Saturday, June 11, 2011

Savage dog tears bear to shreds


Click for bigger.

Here's a two-week-old fawn in the back of a police car

Officer Joel Kanz of Savage Police Department in Minnesota recently rescued a fawn found wandering alone in the Eagle Creek Business Park.


YouTube link.

The two-week old fawn was placed in the back seat of his squad car to keep it safe until an animal control officer arrived.

Full story here.

Baboon adopts bush baby in Kenya

An abandoned bush baby and a yellow baboon have formed an unlikely companionship at an animal orphanage in Nairobi. The six-month-old female baboon, abandoned by its family in Maralal in Northern Kenya, is taking care of the three-month-old bush baby that was also abandoned by its family in central Kenya.



Charles Musyoki, a senior scientist for species and conservation at the Kenya Wildlife Service, said it is likely that the animals formed the bond in order to cope in the new environment at the animal orphanage.



"This is a situation where two individuals are basically in need of each other because they need the bond to survive in the absence of their parents and their grouping. Therefore when both find themselves in such a situation they tend to bond and make friendships," Musyoki said.


YouTube link.

Musyoki said the two animals would not have had such a relationship in the wild. The yellow baboon is active during the day and sleeps at night, while the bush baby is a nocturnal animal, he said.



"In the natural world they are very separated in terms of time," Musyoki said, adding that there is now a bond "in this captive environment because the two animals which are in distress, need each other for companionship, for friendship and play". The two animals will have to be separated as they become older, he said.

Fake alligator head rids neighbourhood of defecating geese

Jim Orsello is the hero of his Woodbury, Minnesota, neighbourhood for solving a miserable problem - defecating geese. His apartment complex was thrown into a fecal furor this spring when an infestation of geese carpeted lawns and sidewalks with their unpleasant mess.

Orsello's solution was as old as nature itself. He installed a floating alligator head in a nearby pond. Today, the geese, and their dreaded dung, are gone. "It worked very well," said Orsello, a 67-year-old living in Applewood Pointe, a retirement complex.



He first saw a similar decoy gator head while visiting a relative in St. Louis. He didn't know, however, if it would work 800 miles north of the native habitat of alligators. Fortunately, geese aren't known for their brains. They were unable to figure out that alligators don't live in states known for ice fishing.

Orsello said the alligator head doesn't fool anything else, including his neighbours and their pets. Even ducks aren't deceived, he said, and treat it like any other floating piece of debris. But geese hate it. The head consists of a rubber mask stretched over a frame lined with plastic foam. It floats freely in the pond and comes with sinister yellow eyes to strike primordial fear into avian hearts.

Man says Alcohol Mary Road defames his family name

To the Hertell family in Greenwood, Maine, the name Alcohol Mary Road is offensive and desecrates a relative. The Hertells used to live on the road and had a grandmother named Mary, but they say she's not the road's namesake. Blaine Mills, vice president of the Greenwood Historical Society, said the road is named for a woman who made and sold liquor during Prohibition. “There was no big deal about it,” Mills said. “A lot of people made booze back in those days.”

But it's a big deal for Arthur Hertell of Bethel, who said he has been harassed for years by people who want to know if his grandmother was Alcohol Mary. “These people call up and say, 'Oh, Alcohol Mary, she's your grandmother.' And I just hang up,” Hertell said. “I don't know why they have to bother me.” Hertell has appealed to the Greenwood Board of Selectmen to change the name, but at the May 17 meeting they voted to keep the name as is.



Board Chairman Fred Henderson said he was concerned that changing the name would be a hardship to residents of the road. He estimated about a dozen people live there. The Hertells offered to pay the town's expenses in changing the name. Henderson said the town's cost in replacing the sign isn't an issue. He said Alcohol Mary Road residents would “have to change all their chequebooks and they'd have trouble.”

