Walking and Wind

Today ended up being a walking day. Some of it more fruitful than others. Having taken a benadryl at midnight I was out for a while but Sara was up early reading and having breakfast and working out. My spirits were eventually lifted by a nice cup of coffee. In winter here, the sun never gets very high in the sky and thus has a low angle of incidence with the horizon making for very long sunrises and sunsets, but finally finds its way up a little after nine.

We head out with the idea of finding some Icelandic sweaters with their iconic circular pattern around the collar and made of the local sheep wool. We take a long winding route into downtown passing the tall, gaudy cement church which dominates the otherwise short skyline. More interestingly is the statue of Leifer Eiriksson in front which we dutifully snap some pictures of. Even though its almost 10 at this point downtown is mostly empty and we struggle to find a coffee shop open at such an hour on a Saturday morning. We are able to find one finally and get a muffin to share with our coffees.

Noticing that the Handknitters Association is still closed we make our first stop Farmers Market, actually a local sweater shop which is located on the far side of downtown out on a large pier like peninsula. Its once we reach this peninsula that we really start feeling the wind. I quickly remember something that I recently read, it's not the temperature of Iceland that makes it uncomfortable but the wind. I later find out that steady winds are blowing at 30 mph with gusts to 45. We do wind our way to the end of the land where we are greeted with stunning views of the neighboring Mt. Esja across the bay and even more wind. At the very end we find the Farmers Market sign and the front door. We confirm that, "Opið Mán-Fös" does indeed mean open Monday through Friday with a tug on the very locked door handle. Well, it was a nice walk if a bit windy. So, we turn around and head back to town.

On the way back is the sushi place recommended by the tourist information guy, Sushi Smiðjan. With all the fishing around Iceland we had been looking forward to trying some sushi with their ultra fresh fish. Our expectations were easily met. And we ended up being there during two for one time. We both had a mixed plate of 10 pieces, with five rolls and five nigiri, and a bowl of miso. Excellent food and excellent price. We'll be back!

Nearby is the flea and fish market. The bulk of the space is for the fleas with many stalls of locals selling books and jackets and sweaters and knick knacks. Towards the back is the fish market oddly filled mainly with dried fish. We do happen upon one stall with little tubs of white cubes. We recognize these as the dreaded and famous Hakarl, a shark that when fresh is poisonous with acid in its flesh but once left to rot/ferment for a few months becomes edible. Who was the first person to figure that out??? The woman hands us toothpicks with dice sized pieces and tells us not to smell them. I do anyway, smells faintly of ammonia, and then pop it into my mouth. Not to bad, tastes like some overripe cheese. But liking fairly stinky cheeses I find it not completely repellent. We end up buying a little tub for 150 krona.

On the way home is the Handknitters Association store where we make our way to. The back half of the store is filled with shelves, floor to ceiling, packed with sweaters of all styles and sizes and colors. After trying a few I find a charcoal one that I like and that fits pretty well. With sweater in hand we head home through the strong wind for some needed napping.

After waking up we decide on the Iceland Fish & Chips shop for dinner. Its a vaguely Portland style place what with its healthy bent. No wheat, the batter is made with barley and spelt flour. Chips are baked not deep fried. And for a truly local twist, instead of mayonnaise they have various flavored skyronnaise made with the ever present skyr. After dinner we trudge back home facing straight into the seemingly ever present gale force winds.

Le Petite Province

Pain au Chocolat: Pretty big and heavy feeling. Must be 7" long. Lots of chocolate, almost too much, pretty sweet. Dough looks more like a well risen bread than pâte feuilletée. Nice and fluffy not horrendously flakey. Cooked well, that is, not over baked, a nice golden brown color.

Some Music

Radiohead - I Might Be Wrong
Radiohead - 15 Step
Radiohead - Bodysnatchers
Elbow - Grounds for Divorce
Elbow - Picky Bugger
Elbow - Fallen Angel
Arcade Fire - We Used to Wait
Arcade Fire - Sprawl II
Led Zeppelin - When the Levee Breaks
Led Zeppelin - Trampled Under Foot
Jonsi - Animal Arithmetic
Bjork - Declare Independence
Amon Tobin - The Killer's Vanilla
Amon Tobin - Keep Your Distance
Amon Tobin - Hey Blondie
Metallica - Orion
Kasabian - Underdog, Secret Alphabets, Fire
DJ Shadow - Number Song
Muse - Supermassive Black Hole
Muse - Hysteria
Tricky - Slow
Tricky - Early Bird (or UK Jamaican, Excess, or Five Days)

East Side Deli

East Side Deli
Looks like and actual independent Deli in Portland, will have to try it sometime

