I've been reading Slashfood for awhile now, and they recently mentioned they have a Flickr Group and would be choosing a "Photo of the Day" from it. So I submitted my weekend dinner photo, and lo and behold it was chosen! Ela pointed out to me later that they linked my name to Junkheap, so I thought I'd mention it :)
Recently I've had a food related ideas that would result in content for this blog, but I don't want to commit to anything because I'm inherently lazy and might not get around to it for awhile! Still, if you're here from Slashfood, add me to your RSS reader! I can sit there idling until I get around to doing some food content!
Posted by Marcin on
15/01/2008 @ 18:57 +1100
2 comments |
Tags: food, food porn
I watched Minority Report again after recently re-reading the original short story. The movie isn't that great anyway, but my major problem with it is that after he is on the run John Anderton (Tom Cruise's character) uses his eyes to get back into Precrime, and even near the end when he is incarcerated his wife uses his eyes to get into the containment facility.
Heck, at my old job when I applied for a new security card, because my existing one was physically damaged and I couldn't attach it to my retractable card thingie, the one I had was disabled before they gave me my new one. You're telling me a law enforcement agency wouldn't revoke someone's access to everything as soon as they were wanted?
Posted by Marcin on
06/01/2008 @ 18:13 +1100
0 comments |
Tags: movies
Before I get into it, I'd never bothered to check until now but it appears that calamari is Italian for squid, but defined as the "culinary name when squid is prepared as food". It gets used on menus because it sounds "nicer".
Something that's always gotten my goat has been the fact that calamari in restaurants is treated the same as prawns when it comes to pricing. You pay $15 (or something) for a "salt and pepper calamari" dish and end up with 6 pieces of calamari - WTF Mate?
Here's the skinny - I live near the Sydney Fish Market so eat a reasonable amount of seafood. Calamari costs about $7/kg in "squid tubes", with about 3 or 4 squid tubes (about $5-6 worth) you can make a big bowl of salt and pepper calamari. In my recipe for Salt and Pepper Squid I used (from distant memory) 1 or 2 squid tubes and ended up with way more than you'd get in a restaurant. So the average serving of Salt and Pepper Calamari in a restaurant probably has 50c to a dollar worth of squid in it.
Now to compare, green (ie. uncooked) prawns run to about $20/kg for medium sized ones, so it's slightly more understandable that restaurants are a bit more stingy with them. Even so, you sometimes get 6 prawns for $15 with a few veggies and a sauce, which is probably about $3 worth of prawn.
.. and all this is with retail prices, restaurants are probably getting it a whole lot cheaper wholesale.
I don't mind paying $15 for Salt & Pepper Calamari - just give me a decent amount of squid in it!!
Posted by Marcin on
04/01/2008 @ 13:18 +1100
Tags: food, seafood
So I realised Friday I should get a remote release for my camera for a planned photo shoot on the weekend. I found a place that had it in stock for a reasonable price, Vanbar in Camperdown. After I rang to confirm the release was in stock I noticed on their online catalog they have the macro lens I want, also at a reasonable price ($680).
When I was in the store this morning picking up my release I checked and they had one Nikon mount lens left, in their Melbourne store. Long story short, I should be picking up my macro lens next Saturday! Bit more expensive than the other quote I had, but I know they have it, and they're also putting the release on the same invoice for when I go overseas.
Hopefully the saga is all but over!! Vanbar! Vanbar!
Posted by Marcin on
30/06/2007 @ 14:47 +1000
Tags: photography, macro
I've always been interested in macro photography. This kind of photo is good inspiration, even though I know with any reasonably priced equipment (for a hobby) I wouldn't be able to replicate it. So since I got my Nikon D80 I've been interested in getting a 1:1 reproduction (ie. macro) lens.
I didn't want to spend a ridiculous amount of money (eg. on the Nikkor 105mm Macro - about $1,200), so I settled on a third party lens I want - the Tokina AT-X 100 Pro D f/2.8. It gets good reviews and is reasonably priced (around AU$700-$800 retail).
And so the saga begins..
Continue reading Someone doesn't want me to shoot macro
Posted by Marcin on
29/06/2007 @ 08:44 +1000
Tags: photography, macro
If you've got one of these...
Cosina 28-300mm f/4-6.3
...and you'd like to halve your minimum focus range, to get an effect like this...