“It is very disturbing to them to associate their beloved grandmother with someone named Alcohol Mary,” said attorney Jennifer Kreckel, who represents the family. Hertell, 76, said it wouldn't have mattered to him when he was young. “Now I've got grandchildren. They want to know about Alcohol Mary.” He said Alcohol Mary was Finnish, as is his family, but that she and the Hertells aren't related. Hertell said he wants to change the name and put the issue to bed. “It's just an ongoing battle and it'll never stop until the road is changed.”

Mystery over clocks in Sicily inexplicably moving forward

Over the past week digital clocks in Sicily have been confusing their owners by moving forward 15 minutes in time.



Francesco Nicosia, said "I realised something was wrong when I started getting to work earlier.

After some investigation I noticed that I wasn't the only one who was on time, which is quite rare here in Sicily."


YouTube link.

Explanations involving aliens, poltergeists, volcanic activity on Mount Etna and solar explosions have been put forward. Among the most credible explanations is electrical disturbance caused by underwater cables.

Primary school children ask parents not to swear in the playground

Pupils at a Hull primary school are urging foul-mouthed parents to clean up their language. Children at The Green Way Primary have complained to teachers about the grown-ups' language. Now, pupils are designing their own hand-drawn posters in a bid to shame the offenders.

Simon Bush, deputy head teacher of the 450-strong school, said it was important the problem is tackled swiftly. He said: "During a school council meeting a Year 6 boy said, 'We are very concerned about the amount of swearing in the playground.'



"I thought he meant other children's language but he was actually talking about the parents." Mr Bush stressed it is only a "very small minority" of parents who are guilty of using bad language in earshot of pupils. However, he said the school is determined to eradicate it.

Mr Bush said: "It is not a massive problem, but there are some parents who do use inappropriate language while picking up and collecting their children. This type of language is not acceptable in this environment. It is clear some pupils are offended. Obviously, we do not want children picking it up. It is a child-friendly zone and parents should use child-friendly language."

Cleaner removes 'face of Jesus' from church

An "image of Jesus" seen in dripped wax by worshippers at a church in Wiltshire has been removed by a cleaner. The face was first spotted by a church warden at the parish church of Ogbourne St George at Easter. The image, described as a a man with a long beard, was formed by candle wax dripping from the church's pulpit.

Created over a four-month period, the wax image was apparently removed by a diligent cleaner last week, although nobody has owned up. Nicky Irwin was the church warden who first spotted it. "I was sitting in church just before Easter a little bit bored by a sermon when I saw it," she said. "I thought, 'Oh my goodness that looks so much like a face' and I thought 'that could be Jesus'."



The image could only be seen from a certain angle. "You had to be in the right seat," said Mrs Irwin. "From the side it just looked like dripped wax. It was only when you looked at it face-on that you could see it." Although many within the small congregation saw a face some were unwilling to "sign up to more then that", she said.

Despite going through the church's cleaning rotas, no-one has admitted to scraping away the wax image. "I felt really disappointed actually and I wished I'd done more about preserving it," admitted Mrs Irwin. "The Church of England is not very good at this sort of thing and if I'd done something sooner it could have been a bit of a money spinner."

'Ugliest man in Britain' threatened to kill wife during savage beating

A man once dubbed Britain's ugliest male was taken back by his wife – despite him savagely beating her and telling her: "I'm going to kill you". Ronnie Sowter "flipped" when his wife, Lynne, told him she had feelings for another man she kissed during a night out in Ashbourne.

When she asked her husband to leave the property she was staying at, Sowter, 57, began punching and strangling her. Derby Crown Court was told Mrs Sowter reported the assault to the police but later said she no longer wanted him to be prosecuted, as she had decided to take him back.



But officers charged Sowter, of The Firs, Ashbourne, with assault occasioning actual bodily harm due to the serious nature of the attack, which left Mrs Sowter with a badly swollen and bruised face. Sowter – who was given the title of "ugliest man in Britain" by Channel 4 entertainment show TFI Friday in the 1990s – was given a 10-month jail sentence, suspended for two years.

Judge Andrew Hamilton had planned on imposing a restraining order on him to protect Mrs Sowter, but was asked by her not to do so. Instead, Judge Hamilton further ordered Sowter to complete a domestic abuse programme and carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.

