The half dome pictures are marvelous
Here is another friend's blog. http://www.stanford.edu/~dsu800/yosemite/
I very much like these Yosemite pictures.
David reminded all of us of the Poetic Thoughts link. You can find this link on the left upper side of the main page. But you need to have some knowledge of Chinese poem. If you don't, then the pictures will be less hilarious to you.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Macbeth
By San Francisco Opera
Macbeth is one of William Shakespeare's best known plays. I read this story (in ancient English as the text book in my English literature class) in my freshman year. At that time, I did not like this story much. Due to the hard to understand wordings. I re-discovered this story after my graduation. If you have not read this story or seen the play, you can go to San Francisco Opera this coming winter. San Francisco Opera is going to have Macbeth.
San Francisco Opera put a preview and introduction section online. You can check it out before you make any decision
http://www.sfopera.com/opera.asp?o=256
Cast
Macbeth: Thomas Hampson
Lady Macbeth: Georgina Lukács
Macduff: Alfredo Portilla
Banquo: Raymond Aceto
Macbeth is one of William Shakespeare's best known plays. I read this story (in ancient English as the text book in my English literature class) in my freshman year. At that time, I did not like this story much. Due to the hard to understand wordings. I re-discovered this story after my graduation. If you have not read this story or seen the play, you can go to San Francisco Opera this coming winter. San Francisco Opera is going to have Macbeth.
San Francisco Opera put a preview and introduction section online. You can check it out before you make any decision
http://www.sfopera.com/opera.asp?o=256
Cast
Macbeth: Thomas Hampson
Lady Macbeth: Georgina Lukács
Macduff: Alfredo Portilla
Banquo: Raymond Aceto
Côté Sud
Best French Restaurant 2004 & Best Date Spot 2007
Where to eat nice French food with friendly services and not harm your wallet too much? Côté Sud can be one of your choices.
Côté Sud was mentioned many times among French. However, Totof and I did not try until this Winter. I have a cousin living in Los Angeles. My cousin and I used to play together quite often when we were little. On the phone, she told me she was going to drive up with her friends to help a friend move in. We had not seen each other for ages. So, we wanted to take advantage of this chance to meet each other. Just coincidentally, Navaline called during the afternoon. She asked us if we were interested in dinning at Côté Sud. Why not? Let's put everyone together.
So, our plan was to meet my cousin, drive to Côté Sud, meet friends, then have a feast.
Escargots Ravioli
Tomates Clafoutis (the second photo)This clafoutis was made of cherry tomatoes, bacon and then served with basil parsley cream sauce.
Assiette de Charcuterie
Where to eat nice French food with friendly services and not harm your wallet too much? Côté Sud can be one of your choices.Côté Sud was mentioned many times among French. However, Totof and I did not try until this Winter. I have a cousin living in Los Angeles. My cousin and I used to play together quite often when we were little. On the phone, she told me she was going to drive up with her friends to help a friend move in. We had not seen each other for ages. So, we wanted to take advantage of this chance to meet each other. Just coincidentally, Navaline called during the afternoon. She asked us if we were interested in dinning at Côté Sud. Why not? Let's put everyone together.
So, our plan was to meet my cousin, drive to Côté Sud, meet friends, then have a feast.
It was our first time at Côté Sud. We followed a stair way and entered a bright space. We had six people at that night. Laurent, Navaline, Rita, my cousin, and us.
Wonderful cooking skills
Their dishes were quite tasty. After the dinner, I knew why Côté Sud was one of the best French restaurants in San Francisco area. I listed what we liked.
Appetizer
Moules Marinières
Moule = mussel. I had steamed mussels many times. Moules Marinières in one of typical French dishes. The chef steamed mussels, then poured white wine, and finished the cooking with shallots and cream. Côté Sud's Moules Marinières was as good as others. Generous portion.
Escargots Ravioli
Escargot = snail. I never had ravioli with snail meat. The portion was elegantly arranged. With herb and butter. Quite tasty.
