Welcome to the Jungle (New York part 2)

Wow, what a crazy weekend to "decide" to go home from San Francisco. This weekend, a ton of friends are having fun in San Francisco, making me totally jealous (but, can you believe I have yet another post to write on San Francisco in the future? One of my favorite places, ever). As my plane approached Manila, the pilot said, "the weather is... not great," and no shit. A typhoon submerged part of my country's capital- the greatest flood to hit it in maybe 42 years. My family and my home are unscathed, thank God, but there'll be a lot of rescue/relief work going on.

Anyway, as promised, here is my post about my trip to New York from earlier this year (part 1 of my New York trip is here). Above is the tourist trap, Times Square. I didn't spend a lot of time here except for the now-closed Virgin megastore (I don't recall buying anything, either).

Read the rest of this post! »

Almond Tofu and Fresh Fruit Cocktail

I am currently in the midst of one of those thoroughly enjoyable e-mail conversations that, thanks to the magic of GMail, is smartly compressed into a single space in my inbox instead of filling up pages of Re: Re: ad nauseam. My friend Duncan asked me if I suffered from "a question-started-must-answer-fully-OCD type of thing, or an irrepressible-helper-syndrome-OCD type thing." Which I'm not sure are really things, but leave it to him to make up the names :) The truth is, I don't consider it very much of a big deal to answer some of the day-to-day questions and favors I encounter, and usually gratitude is forthcoming. Rarely it isn't, and if they're strangers I quickly file those people under "dead to me."

I have to admit, though, that people (me included) usually sneer at the "people pleaser" which is the actual thing you might call me, probably because it can be so easily equated with negative things like "doormat," "kiss-ass," "ass-whipped," "spineless," etc. If you'll excuse me for going unnecessarily (?) on the defensive, I have a spine, thank you very much. Maybe I just want others to keep believing that there are still good samaritans out there, though I will say that the things I usually do for other people are nowhere in the league of some amazingly kind souls out there. Anyway, it reminds me of that episode of Ed where he was sued for breaking a man's thumb while he was pulling him out of a burning car. In Ed's defense, his counsel Frankie said that if they punished him for stopping to commit an act of kindness, he might "stop stopping."

What does this have to do with almond tofu, or the Beatles? Nothing at all. In any case, most food bloggers don't come up short in the generosity and gratitude departments anyway, I just wanted to put my thoughts out there (again). Here's hoping that those kind souls out there never stop stopping to help.

Experimenting with another background. Even if the white one was easier to do, I still liked it better.
The sad fact is, though, that I am really one of those people who can't sleep when he's not in good terms with someone, unless they have joined said "dead to me" list. Oh well, I hope that doesn't detract from my message, heh :)

When Graeme told me he was thinking of photographing Origami figures for his project, it reminded me of a few models I was hoping to finish, and maybe photograph myself. The one above is an Anemone flower-- I have a few more, but I'm saving them for a future post.

I also decided to compile all the digital piano recordings I was making onto a single auxiliary site. Click here to access my music files. The newest ones are Carole King's "Home Again" and The Beatles' "For You Blue" (written by George Harrison for the Let It Be album). I'm particularly proud of "Home Again" because just yesterday I heard it while relistening to my Tapestry album when I thought it sounded nice and a little appropriate for the upcoming chapters of my life. So today I listened to it while deciphering it by ear to the piano. I'm not advanced yet to pick up the bluesy improvisations of King or Harrison but it's not bad for a few minutes' work, I think. I am also quite proud of myself for figuring out how to make an RSS feed for the music site using Feed43.com-- that was a lot of fun.

I made this a few weeks back, and it was a really good, light dessert. I might use the almond tofu base for something else in the near future. It's from The Sweet Spot, which was given to me by my irrepressible friend Allen. I wish I'd used a real peach or pineapple instead of a nectarine-- I found the nectarine too soft and sweet, when I was looking for something a little more acidic.

EDIT: The name "Tofu" is a misnomer (Pichet Ong said as much)-- this dessert contains no soybean mass, only the gelled soymilk, or tau-hu. Sorry for the confusion!

Almond Tofu and Fresh Fruit Cocktail adapted from The Sweet Spot by Pichet Ong
For a dairy-free version of this dessert, use almond milk in place of the milk, or soy milk throughout. In the wintertime, kiwi fruit or pineapple may be a more acceptable substitute for stone fruit (peaches). You may also use an appropriate substitution of agar (for 3 cups liquid) in place of the gelatin if you want this to be a vegan dessert.

