Labels: author, creative, critic, Graham Greene, playright, quotation, quote, writing
Labels: film, friendship, love, movie, poignant, short film, signs, story
The Tech News blog has collated thirty-three products made from recycled materials. It's great to see people's innovative and creative thinking to make new things from old materials.
Labels: innovative, inventive, products, recycle, recycling, reuse
Labels: awesome, fire, impressive, piano, Pierre Michel, short film, video, Vimeo, visual poetry
Labels: calming, ice, short films, sleet, snow, video, visual poetry, weather
Labels: art, artist, Christian Faur, crayons, wax
Labels: 3D, artist, Edgar Mueller, Edgar Müller, painting, street, The Crevasse, time lapse, time-lapse, video, Vivaldi, youtube
Why I Love Valentine’s Day — o — Why I Hate Valentine’s Day
I offer nothing but a balanced viewpoint.
Labels: 14 February, articles, balanced, love, MSN, occasion, opinions, seesaw, Valentine's Day, viewpoints
Li Wei, who lives in Beijing, creates images using mirrors, carefully hidden thin wires and his own acrobatic skills, honed from years of martial arts training. The pictures feature Wei suspended in a string of impossible situations at locations across Hong Kong and China.
Supposedly no computer trickery is used, although after watching a few of his works videos I think the wires are electronically cloned out of the final photos.
“I am fascinated by the unstable and dangerous sides of art and I hope my works reflect these aspects," he says. "Sometimes I am in real danger - I have to hang myself high with steel wires and people do get a little worried for me - but I am fine.”
Check out his website which shows his many fantastical works over the years.
Labels: art, Chinese, Li Wie, liwie, photography
This is a Gordon Ramsay recipe published in the Telegraph Magazine. Serves 4, or 1 for a few days if you can eat lots like me. :-)
Pleasingly green and peppery, watercress lightens the dumplings in this braised gammon dish, scented with star anise. Soak the gammon in cold water as soon as you unpack the shopping; it helps remove excess salt.
1kg (2¼lb) raw gammon
2 shallots, peeled and halved
2 large carrots, sliced diagonally
1-2 stick celery, very thinly sliced
2 star anise
about 1½ltr (3pt) fresh beef or chicken stock
For the dumplings:
60g (2oz) suet
120g (4oz) self-raising flour
leaves from 1 bunch of watercress, chopped
½ tsp of salt
Watercress oil to serve:
leaves from a second bunch of watercress, chopped
4 tbsp olive oil
pinch of salt
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Put the gammon in a pan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, then throw the water away. Add the vegetables to the pan with the star anise, and cover with the stock. Bring to the boil again, removing any foamy scum that rises to the surface. Turn down the heat — the liquid should simmer slowly, barely moving — and cook for one and half to two hours until the gammon is tender. Add a few twists of black pepper; you are unlikely to need salt.
Meanwhile make the dumplings. Mix together the suet, flour, watercress and half a teaspoon of salt. Add cold water, a tablespoon at a time, until you have a dryish dough that just holds together. With the help of extra flour, lightly shape the dumplings into walnut-sized rounds.
To make the watercress oil, pound together the watercress and olive oil with a pinch of salt until it’s a smooth green emulsion and put in a separate bowl to serve at the table.
Pour half the broth from the gammon into a separate pan, bring it to the boil and drop the dumplings in one by one. Cook them in the simmering stock until they float to the surface and small bubbles erupt on their surface.
Slice the gammon, and serve with the dumplings and vegetable, the broth spooned over the top. Zig-zag a little watercress oil over each plate.
Labels: cooking, delicious, dumplings, food, gammon, Gordon Ramsay, recipe, tasty
Labels: anniversary, celebration, company, five, Flickr, photographs, photos, website
Labels: birthday, Everybody's Changing, Keane, lyrics, melancholy, melody, song, video, youtube
“Time lapse is to photography as the Drum Solo is to rock music: it’s thrilling in the beginning but halfway through you wish it was over...”
Labels: animation, Oren Lavie, photography, stop-motion, technique, time lapse, time-lapse, video, youtube
“I’m giving away free help and advice. In return I gamble that relevant adverts will be used by my readers. ... I strive to be balanced and fair at all times and I believe in being fair and honest even if it means apparently losing out in some way. The challenge of proving to any (understandable) sceptics that my advice remains unbiased, honest and sincere is motivating.”I'm becomming convinced that a new machine will probably not last as long as my old Hotpoint did without an expensive repair after a few years; that manufacturer's energy ratings are misleading; that biological washing powder should only be used at 40°C but if a non-bio is preferred then the machine should have a maintenance wash once a month to prevent slime and bacteria build-up; that the Germans make the best machines (hey, what's new?!) but many of them are not available in the U.K.; that it could be cheaper to just pay someone else to do my washing and ironing for the next few months!
Labels: appliances, expense, house, household, UK, washerhelp, washing machines, website, White Goods