... then read all about modifying a Cosina 28-300mm lens for close-focus...
Continue reading Close Focus Lens Mod
Posted by Andrew on
17/06/2007 @ 05:25 +1000
I just discovered if you leave the Firebug window open when you do a "Print Preview" you'll be able to use Firebug to look at your print DOM/CSS! The "Inspect" picker doesn't work, but you can at least browse through the DOM and find where errant padding etc is coming from in your print stylesheet. Hella useful.
How did we ever manage do this job without Firebug? (Rhetorical question, but answer is: a lot slower)
Posted by Marcin on
29/03/2007 @ 15:21 +1000
Tags: firebug, development
Well, the ride this morning was MUCH more pleasant! I took it easy in the city, and this time when I got to the north end of the Harbour Bridge I didn't feel like I was going to die! Great Success! I pushed slowly but steadily up the Pacific Highway, then up Walker Street. There's a big hill at the end of Walker Street as you approach St Leonards Park, but there's a bit of a dip before that - so I accelerated hard (top speed - 34.2kmh according to GPS) which gave me enough momentum to get up the first steep part of the hill. I did end up pushing the bike up the rest of the hill, like I said - I wasn't going to overdo it. After that I went through St Leonards Park, crossed at the crossings on Falcon Street (across the freeway), then ducked down the first part of Bent Street, got some momentum for the hilly part of Yeo Street, and I was at work!
I think I'll stick to this route. It's not worth going over the overpass to Winter Ave from the top of Walker Street as it means you lose altitude down the overpass and stairs, and then have to go up two hills (Bent Street and Yeo Street) - I much prefer to use the hill at the start of Bent Street to gain momentum for Yeo. I'm sure it's faster too even though it's further. As I get fitter the hills will get easier and I'll cut time there. Can't complain at the moment, took me 35 minutes which is roughly the same as it does to walk / bus, and I got my cardio in at the same time! My goal is to do it in 20 minutes - but I think that's still a ways off!!
Posted by Marcin on
29/03/2007 @ 08:01 +1000
Tags: blog, cycling
Well, going home was a lot easier. I actually didn't feel too tired when I got home. I did discover that most of the way home is downhill, hence most of the way this morning was uphill. For example I noticed as I was almost at the main part of the bridge deck on the cycleway that the bridge is actually relatively flat from halfway north, and goes "downhill" from the middle south. The route I took was: Yeo Street, Bent Street, Winter Ave, Alfred Street (very briefly), footbridge, Ridge Street, Walker Street, some lane, Middlemiss Street, Alfred Street, Harbour Bridge, Kent Street, Erskine Street, Sussex Street, Pyrmont Bridge, Pyrmont Bridge Road.
So now I have to work out how to do it when I next ride in (probably skip tomorrow and ride Thursday). Most likely I'll do the route I took home in reverse, except I think I'll have to push my bike up that really steep bit of Walker Street. Maybe I'll see if Miller Street is any better - it's definitely uphill but might be a lower gradient for longer.
Walker Street downhill was fun! I was riding the brakes, I'm still getting my confidence back after not riding for 10 years, and according to my GPS still got up to 42km/h. Technically that's speeding since it's a 40 zone :) Most of the way I was doing around 20km/h, on the Harbour Bridge etc.
More updates next time I ride!
Posted by Marcin on
27/03/2007 @ 18:35 +1000
Tags: blog, cycling
Cycle Commuting: Day One (Part One)
Oh crap, what have I gotten myself into? Day One was not so fun, it wasn't any faster than catching the bus and I walked my bike up one of the steep parts in Neutral Bay. Actually it's not even over yet, because I'm at work and still have to get home! It's a combination of not having a huge amount of riding fitness (even though I have decent cardio fitness), a bit of stress due to it being the first time I've ridden in the city, and pushing it a bit hard during the first "easier" part and not leaving myself enough for the hills.
My new toy.
I'll see how I go on the way home, I'll take it a bit easier for sure (especially since the first part is all downhill to the water at Neutral Bay, but then there's a big hill up to Milsons Point). I think at this stage, until I get a bit fitter, I'll stick to every second day to ride in too.
Posted by Marcin on
27/03/2007 @ 08:33 +1000
Tags: blog, work, cycling