemme recently queried the existence of a TUD (totally unnecessary drink). The crantini was a TUD.

No movie star sightings, although I did play poker with Ricky Gervais’ stand in. And I chatted to the visual effects coordinator, a lovely woman who is only 25. Oh, and I met an awesome female trainee pilot from Mexico City.

When I switched my phone on this morning, there was a very, very dodgy website showing as the last site accessed on the browser. I was most confused, until Mr E Man reminded me what happened at the end of the party. We slotted ourselves into an ongoing conversation, in which someone was deriding his friend for buying a Blackberry and saying that it took way too long to download porn. I pulled out my iPhone, and the Blackberry owner and I had a race to see who could find something that I will just call a very specialised niche in the pornography market the fastest.

I won! Yay, iPhone!

Posted in drunkenness, food glorious food, music, photos, silliness, technology, Vancouver | 11 Comments

"I build spaceships"

Posted on September 20, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

This is how Mr E Man described his job when I had my first proper conversation with him. On closer interrogation he turned out to be a carpenter on movie sets, and had just finished building the X Jet and other cool stuff for X2*.

My husband built this! But somehow I still don’t have the shoe rack he promised me 3 years ago

A word of advice: if you ever meet one of these people, it is not considered cool to squeal “oooooh, just like Harrison Ford!”. Even if said carpenter is hunky and has Harrison Ford-esque scars on his lip and eyebrow.

Luckily he forgave me this transgression, and even the subsequent one, a question that I have heard pretty much every new acquaintance ask him in the almost 6 years since that fateful night:

“Do you get to meet all the stars?”

His answer is always that he sees them from time to time, but that if everyone on the crew tried to meet them, the movie would never get made. So, not really. Although he did make my trekkie Mum very happy with a story about Patrick Stewart buying iced coffees for the whole X2 crew on a hot day. (“Oh, I knew he’d be a nice man. He seems like a nice man. Doesn’t he seem nice? I’m glad he’s a nice man”). However his attempt to get her Patrick Stewart’s autograph on X3 was thwarted, because there was never a good time to break professional ranks and stroll over with a pen in hand.

Mr E Man’s job has many benefits for me**:

Free swag (they mostly hand out t-shirts and jackets in the size that fits the actual crew member, but I have been promised a Night at the Museum 2 jacket in my size. I also have a metal water bottle from the same movie and a very nice leather portfolio binder thingy from a TV show called the Dead Zone)
Occasional visits to look at sets (soooo cool. I thought they’d look all two dimensional, with clever lighting and camera work making them look real, but standing in the main set for the original Night at the Museum was like standing in an actual natural history museum. The curving staircase looked like real marble, but when I touched it I realised it was actually made of styrofoam. Ditto the authentic-looking Egyptian temple carvings)
Reflected glory (especially when we took our 5 and 7 year old nephews to see NATM and the 5 year old loudly said “thank you for making this movie, Uncle Mark” at the quietest point in the film)
Tickets to cast and crew premieres, a day or two before general release (I love these; the extras shout “there I am!” at random moments, and everyone stays for the credits and cheers when they see their own name)
Wrap parties

I am under strict instructions to “be cool” at these latter events. Yes, even if Hugh Jackman is there (which he never is, sadly). My resolve to follow this advice is very rarely tested however; I’ve had a director or two pointed out to me, but I’ve only been to one wrap party with any recognisably famous actors.

It’s a good story though. I’d spotted Ben Stiller chatting away to various people and thought “oh, look, it’s Ben Stiller” (as you do), and then resumed my conversation with one of Mr E Man’s buddies. I love these conversations because everyone always tells me what a great carpenter my husband is – the art director even came up to me once and said “this man saved the movie!”.

And then… as we were talking… a tall blond guy strolled by, and very definitely looked at my boobs.

I was, of course, completely outraged. I mean, I wasn’t even wearing a name tag! How dare he! But as he passed by, I suddenly realised that it was Owen Wilson.

Mr E Man came back from the (OPEN!!) bar, and I immediately told him that some guy had been checking me out.

“Oh yeah, who?”
“Owen Wilson”
(Quizzical look of the “…and?” variety)
“Pretty cool, eh?!” I said proudly.

I think Mr E Man was quite relieved that I wasn’t all scandalised and outraged. Giving one of the movie’s biggest stars the old tap on the shoulder would definitely count as breaking professional ranks AND being decidedly uncool.

My point?

NATM II wrap party tonight, baby!! w00t! I will report back… if I survive the (OPEN!!!!) bar.

___________________________________

*he even got a credit! This is a very rare occurrence for most people in the construction department, which is a real shame because they contribute so much to the movie. I’ve sat through the credits of a lot of terrible movies (all of them with awesome sets, obviously – Chronicles of Riddick being a prime example), just to be disappointed when Mr E Man’s name doesn’t get listed.

**However I don’t appreciate the occasional spoilers that come my way, e.g. on X3:
Me: “so what are you working on right now?”
Mr E Man: “Xavier’s tombstone.”
Me: “WHAT??!! Noooooooooooo! Don’t tell me that!”

Posted in embarrassing fan girl, movie review, personal, silliness, Vancouver | 16 Comments