Tomates Clafoutis (the second photo)Coquilles St Jacques luttées, sauce au homard
Hard to describe this dish. So I uploaded a photo. The third photo showed you what coquilles St Jacques was. Côté Sud's coquilles was made of day boat sea scallops and served with a lobster sauce.
Assiette de Charcuterie
This dish was a plate of various charcuteries. A common dish in France.
Entrée
Filet de Bar de Rivière a l’oseille
Filet de Bar = Bass filet. The main body was a sautéed striped bass filet. It came with shrimp and salmon mousse and dashed with sorrel sauce and eggplant caviar.
Bavette Grillée
This dish was a grilled skirt Steak. Very tender. Pink meat inside. Wonderfully cooked. It had green peppercorn sauce and pommes dauphines on side.
Thon Basquaise
As mentioned in another post, Basquaise was a famous cooking way in Basque. Côté Sud means next to South. Basque is in South France. So you would not feel surprised to see a Basque dish in Côté Sud. The main body of this dish was pan seared tuna. Côté Sud's Thon Basquaise was served over parsnips puree and tomatoes basquaise.
Confit de canard
Canard = duck. The dish was a duck confit, another typical French dish. It came with potatoes galette and was dashed with garlic cream sauce.
Dessert
Ile Flottante, crème anglaise
Apple Charlotte
Moelleux au Chocolat
Crème Brulée
Paris-Brest (the first photo)
All dishes from appetizers to desserts were excellent. Don't miss Côté Sud when you are in San Francisco.
Location: 4238 18th street, San Francisco, California, 94114
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Through the Fire and the Flames
You know Metal and Heavy Metal. But, do you know Power Metal?
The name of this song is Through the fire and flames. I was told this style was called Power Metal.
I think these guitarists are lunatics. Listen to the melody and look at guitarists' finger movements. This song is amazingly insane.
The name of this song is Through the fire and flames. I was told this style was called Power Metal.
I think these guitarists are lunatics. Listen to the melody and look at guitarists' finger movements. This song is amazingly insane.
Death on the Nile
Another great Agatha Christie book
I bought this book partially due to Hercule Poirot. Death on the Nile was another Poirot novel. As mentioned in another post, among four Agatha Christie characters, Poirot was my favorite detective. I like his way of thinking, talking, and reasoning.
The beginning of the book was few small scenes around England. I knew I needed to pay attention on these little detail since Agatha liked to put hints on the beginning part. I noticed the conversation occurred in Chez Ma Tante. I knew this might be a hint. I was right. But, it did not help resolving the murder. Since Agatha later on returned to emphasize this conversation by herself, my extra attention did not gain any point. Just helped me link every jigsaw pieces more quickly.
The main story was among two girls, named Jacqueline de Bellfort and Linnet Ridgeway, and one guy, named Simon Doyle. The very beginning, you saw Simon was with Jacqueline. Both Jacqueline and Simon were not rich. But Linnet was among the richest in England. Linnet and Jacqueline were best friends. Linnet was beautiful and intelligent. Simon was a handsome devil. Jacqueline was an outgoing type with wild inner. Jacqueline loved Simon so much. For him, she asked her best friend, rich
Linnet, to offer a job to Simon. Then, another chapter, you saw a marriage announcement. Simon was the groom. But Jacqueline was not the bride. Linnet was. Something was going on.
Jacqueline could not forget Simon and moved on. Seemed like she was obsessed. She follows Simon and Linnet on their honeymoon to Egypt. All of them were on a cruise. Then the story began. You saw obsession here and there. You saw the interactions between Linnet and Poirot, Simon and Poirot, and Jacqueline and Poirot. You wondered who was telling truth and who else was not. You also noticed everyone else on the cruise had secrets. You realized the jigsaw you were working on was a complex one. You expected to see a murder (of course). You wondered who would be the victim. You saw some accidents occurring in this honeymoon. You wondered if they were true accidents or artificial instances.
The second best part came when the murder happened. The death was expected. But, the way of the death was not. Through other people, you tried to reconstruct the murder scene. You tried to beat Poirot (at least you wanted to get the answer before the answer was revealed). You saw a floor plan of the cruise. You knew this blueprint was essential. But how? You knew it was another hint given by Agatha. You used your gray cells just like Poirot.