• 335g (1-1/2 cups) milk (can use whole, 2%, or skim milk, or almond milk)


• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin


• 335g (1-1/2 cups) unsweetened, unflavored soy milk


• 100g (1/2 cup) sugar


• 1 teaspoon almond extract


• 1/8 teaspoon salt

In a medium bowl, Sprinkle the gelatin over the milk and set aside for 10 minutes. Put the soy milk, sugar, and salt in a large saucepan and place over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved and bubbles form on the edges of the pan. Remove from heat and stir in the milk-gelatin mixture until completely dissolved. Divide between 8 serving bowls or glasses and refrigerate until set, about 3 hours. You may refrigerate them at an angle using an egg carton or rack, securing the glasses so they don't tip over.

• 210g (1 cup + 2 tablespoons) sugar


• 240g (1 cup) water


• 1/4 Asian pear, cut into 1/4-inch dice


• 8 4-inch long strips orange zest


• 16 seedless red grapes, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices (thinner if you can manage)


• 2 small peaches, pitted and cut into 1/4-inch wedges

In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the sugar and water to a boil, stirring constantly, until the syrup is clear, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add the pear and orange zest. Cool to room temperature. Add the grapes and peaches, then refrigerate until ready to serve. Divide among the serving bowls.

P.S. Jeanne, I will get to the meme someday. This post was just too long already, hee hee :)

Strawberry Shortcake

I'm feeling a little bluesy today. I began to think about the last time I undertook a real creative endeavor. I think it was high school, which is sad. That's about the time I had one sketchbook after another, filled with fair maidens, knights, monsters, forests, and seas. The latest sketchbook I have is being flipped at the slow rate of one page every 4-6 months, and it's only to sketch a face of a real person-- not very creative.

My hand also hurts a little from playing too much Guitar Hero (on a controller-- no guitar. I was thinking I can save up for a new WACOM Tablet, but what use is it if I've no ideas to bring to life, heh). Anyway, I'm really getting into the music (Heart, Cheap Trick, Foo Fighters, Kansas) and I appreciate the talent that went into each of the songs. The problem is, I'm finding my current piano playing to be bland. It's certainly not as expressive or meaningful as I want it to be. I was supposed to insert a "Strawberry Fields Forever" Piece here but it didn't cut the mustard.

I also noticed that my food photographs of late have been repetitive(ly poor). Often I have a grand idea of how the shoot should play out, but I either don't have the power to realize it as a stylist or what I see with my naked eye doesn't match the meh pictures I capture. You guys might recognize that the topmost shot is almost exactly the same as the Fraisier-- another strawberry cake-- I made. It's a shame because I'm not able to communicate the excitement I feel with regards to the food.

The fundraiser for Bri is steadily still raising money; I wish I could combine my skill in watercolors now with my vision when I was younger. Sigh. I could have contributed a really good painting for the raffle. Right now when I try to visualize something fantastic, I only see a cacophony of colors, and I'm not into making abstract art. I bought an excellent book by Shirley Trevena called Taking Risks With Watercolour; hopefully it'll be enough inspiration. Maybe someday I can produce something with a greater value than I put into it, haha :)

Strawberry Shortcake
Classic American Spongecake adapted from The Simple Art of Perfect Baking

• 100g (1 cup sifted) cake flour (I used 78g all-purpose flour and 22g cornstarch)


• 170g (1 cup minus 2 tablespoons) granulated sugar, divided in 2 (85g or 7 tbsp)


• 1 teaspoon vanilla


• 1 tablespoon sugar


• 7 large eggs at room temperature


• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 150°C (300°F). Line the bottoms only of 2 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper. Don't grease the pans.

Sift the cake flour (or combination all-purpose flour and cornstarch) if you haven't yet onto a sheet of waxed paper. Separate the eggs, placing all the whites in a stainless steel mixing bowl and the yolks in a medium-sized deep bowl. To the yolks, add 85g sugar and the vanilla. Beat at high speed for 5 minutes, when ribbons that fall from the beaters take a few seconds to dissolve on the surface. Beat the egg whites with clean beaters on low speed for 30 seconds, then add the cream of tartar and 1 tablespoon sugar. Beat at medium-high speed for 4-5 minutes, or until the whites appear velvety and stiff but not dry or granular. Pour the yolks onto the whites and sprinkle half the remaining 85g sugar onto the surface. Fold the yolks into the whites with a few strokes, then sprinkle all the remaining sugar onto the surface and fold to fully incorporate the yolks, the whites, and the sugar. Fold in the flour in 3 additions until each addition is just incorporated.

Gently pour the batter into each of the cake pans (they will each hold about 340g batter, if I recall clearly). Spin the pan around on the counter to level the top of the batter. Bake for 35-40 minutes (switching the positions of the pans halfway through baking) or until the top springs back slightly when touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (if it doesn't, you can bake it for 5 minutes longer until it does).