Police called after wifelets of Marquess of Bath brawl over who would sleep with him

Police have been called to the Marquess of Bath’s Longleat estate in Wiltshire after one his “wifelets” was allegedly injured during a late night fight with a rival. The women suffered a suspected broken nose in a vicious fight over who would "sleep with the peer” that evening at 18th century Longleat House, a source said.

Lord Bath, 79,who has been described as England’s most eccentric aristocrat, had apparently already retired for the evening, saying ‘You sort it out, I’m going to bed’.” Officers were sent to the stately home following an allegation of a domestic assault.



A 45-year-old woman from London was arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm while her 62-year-old alleged victim was taken to hospital suffering from a cut eye and a suspected broken nose.

Lord Bath is known for his polyamorous lifestyle. He claims to have had up to 75 `wifelets’ over the years, some of whom live on the 10,000 acre estate. Wiltshire police confirmed they had been called to Longleat House at 11.15pm on Sunday June 5, after a report of an assault. “It appears that two female guests of Lord Bath had been in an altercation,” said a spokesman. “The injured lady was taken to the Royal United Hospital, Bath, for treatment.”

Superdrug staff refused to give free Lucozade to diabetic suffering seizure

A Bangor woman had told of her disgust at a shop that refused to give her husband a fizzy drink while he suffered a diabetic seizure that could have put him in a coma, or even killed him, because she did not have enough money. The staff at Superdrug did offer to call an ambulance, but Carol Anne Lewis said all her husband needed was a £1.35 sugary drink. She was shocked when Superdrug staff refused to give her a bottle of Lucozade that would help David, 63, out of a hypoglycemic seizure that he was suffering at a bus station across the road on Friday.

“I’m disgusted after the way my husband suffered. If you see someone in that situation, you help them,” she said. David showed signs of a seizure as he stepped off a bus across the road from Superdrug, while on the way to the Hafan cafe. “He was confused, sweating badly and his left hand started jerking like he was getting a fit,” she said. Carol Anne left David with a friend and rushed across the road to Superdrug, pleaded with staff for a Lucozade to help increase David‘s blood sugar level.



“I said I pay them the next Tuesday, but they said they couldn’t do that,” she said. She headed to the cafe, where a staff member gave her £1.20, but Superdrug staff insisted that Carol Anne pay £1.35. However, a customer gave Carol Anne enough change to buy the drink. David had managed to reach the cafe by himself, where staff gave him some milk. His blood sugar level had dropped dangerously low, and it took around 30 minutes for David to start to come round after he drank the Lucozade.

A Superdrug spokesperson said: "When our store was alerted to an incident which occurred near to our Bangor store last Friday, the team immediately offered to call an ambulance in order to offer medical attention. The safety and well being of our colleagues and customers is our primary concern and our store teams will always endeavour to offer the appropriate assistance." However, Carol Anne added: “Why call an ambulance when you can treat it with a bottle of Lucozade for £1.35? It costs a lot more money to send out an ambulance.”

Man jailed for kidnapping bank worker neighbour's pet dog after his loan application was refused

A former neighbour who kidnapped a bank worker's dog from her back garden in Bath in revenge for her bank refusing him a loan has been jailed. Gabriel Radzikowski, 29, took Sara Lilly's Yorkshire terrier after she was unable to help him secure a bank loan. He held the 15-year-old dog, Bilbo Baggins, for a ransom of £500 before leaving him in a frozen pond last December.

Polish national Radzikowski had hoped Ms Lilly, a local bank director for Lloyds TSB, could use her position to get him a loan. After receiving ransom phone calls from Radzikowski Ms Lilly contacted the police. Bilbo was found bobbing in the water by passerby, Patricia Bently, who had heard whimpering from a frozen pond. Following a trial at Bristol Crown Court Radzikowski, who had denied any involvement in the crimes, was found guilty of blackmail and intimidation.



