.the gpb kids.

This Past Week

Posted by Jules - August 14, 2007 at 02:08:11 pm

The result of my wall painting efforts. Wall 1:

Heading out to see the Hong Kong Children’s Orchestra:

Some highlights for the night:

Funny Item #1:

My old Chinese Choir teacher, Sister Teresa, was at the concert (retired from SF back to Portland last year).

Sister Teresa: How’s your Sai Lo? (at this point her inflection sounded like Child. As in MY child)

Me: Um, beg your pardon??? (My friend Chi also looked at her weirdly, because he heard the same thing)

Sister Teresa: You have a Sai Lo, right?

At this point she uses a slightly different inflection (read: correct), eyes Chi, and then it clicks. She was actually saying Sai Lo. Little Brother. Different Emphasis.

Me: Oh, that’s just a family friend. My brother is older than me.

Funny Item #2:

I was talking to Chi, and was telling him that my grandmother didn’t really get or fully appreciate music (she likens music to sawing and noise; Ngee Ngee Ngaw Ngaw, if you will). And he looked over at my grandmother, sitting at the edge of her seat, staring intently ahead. “See, she appreciates music. Look how interested she is”. And at that point, my grandmother suddenly burst out with, “That guy is REALLY bald on the back of his head!!”. Ah, so that’s what she was looking at. Music, what music?

At a bakery for some bahn mi

The Prestige

Posted by Mike - August 12, 2007 at 02:08:19 pm

Last night I saw The Prestige with Jules. I think we started watching it around midnight. If I had to rate it I’d give it a 7/10. The twists and turns of the story were good and I liked Scarlett Johansson and Hugh Jackman but I thought Christian Bale was only so so in his role. I don’t really know what else to say without spoiling the movie for anyone who might want to see it, so I leave you with the synopsis from FilmSpot:

From acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan (”Memento,” “Batman Begins”), comes a mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences. Based on Christopher Priest’s 1996 novel, Alfred (Christian Bale) and Rupert (Hugh Jackman) are two rival magicians in 19th century London. When Alfred performs the ultimate magic trick, Rupert tries desperately to find out the secret to the trick. However, he then begins to realize that it may not be a trick at all.

Prison Thriller?

Posted by Mike - August 10, 2007 at 08:08:24 am

Saw an article about this video on sfgate.com. But it didn’t even link to it correctly, so here it is.

Sega Dreamcast Championships 2001

Posted by Mike - August 4, 2007 at 09:08:51 pm

I may have told you about my friend Lindsay, who in 2001 bested everyone in the Sega Dreamcast Championships of 2001 to win $15,000 by playing Crazy Taxi. Well I just found some pictures I took so here they are.

It’s also interesting to to see Lindsay on Wikipedia’s 2001 in video gaming page.

Sorry about the lame thumbnails. Apparently Windows Vista’s photo gallery program doesn’t let you nicely export pictures at particular sizes like another operating system I know…

New World in Conflict Trailer

Posted by Mike - August 3, 2007 at 08:08:46 am

Alright, who recognizes the music??

On Vacation and Cauliflower

Posted by Jules - August 2, 2007 at 07:08:01 pm

Four days into my self imposed vacation, and I already feel bored. I guess vacation is more fun if you have someone to take a vacation with. I’ll have to see if I can convince Mike to take some time off so we can go carousing before I have to buckle down for school.

For as long as I can remember, I have been enamored by the broccoli’s albino cousin. The firm florets (though can you still call them that if they’ve been stunted at the meristem stage? I guess it falls into the same category of nonsensical food language that the word “vegetable” resides) crumble and melt beautifully with applied heat. When I was in high school, I would buy an empty salad plate from the lunch lady, and then proceed to the salad bar. Since we paid per plate of salad and not weight, I would pile the cauliflower in strategic tangles with great efficiency, stopping to pick up a little italian dressing on the side. I always walked fast at this point, because I felt slightly ashamed that I emptied out the cauliflower bin once more. But not ashamed enough that I wouldn’t do it again. This is what they call addiction, no?

Pasta with Cauliflower (& Spicy Broccoli)
adapted from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook

1.5 pounds cauliflower and/or broccoli, slice 1/8 inch
~1/2 pound linguine
6 salt cured anchovy fillets, chopped
6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp fennel, pounded in a mortar (I substituted caraway seeds)
6 pinches dried chili flakes
1 tbs tightly packed, chopped parsley
Parmesan
Olive Oil

Prepare your pasta! I like it al dente and Mike likes it a bit past. I was making this for myself, however, so al dente it was.

Warm up a pan with olive oil, and add most the florets, leaving the small bits that will burn on the cutting board. When the florets are slightly browned, toss gently with the remaining bits and add a little more olive oil. Once the broccoli/cauliflower mass has shrunken about 1/3 and is mostly tender, add the chopped anchovy, garlic, fennel and chili. Add a little more olive oil, cook for a few minutes, then add the parsley. Taste and adjust.

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