Distillery Row PDX

Distillery Row

2010 Gourmand World Cookbook Award Winners

2010 Gourmand World Cookbook Award Winners

Argentina : Siete Fuegos, Mallmann, Kaminky (V-R Editoras)
Australia : Bentley (Murdoch Books)
Austria : Sacher (Styria)
Bangladesh : Sasto Sochaton Ranna, Keka Ferdousi (Anannya)
Belgium : Dix Petits Doights Pleains de Chocolat, Pierre Marcolini
(Racine)
Bhutan : Foods of the Kingdom of Bhutan (Bhutan Foundation)
Canada : Glutton for Pleasure, Bob Blumer (Whitecap)
Chile : Gastronomia del Mar (Gourmet Patagonia)
China : Official Health Food, Master Chef Du Guang Bei
Colombia : Secretos de la Parrilla, Bernardo Gomez Cortazar (Gama)
Costa Rica : Saberes y Sabores de Boruca, Leila Garro Valverde (Gama
Print)
Czech Republic : Czech Home Cook, Jitka Rakoskikova (Mlada Fronta)
Denmark : Paul Food, Paul Cunningham (Politiker)
Ecuador : Cocina de Autor, Santiago Chamorro (Sesos Creacion
Visual-Unimarket)
Finland : Olo (Teos)
France : 1 Canard, 2 Daguin (Sud Ouest)
Ghana : Ghanaian Cook Book, Sophia Manu ((Adaex Educational Publication -
Accra)
Germany : JW4 (Wissler Group)
Greece : Every Day , Argiro Barbarigou (Liberis)
Hong Kong : Grandma, Grandpa Cook (MCCM Creations)
Hungary : Segal Viktor - Colours and Taste (Book Publishing)
Iceland :Silver of the Sea, Volundar Snaer Volundarsson (Salka)
India : Byriani-Pratibha Karan (Random House India)
Ireland : Catherine's Italian Kitchen , Catherine Fulvio (Gill McMillan)
Italy : Food Designing, Marti Guixe (Corraini)
Japan : 12 Roads and Stories of the Foods, Chieko Mukasa (Heibonya)
Latvia : Est Ir Tava Daba (Zvaigzne)
Laos : Food from Northern Laos - The Boat Landing Cookbook (Galangal
Press)
Luxembourg : Henri Schumacher Patissier (Guy Binsfeld)
Lebanon : Mouneh (Barbara Abdeni Massaad)
Malaysia : Kulit Manis, A Taste of Terengganu's Heritage. Puan Rosita Bt
Abdullah (My Viscom)
Malta : Pippa's Festa , Pippa Mattei (Miranda)
Mexico : Los Top Chefs de Mexico (Larousse)
Morocco : Le Figuier de Barbarie (Alwifak)
Netherlands : Toscanini Venticinqe (Toscanini)
New Zealand : Me'a Kai, Come Eat, Robert Oliver, Dr.Tracy Berno, Shiri
Ram (Random House NZ)
Norway : Ekte Mat, Andreas Viestad (Cappelen Damm)
Peru : History, Anecdotes, and Some Recipes from Peruvian Cuisine,
Berit Knudsen (Iandu)
Philippines : An Invitation to Malacanan (Art Post Asia)
Poland :Nature of Polish Cuisine - Woicieh Modest Amaro
Portugal : 2780 Taberna (Bertrand)
Russia : Larousse Gastronomique (Chernov)
Singapore : Above and Beyond, Singapore Airlines (Marshall Cavendish)
Slovenia : Ljubezen Skoz Zwloswx (Vale Novak-Gorenjski Tisk)
South Africa : Koekemakranka Khoi-Khoin Kultuurgoed en Kom-Kuier-Kos
Renata Coetzee (Lapa)
Spain : Las Cocinas del Camino de Santiago (Al Gusto)
Sweden : Syrat -Sour (Informationsforlaget)
Switzerland : Fusion Pur (Betty Bossi)
Trinidad Tobago : Ah'Len - Welcome (Syrian Lebanese Woman Association)
Turkey : Tadi Damagimda Kaldi, Mehmet Soykan (Food in Le Gastronomy)
UAE : Arabian Dreams, Aaron Maree (Motivate)
Uruguay : Gastronomia de las Costas de Rocha, Juan Antonio Varese
(Cruz del Sur)
UK : Noma, Rene Redzepi (Phaidon)
USA : The Essential New York Times Cookbook, Amanda Hesser (WWW Norton)
Venezuela : Las Recetas Olvidadas, Gamal El Fakih Rodriguez (Speedread)

Some workout ideas

Some of Mark Wahlberg's workout

Micky Ward Trains You for the Ring
By Bryan Payton

You need a strong core to be a strong boxer, says Ward, the pugilist Mark Wahlberg plays in The Fighter. "That's where all your power comes from. When you twist to throw a punch, you throw your hips and entire core into it." Follow his routine.

1 Pushup
15 reps

2 McGill curlup
15 reps each leg
Lie faceup—right leg straight, left leg bent so your foot is flat on the floor. With palms under your lower-back arch, lift your head and shoulders (don't bend your lower back). Pause, then lower.

3 Side crunch
15 reps each side
Lie straight on your left side and brace your feet against a wall or a heavy object. Rest your left hand on your chest, and place your right hand behind your head. Crunch your torso toward your hip. Pause, and then return to the starting position.

4 Hip-up
10 reps each side
Lie on your left side, propping your upper body up with your left elbow and forearm and keeping your knees straight. Raise your hips so that your torso is beyond parallel to the floor and your body forms a straight line from your head to ankles. Pause, and then lower.