Sentencing Radzikowski Judge Michael Longman told the court that Radzikowski had kidnapped Ms Lilly's dog and had blackmailed her. Eventually the dog was recovered from an icy pond, he said. Radzikowski had previously lived in the flat above Ms Lilly, but had moved to Yate. A few months later he had returned to Bath, homeless and looking for somewhere to stay.

He was taken in by a local Polish couple, Robert and Maria Jurczak, while he looked for a flat. During the police investigation both Mr and Mrs Jurczak confirmed they had seen Radzikowski with Bilbo. Radzikowski showed little emotion when he was handed 12 months' imprisonment for the count of blackmail and 12 months for intimidation, to run consecutively. The court heard Radzikowski wanted to return to Poland following his sentence.

A MAN MELTING

From author Craig Cliff's blog:

In the ether

An eBook version of A Man Melting has been available worldwide for a month or two now. I haven't made a big deal about it yet because, well, I didn't know.  My manager at work told me two weeks ago that he'd downloaded my book for his kindle, but I assumed that it would, like the physical copy, be only available in New Zealand and Australia. But no. Folks in the UK, Canada, the US, India, Kiribati, San Marino and Madagascar can get a copy of A Man Melting for their digital device (internet access permitting).

The best places to try and nab a copy are Amazon and eBooks.com.

Travel writing great Patrick Leigh Fermor dies aged 96 - Obituary - The Guardian

Friends and colleagues pay tribute to author revered for his account of walking across Europe

Patrick Leigh Fermor in 2008. Photograph - Eamonnb McCabe

And more on the great man on Wellington-based author Maggie Rainey-Smith's blog.

Just A Quick Note On Greece

So the European Central Bank (ECB) owns about $60B in Greek government bonds. I could be off on that number, but the point is that they own a lot of it. Something like 1/3 of all Greek bonds not held within Greece are owned by the ECB.

Just like the Fed, the ECB can print money.

The ECB is refusing to renew their Greek bonds when they mature. They're going to dump the things onto the open market instead of hold them and roll them over.

If a huge organization like the ECB, which can print money is getting out of the market for Greek debt, what idiot would hold on to them?

Talk about a catalyst for a run on the stuff! If that's not it, nothing is. I think all the desperately hopeful folks are waiting for the rest of the EU to use their taxpayers to make good on the Greek bonds in an effort to stave off default.

Crazy days are ahead for the EU.

River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh – review

Amitav Ghosh's second part of his historical trilogy is a marvel

Opium Den
Poppy days . . . Chinese opium smokers in Hong Kong, circa 1900. Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Amitav Ghosh's two latest novels carry us deep inside the opium trade in the 1830s. River of Smoke is the second volume of a proposed trilogy. The first, Sea of Poppies, published in 2008, took us along the Ganges and to Calcutta, where the poppies are grown and the opium processed. River of Smoke follows the story through to Canton in China, where the opium is sold. The Chinese authorities are trying to prevent illegal imports of the drug, which has inflicted a plague of addiction on the Chinese population while making empire-sized fortunes for the irrepressibly shameless traders, mostly British.

In historical novels the past can sometimes feel tamed; hindsight, hovering just off the page, tells us that we know what it all added up to and what came of it (the First Opium War, during which British gunboats enforced a treaty opening Chinese ports to international trade, comes shortly after the ending of this novel). But Ghosh's novels somehow succeed in taking us back inside the chaos of when "then" was "now". His grasp of the detail of the period is exhaustive – he is so thoroughly submerged in it – that readers can't possibly remember all the things he shows them, or hold on to all the life-stories of all the characters he introduces. Both novels are cabinets of curiosities, crowded with items that hold a story of their own.

We get a moment's glimpse in River of Smoke, for example, inside a ship's cabin – and Ghosh can't resist explaining how a copper tub is "attached ingeniously to the ceiling, with removable trivets". Bahram, the Parsi opium trader from Bombay, whose story is the primary focus of the novel, likes to eat "a Xinjiang specialty called a samsa…": "these were small triangles of pastry, stuffed usually with minced meat: baked in portable Uighur tandoors they were sold hot in the Maidan . . . and were spoken of familiarly by their Hindusthani name – samosa". Every element, no matter how small, in the novel's world opens up to reveal the further worlds stacked up behind it.

