Old Art

So, in Dublin, I saw some icons at the Chester Beatty library, and I thought "wow, I'm impressed - those are in pretty good condition!" Then I saw that they were made in late 1700s, and I thought "meh." After all, I saw in Sinai an icon in excellent condition that's over 1000 years old, so this was kind of small potatoes. 

I started thinking, why are we impressed by old artwork? Is it because it's old and well-preserved, or because it's impressive that they were able to create something that complicated so long ago? 

If it's the first case, then our amazement shouldn't be limited to just works of art. If we found a really old, well-preserved paper bag, surely that should be just as impressive. The impressive part has little to do with the item itself; it's the effort that was put forth to make sure that item survived substantially longer than it should have. 

If it's the second, then we should be equally impressed by specimens like old computers. Surely, no one would stare in awe if I assembled a Pentium I computer today. However, that was definitely impressive in it's own day and age. The fact that it's not visually appealing shouldn't matter. 

It seems to me that the age of a piece shouldn't matter. But, even in my own mind, it does. I'm not sure how to reconcile the two. 

Random Stuff

First of all, check this out:

http://textfromdog.tumblr.com/

Some are better than others, but I thought it was pretty funny on the whole. 


Next, I've been making a lot of soups recently. They've been a good way to get a meal + salt fix, without feeling too full. In theory, they should be fairly healthy (I don't add any oil or cream). 

A few quick tips:

1) Add the meat first - doesn't matter if it's chicken, beef, pork, whatever. The meat needs to cook the longest, and you want it to be the most tender, so let that cook/stew for the greatest amount of time, over relatively low heat. Beans should go in next (if the recipe includes beans). This helps break down the skin, which can be hard to digest for some. Beans are healthy and filling, so it's good to find a way to incorporate them into the soup.

2) Vegetables/pasta should go in last, possibly after you've turned the heat off. Things like spinach, peas, pasta will become overcooked if you add them before you're done boiling. 

3) Sweet corn goes pretty well in almost all soups that I've tried. I keep a big bag of frozen corn in the freezer, and just add about a pound to any soup that I make. Obviously, if you don't like sweet corn, this isn't for you. 

4) Tri-tip works best if you're making steak chili. It has a good flavor and isn't too chewy. Also, I add a little bit of BBQ sauce to my chili for flavor.


Lastly, I learned that beer has a LOT of calories. The rough metric is 30 calories per 12 oz per 1% ABV. So, a 5% ABV beer has roughly 150 calories for a 12 oz. serving. 

That means if you have a pint (although most restaurants/bars serve you 12 oz even when they list a pint - very few have actual pint glasses from my experience) of 7% beer, then you've had 7*30*4/3 = 280 calories PER PINT.

This explains why I can't lose weight while drinking, and why so many guys have beer guts. 

Have a good week. 

Book Review(s)

The Dagger and The Coin Series

So, one of my favorite authors, Daniel Abraham, has a relatively new series, which I had read was supposedly a trilogy. I waited until all three books were out to start reading.

About halfway through the second book, I'm thinking to myself "wow, I have no idea where he's going with this or how it's going to end." Halfway through the third book, I'm thinking "this is either super dis-jointed, or it's not a trilogy."

So, I googled it. First result - "The Dagger and the Coin Quintet". Further down, I see only one site has referred to it as a trilogy. ARRRGGGHHH!!!

Furthermore, Book 3 ends on a pretty massive cliffhanger.

Anyway, the books are quite good --> I'd say they're worth a read. But you should definitely wait until the next two are out to start reading.

Now for the review part:

The series focuses on events from the perspective of 4-6 main characters (some rotate in and out). There's lots of moving parts, and the characters overlap and cross paths at different times. It's not immediately obvious how that will happen, as they are initially spread out pretty far geographically.

The pacing of the books is good - lots of action very quickly. Arguably too quickly - there are massive events that take place in what seems like a very short period of time (or at least, not that many pages). Some things happen that make me question the characters' reactions. With something as big as X, would that person really have moved on that quickly? Maybe, but it's foregone. That's probably my biggest complaint.

All the characters are interesting in their own right - for the most part, they are very relate-able and understandable.

As far as world-building goes, I think it's left intentionally obscure. The main characters start uncovering pieces of the puzzle later on in the series, which I think will play into the over-arching story-line. It seems sloppy at first, but I think it's done that way for a reason.

Overall rating: 4, maybe 4.25/5 so far. Obviously, I'm going to reserve judgment until I see how it wraps up.

Day 1

Eating Out

I ate at a Russian/Georgian place yesterday. We had blini (think crepes) and piroshki (think puff-pastry with filling). Both were quite good, although the blini had some meat marinated in some particularly tasty spices. They were served with a spicy-sriracha like sauce (not quite sriracha - I would recognize that) and sour cream. Also, the bread (served on the side) was very light and airy, and served with an herb butter. For me, there's a huge gap between regular butter and butter with some sort of seasoning in it, but I don't really know why. I finished up with a Turkish coffee, which was excellent, but my heart was racing for the next hour. It was served in a pitcher (maybe I wasn't supposed to drink the whole thing?), and was probably equivalent to three or four shots of expresso, plus sugar. All in all, a very good experience - I'd definitely go back there, if it wasn't so far away. The name of the place is "kafe sobaka restoran pomegranate", and it's in South Park, San Diego. Apparently, they have a whole range of infused vodkas, which are VERY smooth. It was lunch-time and I was driving, though, so I refrained. 

I honestly didn't expect much from this type of cuisine - I figured it would be way more bland or less textured. I was quite impressed - if you ever happen to encounter a Russian place with good reviews, give it a try.