Then, another murder came. You wondered why. Then, you recombined evidence you gathered, you saw some contradiction. Did not make sense. You wanted to have more info. Then, you saw the third death.
How could these deaths link? The third one looked arbitrary. No, it must have a link. You told yourself. Then, Poirot came to give you some hints. You recalled the beginning part of the book, you flipped back, you tried to find hidden pieces. If you did not have a clue by the third last chapter, you knew you should stop your detective mind and wait Poirot to uncover the truth for you.
I don't want to ruin your pleasure of reading this story. So I only gave you some conceptual hints. The best part of the book was around the end where Poirot uncovered all the links. The plots were incredible. To give you a hint, you need to take agility into account when you reconstruct the murder scene and list your suspects.
One day, when I looked for Death on the Nile online, I found this book had a game version. OMG
Check it out,
http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/1521/agathachristiedeath/index.html
I bought this book partially due to Hercule Poirot. Death on the Nile was another Poirot novel. As mentioned in another post, among four Agatha Christie characters, Poirot was my favorite detective. I like his way of thinking, talking, and reasoning.
The beginning of the book was few small scenes around England. I knew I needed to pay attention on these little detail since Agatha liked to put hints on the beginning part. I noticed the conversation occurred in Chez Ma Tante. I knew this might be a hint. I was right. But, it did not help resolving the murder. Since Agatha later on returned to emphasize this conversation by herself, my extra attention did not gain any point. Just helped me link every jigsaw pieces more quickly.
The main story was among two girls, named Jacqueline de Bellfort and Linnet Ridgeway, and one guy, named Simon Doyle. The very beginning, you saw Simon was with Jacqueline. Both Jacqueline and Simon were not rich. But Linnet was among the richest in England. Linnet and Jacqueline were best friends. Linnet was beautiful and intelligent. Simon was a handsome devil. Jacqueline was an outgoing type with wild inner. Jacqueline loved Simon so much. For him, she asked her best friend, rich
Linnet, to offer a job to Simon. Then, another chapter, you saw a marriage announcement. Simon was the groom. But Jacqueline was not the bride. Linnet was. Something was going on.Jacqueline could not forget Simon and moved on. Seemed like she was obsessed. She follows Simon and Linnet on their honeymoon to Egypt. All of them were on a cruise. Then the story began. You saw obsession here and there. You saw the interactions between Linnet and Poirot, Simon and Poirot, and Jacqueline and Poirot. You wondered who was telling truth and who else was not. You also noticed everyone else on the cruise had secrets. You realized the jigsaw you were working on was a complex one. You expected to see a murder (of course). You wondered who would be the victim. You saw some accidents occurring in this honeymoon. You wondered if they were true accidents or artificial instances.
The second best part came when the murder happened. The death was expected. But, the way of the death was not. Through other people, you tried to reconstruct the murder scene. You tried to beat Poirot (at least you wanted to get the answer before the answer was revealed). You saw a floor plan of the cruise. You knew this blueprint was essential. But how? You knew it was another hint given by Agatha. You used your gray cells just like Poirot.
Then, another murder came. You wondered why. Then, you recombined evidence you gathered, you saw some contradiction. Did not make sense. You wanted to have more info. Then, you saw the third death.
How could these deaths link? The third one looked arbitrary. No, it must have a link. You told yourself. Then, Poirot came to give you some hints. You recalled the beginning part of the book, you flipped back, you tried to find hidden pieces. If you did not have a clue by the third last chapter, you knew you should stop your detective mind and wait Poirot to uncover the truth for you.
I don't want to ruin your pleasure of reading this story. So I only gave you some conceptual hints. The best part of the book was around the end where Poirot uncovered all the links. The plots were incredible. To give you a hint, you need to take agility into account when you reconstruct the murder scene and list your suspects.
One day, when I looked for Death on the Nile online, I found this book had a game version. OMG
Check it out,
http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/1521/agathachristiedeath/index.html
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