Full review at The Guardian.

For writers seeking a genre, the path ahead is lit

Simon Letch

Richard Glover, Spectrum, Sydney Morning Herald,  May 21, 2011

Came across this piece while in Sydney for the Writers Festival last month and thought you might enjoy it. It made me chuckle.

    Illustration: Simon Letch
    It's the Sydney Writers' Festival and many young people are wondering how to break into writing so they can have the experience of jet-setting around the world and being mobbed by grateful readers. Well, it's not good enough to just write a book; these days publishers will only consider something if it fits into an already successful genre.
    The tendency began with the genre called "chick lit", which was invented in June 1995, when writer Helen Fielding noticed that her underpants were quite large. The effect was so startling in terms of book sales, the industry committed itself to only publishing chick lit, or books from genres that at least sounded like "chick lit".
    Just choose the genre that best suits your style of writing and the invitation to the free drinks won't be long coming.
    Quick lit
    Modern printing techniques now allow the production of news-related books within minutes of an event occurring. Only a fortnight ago, when Osama bin Laden's body was still sinking, scores of publishers were already pressing the "print" button. Of course, a book that has taken less than three hours to write may lack a little in the quality department but you'll be wowed by the speed. Personally, I'm now busy working on some follow-up books: The Navy Seal Diet Plan; The Navy Seal Exercise Plan; The Navy Seal Cook Book; and Osama's Big Book of Porn. I'm planning on publishing tomorrow; what about you?
    Click lit
    This is a genre featuring books about the internet, all of them claiming the internet is about to kill off the publishing industry. It's a curious fact that the publishing industry would have died years ago were it not for the publication of thousands of books on the topic of how books are about to die.
    Sick lit Crime books about ghastly murders, paedophilic if possible, in which whole chapters are dedicated to describing the crime, the state of the decaying body and grisly process of the autopsy. No way is this sick and prurient; it's just that the central character happens to be a police pathologist and the author wants to be accurate.
    Dick lit 
    Airport thrillers written fora male audience in whichcommandos, submarine officers or undercover spies save the day through acts of swaggering derring-do. Crucially, something hasto explode, sink or crash in thecourse of every page or, if possible,sentence.

    Flick lit 
    Any coffee-table book with lots of pictures and hardly any text, designed for people to flick through so they can feel cultured without having to actually expend any mental effort.

    Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/for-writers-seeking-a-genre-the-path-ahead-is-lit-20110520-1ex2g.html#ixzz1Oq5IluVt

    TUPAIA

    Joan Druett,

    Random House New Zealand - $55

    This most handsome hardback book which tells the remarkable story of Captain Cook's Navigator was published earlier this week and the author and publisher will be delighted with a half page spread in Saturday's Weekend Herald in which the author talks to Andrew Stone about her mission to give one man his dues in our history.

    Revealing Cook's guiding star

    By Andrew Stone, NZ Herald , Saturday Jun 11, 2011

    Joan Druett, right, in the Museum of Wellington City and Sea. Photo Mark Mitchell