Invert the pans onto a cooling rack (if your pans are shallow and the cake has risen beyond the rim of the pan, support the rims only by using 8 glasses), cool for an hour, then turn the pans right-side up and cool for 30 minutes longer. To free the cake, simply hold the side of the pan in one hand and slap the side of the pan for the entire circumference; you will see that the cake will separate from the pan cleanly. Invert onto a platter then invert right-side up onto another platter. Repeat with the other cake.

Assembly

• 750g (3 cups) heavy cream, chilled


• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar


• 1-1/2 teaspoons powdered gelatin dissolved in 1 tablespoon cold water (optional)


• 200g (7-1/2 ounces) small-medium sweet strawberries, washed and hulled, 8 perfect ones reserved, and the rest sliced

Using a chilled bowl and chilled beaters, add the sugar to the cream and whip the cream until it just starts to hold stiff peaks (it will thicken further as you pipe it, so don't overdo it or it will be chunky). If using, place the gelatinized water over a double boiler or in a microwave on LOW for 10 seconds to dissolve. Fold the liquid gelatin into 1/4 cup of the cream, then return this cream to the large bowl and fold everything together. Load 1/2 cup of the cream onto a piping bag fitted with a decorative tip.

Place the fuglier cake layer on the bottom of the serving platter and spread some whipped cream on top. Pipe a dam of cream on the circumference, then fill the interior with sliced strawberries. Cover the top with more whipped cream. Place the other cake layer on top then frost all over with whipped cream, smoothing with an icing spatula. Pipe 8 rosettes of whipped cream on top, then place an inverted strawberry in each. Chill for at least 2 hours. Serve as soon as possible, especially if you did not stabilize the whipped cream with gelatin.

San Francisco Part 2

The staggering amount of input I received about San Francisco was a great help to me, so I want to say thanks again to everyone. However, I wasn't able to go to them all-- most disappointingly Yasukochi Sweet Shop and Tartine Bakery (from which the chefs garnered IACP nominations as Pastry Chefs of the year). Yasukochi was on the same street as my hotel, but several kilometers away-- all the way in Japantown, which I soon discovered was a LONG ride. But I can get the Tartine cookbook when I want to-- dessert is easy ("a piece of piss" as I sometimes say). I'm sure I can reproduce them. Now, before I get to the rest of my insane musings on San Francisco, I'll start with one of my favorite places I visited:



The Ferry Building Marketplace.

I didn't catch it in the morning, as I hear from my good buddy Allen (who is the genius who suggested this place, along with Todd and Diane) is the time farmers sell their goods. But I wasn't disappointed. Inside were some of the most unique shops I've seen in my life: a shop selling only mushrooms ("Now I've seen everything!" - Marge Simpson), one that sells different kinds of olive oil, Culinaire (an antique kitchenware shop), and a shop that has all the rare ingredients one could ever want. That's probably the closest I've ever gotten to a real truffle (as I'm not even sure I ate one at Cesario's). If you ever want to spend $80 for the ingredients to put together a single meal, this is the place for you, heh.


The Village Market, and a bag of amazing colored pasta ($20, WTF). I saw vanilla powder, Alfajores, all the grains I told my blogging friends I've never seen before (Farro, Quinoa), and insane pasta shapes. I'd say something really crass/ orgasmic/ TMI about the whole experience, but I don't want you to delete your bookmark to No Special Effects (I'm hoping you have one).

The Gardener-- homemade housewares, soaps, etc. Why did I not get stuff from here? Oh yeah, the money and luggage space thing.

Scharffen Berger chocolate shop. I didn't get a 2kg block of chocolate because that would add 2kg to my luggage. For another time, I guess. My brother got a "Bitter Sweet" shirt. I wanted to get the "Extra Bitter" but I didn't because 1) it's kind of an oblique reference to most, and I hate having to explain it constantly, 2) the double-meaning doesn't work for me, and 3) I don't want to have matching shirts as my brother.

The display at the only pastry shop within, Miette. Very cute items, nothing too fancy, very American fare. Didn't order, though.

Recchiuto-- I'm not recalling very clearly but I think this is the olive oil and wine place.

The Market Café. I didn't get anything (though my family did) as I didn't want to lose gawking time.

We took a hop-on-hop-off tour bus ($28, good for 2 days, good value) that hit several key stops all over San Francisco. There is another company that also offers the service that doesn't go through the Golden Gate bridge, but goes through Nob Hill, Chinatown, and North Beach. Most of you are probably thinking the second company is the clear winner but we weren't aware of the difference when we boarded the bus. Oh Well. At least we get to see Golden Gate Park. Above is one of my clumsy attempts to capture it.