5 Medicine-ball twist
15 reps
Hold a medicine ball at chest level, arms straight out. Without moving your torso, rotate your arms far to the left, then far to the right. That's 1 rep. Continue back and forth as fast as you can.

Do 2 or 3 circuits total.


Pushup
McGill Curlup
Side Crunch
Side Plank
Weighted Russian Twist

Inception Stuff

Wired interviews Christopher Nolan about Inception

Inception Theory

Inception and Catharsis

Six Interpretations and Five Holes

Wedding Ring Theory


Nolan's Dream Layers

Inception Ending Blog

Possible track order for Inception soundtrack from some dude on the Hans Zimmer message board...
1. Half Remembered Dream
2. Projections
3. One Simple Idea
4. Radical Notion
5. Mombasa (first half)
6. One Simple Idea [again]
7. Paradox [first 3/4s]
8. Mombasa [last half]
8. Dream Within A Dream
9. Don’t Think About Elephants
10. 528491
11. Waiting For A Train
12. 528491 [again]
13. Paradox [last quarter]
14. Time
15. Dream Is Collapsing

Although I gotta say, I like finishing with Elephant > 528491 > Time

Methow Valley skiing

Methow Valley Winter Recreeation
Oregonian Article

Plumbing Fun

Fix A Running Toilet
Drain Repairs

If you have a moderately clogged drain, try this homemade drain cleaner: Pour 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain followed by 1/2 cup of vinegar. Be careful. The two ingredients interact with foaming and fumes, so replace the drain cover loosely. Let the concoction set for about three hours before running water.

If you know the slow drain is from grease, try this treatment: Pour in 1/2 cup of salt and 1/2 cup of baking soda followed by a teakettle of boiling water. Allow to sit overnight.

You can keep your drains clog-free and odorless by using the following homemade noncorrosive drain cleaner weekly. Combine 1 cup baking soda, 1 cup table salt, and 1/4 cup cream of tartar. Stir ingredients together thoroughly and pour into a clean, covered jar. Pour 1/4 cup of mixture into drain, and immediately add 1 cup boiling water. Wait 10 seconds, then flush with cold water. Flushing weekly with a generous amount of boiling water also works well.

from http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/plumbing/how-to-unclog-a-drain.htm

Thai Recipes

Thai Recipes by Kasma Loha-unchit
Muoi Khuntilanont's Thai Kitchen

Rovaniemi

Rovaniemi

Finnish Recipe Sites

Finnguide
Nordic Recipe Archive

Early Tomatoes

ideas for early tomato varieties from the Oregonian...

I talked to Josh Kirschenbaum, who does product development for Territorial Seed Co., and was astonished to learn that of the 300 varieties growing in the trial gardens at London Springs near Cottage Grove, only about 10 had ripened by Aug. 25. And they know what they're doing.

The tomatoes that had come along were cherry types such as 'Gold Nugget' or ultra-early varieties like 'Glacier' and 'Stupice.'

In a last-ditch effort to get the red on, Kirschenbaum suggested:

• Cut back on water to twice a week. If you've got plastic mulch, go down to once a week.
• Pinch off flowers and some of the smaller fruit.
• You can go to the trouble of building a plastic tent, but that seems like a lot of work ... and iffy at this point.

comment: what we do is plant a variety of types, always including some of the "Russian" types - which in my experience do better in cooler weather years than the hot-blooded Mediterranean varieties... this year that strategy has paid off admirably for us.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/kympokorny/2010/09/tomato_woes_is_there_a_way_to.html

Timbers Tunes

Elvis - I Can't Help Falling in Love
White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
The Toasters - Two Tone Army
The Offspring - Neocon
Loretta Lynn - Portland, Oregon
The Expoloited - Barmy Army

Oregon Fishing Reports

Tredewinds Depoe Bay

Yaquina Bay Charters

Captain's Reel

Looking forward to getting some albacore and these folks seem to keep their reports up to date. Sounds like they are coming soon, maybe next week!

Timbers!

Timbers vs. Sounders provides a preview of what's to come

Ramen Book

ramen book

http://www.ramenadventures.com/2010/06/ramen-books-and-magazines.html

Ramen Broth

http://www.japanesefood101.com/index.php/recipes/ramen-broth/

Our ramen shop in Tokyo

I finally found it

福気

Shibadaimon 2-1-1, Minato-ku
http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1314/A131401/13059518/
http://ramendb.supleks.jp/shop/11908

World Cup 2010 schedule

USA
England 6/12 Sat 11:30 ABC
Slovenia 6/18 Fri 07:00 ESPN
Algeria 6/23 Wed 07:00 ESPN

France
Uruguay 6/11 Fri 11:30 ESPN
Mexico 6/17 Thur 11:30 ESPN
RSA 6/22 Tue 07:00 ESPN

Netherlands
Denmark 6/14 Mon 04:30 ESPN
Japan 6/19 Sat 04:30 ESPN
Cameroon 6/24 Thur 11:30 ESPN