    Two names from the 18th century voyage of the Endeavour are fixtures in New Zealand history - James Cook, the ship's captain, and wealthy botanist Joseph Banks.
    Maritime historian Joan Druett wants to add a third - that of Tupaia, the Tahitian navigator, high priest, artist and translator who sailed from his homeland with Cook and defused the landmark encounter between Maori and Europeans off the Endeavour on October 9, 1769.
    Tensions were running high because the previous day a Maori, Te Maro, was shot through the heart by a nervous crewman after Cook's party made landfall in Poverty Bay.
    Back on shore and armed to the teeth, red-coated English marines faced off against agitated warriors on the far bank of the Turanganui River.
    Tupaia - bearing a musket and clad in breeches, shoes, shirt, stock and skirted coat - stepped ahead of the soldiers and called to the restive war party.
    "They understood him perfectly," writes Druett in her biography of Tupaia, a handsome new book she hopes will cement her subject in the foundation of the nation.
    Tupaia's presence on the riverbank - a tall, commanding figure who, despite his costume, clearly resembled the fighting men opposite - both eased fears and stirred cries across the water. What was he doing on a "fat canoe that carried its own cloud?" Where did he come from? How was Te Maro killed with an "exploding stick?"
    The breakthrough did not last. Though Cook and a courageous elder met mid-stream for a hongi, blood was again spilled when the Endeavour's surgeon William Munkhouse fatally shot local chief Te Rakau after astronomer Charles Green's military sword was snatched in a dispute over trading a greenstone mere.
    "As an exercise in public relations it was a disaster," writes Druett.
    It was the second time that Tupaia had helped the English explorers in a tight spot. Three months earlier, in his homeland, Tupaia made the brave decision to join the Endeavour. As wind filled the sails of the square-rigged converted collier when it set off from Matavai Bay for Tupaia's island birthplace of Raiatea, Banks and his Tahitian passenger waved from the masthead at canoes filled with paddlers making a "woeful cry."
    A few days later the ship anchored at Raiatea, which had been conquered by neighbouring Bora Bora. A wary Tupaia led the party to a highly revered marae where, in tropical rain, he stripped to the waist and prayed to his gods. The ceremony over, Banks and the others inspected the hallowed grounds of Taputapuatea.
    To Tupaia's horror, and the alarm of local priests, Banks thrust his arm into a thatched "god-house" and began tearing at the fabric of a precious totem.
    Writes Druett: "Back on Tahiti, Dr Munkhouse had been attacked for the relatively trivial crime of plucking a flower on sacred ground. Here, on the greatest marae in eastern Polynesia, the whole party would have been slaughtered if they had not been under Tupaia's protection."
    Banks, says Druett, "was so mindless and barbaric ... Tupaia would have had to talk very, very fast."
    Just how was this imposing 40-something (Tupaia's exact age is uncertain) able to bridge cultures and languages, and in the face of Banks' sacrilege, perhaps alter the course of history by getting the expedition out of harm's way?

    Read the full piece at NZHerald.

    Less Words, More Food 14

    Wow ,  Can't tell that I like this format of posting .. this is number 14 in this series ! LOL  It is a handy way to to catch up on LOADS of of food pix I have to share with you . Please if you see something you like, just ask , and Ill write it up as a recipe for you .  On the flip side if there is something you don't like , please let me know so I can fix it or avoid it in the future.  This shots go back to April... that's how far behind I am now ... lol , well after this post Ill be caught up to May .  Enjoy :))

    My version of Bangers and Mash :))) Loaded of course !  

    A great Meatball Pasta bake , and soon to be a blog post ( its next ! ) 

    Mmmm just gotta love roasting Beef!!  

    The roasted  goodies for a nice hummus!!

    Roasted Red Pepper, Onion & Garlic Hummus :)) 

    Put it together for cold roast beef , and chips :)) With hummus and a fresh tomato. A Simple and Easy way to get Creative with your leftovers!!  

    My new favourite way to make eggs.,, with the onions and garlic in the same pan !  Mmmm gotta love Free range eggs ! 

    Another favourite of mine, Bacon ,Egg and Chips!! Mmm
    Yeah!! April is done!! Hahahahaha I hope you all have enjoyed this post . As always , all feedback is welcomed.  Have a great day  :))
    Happy Eating
    Rich

    Starting My Garden Early 2

    Well, I have so much to say , and show you .. That I dont even know where to start really . After having taken pretty much the whole month of May off , to get life sorted , and my garden growing . I'm happy to report both are now on track again lol . ( I hope!! hahaha )   So where did I leave off ??  Hmmm wow , for gardening it was 5 weeks ago . So that is where Ill pick back up again .  

    These are always the first flowers in my garden :))  I planted them years ago ... lol always lets me know when spring has arrived.  

    The mystery seeds turned out to be cucumber :)) 

    Peas are great to start inside or direct seed,  I did a bit of both .  This did give these ones a 4 week head start though . 

    My tomatoes,  I think these are the sweetie ones.. either way : Important note... these are getting to leggy already , they needed to be closer to the light .  ( 7 weeks later , the few that survived are not much taller than this , but strong now )   

    The garlic I planted last fall is coming back strong!!  Mmmm 

    Romaine lettuce , direct seeded on March 28th, and covered with a cold frame .
    Note : The direct seeded Romaine did FAR better than the transplants I tried.  

    Volunteer Wild Strawberry Plant :)) Thought Id save it and see what happens.  

    Basil :)) - My little grow shelf worked great , but I did not have the plants close enough to the light for the 1st couple of weeks. Ooops 

    My first time planting corn !!  This did SO much better by starting inside... sprouted in less than a week , compared to almost 3 weeks with  direct seeding . ( Mind you , I think I tried a little too early for direct lol , even with a cold frame )

    Lots more gardening and food posts to follow !!  I do appreciate all feedback , or if you have your own tips , feel free to leave a comment on here , send me an email , or jump over to my Facebook page and join the daily fun ( links on the right side of this page :))  
    I'm glad to be back!!  It has been too long !!  
    Happy Gardening - Rich 

    How I Feel Today

    Yesterday was my daughter's 8th grade graduation. Today, I'm totally beat.

    Shitake Mushroom Bruschettas


    The beautiful month of June has arrived and before I knew it, it's more than ten days had pass and I am just writing my first blog. Recently I had a photo shoot at Geisha (the cafe where I work during weekends) with my recipes on their menu. I did the food styling and the photography out of generosity. Today, I am posting this lovely and colorful Shitake Mushroom Bruschettas to represent how colorful life can be. It's just my way of musing things and giving meaning to the food I concoct.


    Back home, June is considered as the wedding month decades ago. But through the years things have changed. Couples are detaching from the old school mindset of choosing to get married on the month of June. So to speak, December to February is now the popular choice because of the cold weather. April also climbs the chart because of the summer heat and the beach wedding theme. A lot of people are now breaking the traditional rules of the boring and repetitive ways of executing a wedding occasion. Every couple just wants to be different. And in the future I would assume I am not an exception.


    Autumn. Probably my most favorite season of the year. I like the turning of leaves into tangerine and the falling from the branch of trees. And look how lovely the Autumn flowers are? Thanks to OnceWed for the photos here. It serves as my daily inspiration on how to see my matrimonial event as simple, exclusive yet colorful in an opaque or subdued tones.

    To every woman, wedding day is a fairytale but for me it's not. I don't even want anyone to witness how I exchange my I DO's except for the priest or who ever will conduct the ceremony and that's it. It's the solemnity and exclusivity that matters to me. Many people ask me why? Don't you want us to see you walk down the aisle? I don't know what to say. Maybe because half of my life I had this inferiority with the crowd. I hate to deal with so many people. Even with friends I am most likely happy to deal with just one constant companion. I always like intimate bonding than a group of crap.


    This appetizer called bruschetta hails from Italy and it is my all-time favorite appetizer. Have you heard of Torino, Puglia, Positano, Siena, Verona, Amalfi coast, Cinque Terre and Fiesole? These are some off-beaten paths that I am currently eyeing to visit as I go to Italy this September for quite a long period of time. I am excited to bask under the Tuscan Sun and feel the breeze of the wind during Autumn. I would love to have the Italian cuddle once more. More to speak, I miss everything about Firenze. They say our fate is a fair share of what is destined for us which we are not in control of and half is something we have to put our actions. For me fate is like Newton's third law of motion. In every action there is an equal or opposite reaction. So I am taking a big leap and risk whatever my palm is holding right now to seize the moment where life and fate takes me. I always wanted to break my routine and as much as possible I risk eloping from the ordinary life. I believe life is colorful and I hold the responsibility to choose the color palette I want. Whatever is bound for me in Italy, I know my heart will be happy to discover whatever it is.

    In the meantime, I still love the world of advertising as I exert my creative juices on a daily basis. In a few days I am off to fly to Bangkok again for a photo shoot.

    big hug,
    joanie xxx