At the park: The COnservatory of Flowers. $5 to enter, but I was pressed for time so I didn't. My Plant Taxonomy professor would probably strangle me for that.

Also at the park: The entrance to the AIDS Memorial Grove. Lovely place. I approached a sign that I thought would be a tribute to someone but it turns out it was just a sign telling dog owners to pick up after their pets. Hahaha.

When I was walking along the quiet path of the park, a random cyclist smiled and said "Hi." I was taken aback as nobody does this in the Philippines, regardless of the (I admit, superficial) boasting about our hospitality. That is just shockingly friendly to me, but I was able to hide my amazement and return the smile. Now, some other things I don't see at home:
1. So many pets and good owners. There are lots of stray dogs here instead. And nobody here pressures you to pick up their poop (not that our streets are littered with them). I saw a pet barber shop, pet hotel, and most puzzlingly of all, a pet bakery. WTF indeed. I hope they are baking treats for pets and not pets as treats.
2. Gay couples holding hands. Actually I think public displays of affection as a whole are more prevalent in the States. There's this girl I saw who would agree with me, but she can't speak because her boyfriend's probably still Frenching her.
3. Homeless people with signs talking about their situation. Some of the few incredibly sad ones I saw was a man who had cancer and was abandoned, and a woman who had AIDS and had children to feed. Now, I have no idea if any of it was true. Beggars here? MOSTLY CHILDREN.
4. People jogging everywhere, even downtown, in the middle of the day. The only person who does that here is me.
5. Electronic assisted mobility devices. Manila is just not a great place for the disabled. Each sidewalk I saw in the States had an incline on both sides of a corner. Very considerate design all around.
6. Blond eyelashes and blond beards. I'm starting to think they have magical powers.

Anyway. Back to the trip. Here are a few more sights around San Francisco:

The Sentinel Building-- oxidized copper gives it a characteristic color.


Jean Dubuffet's "La Chiffonniere" at the Embarcadero Plaza near the Ferry Building (that's my cousin Kyle hiding under it), and a few meters away, the Vaillancourt Fountain.

Keith Haring's sculpture at the Moscone center. I planned on paying a visit to the Yerba Buena ice skating rink to stock up on goods but it was closed.

Union Square

Maiden Lane in Union Square, where my favorite Sur La Table is located.

Inside St. Patrick's Church, where we heard mass.

We went to Stanford, and I was really blown away by the beauty of the campus. I'm sure many of you will say that it doesn't even come close to your campus, but believe me, the University of the Philippines is not well taken care of. At least it has trees. Grr.

Hoover Tower through the trees. (Eat your heart out, Graeme. Oh, who am I kidding, my pictures still suck compared to yours.)

A bench! I don't even think we have a spot this pretty where I studied.





Inside the Cantor Center for Arts. You can see their current exhibition of Makishi (African mask art), British photography (not pictured), and the ever-present sculptures of Rodin. There's two "Thinkers" in the picture. Can you spot them both? By the way, you don't see students lounging in our museums either, which I think is a shame.

Finally, on our last night in the States, we ate at Plouf. Here you can see Belden Lane where it's located, where several restaurants are lined up offering a different country's Cuisine each. We ate with my dad's first cousins and their families. I got to meet my adorable cousins Kyle (6) and Brittany (11). I managed to tie with Kyle on my first try at Wii Bowling. He was pretty shocked (come on, he's 6), but we had a lot of fun.

Along with communal mussels, I had this phenomenal plate of potato-wrapped scallops one a bed of fennel and cucumber. It is definitely something to attempt at home.

My brother had the special-- a rack of lamb.

Kyle wanted me to take a picture of his chocolate fondue.

For dessert, I had a Passionfruit Vacherin (I mispronounced it, because I am an idiot) with Grand Marnier Jelly. It's my first Vacherin despite the fact that I have two dessert cookbooks with several recipes, because I didn't find meringue with cream inside too appealing. Wrong. This particular dessert was extremely delicious (don't mind the stray raspberry-- my brother dumped the berry on his creme brulee on my dessert) and I will definitely start making my own vacherins at home (which is great, because you don't see it a lot on the blogosphere either).

That's a condensed version of my San Francisco experience. I wasn't able to write about my awesome shopping experience at Bristol Farms (a grocery at the basement of Westfield), my several false alarms thinking I saw my one of my blog friends (seriously, Allen, how many bespectacled ash-blond men could there be in SF? Answer: several-- also thought I might see Marvin, or Todd and Diane), my failed search for a banh mi, etc. But that's why there's always a next time if you make an opportunity.

Next update: VEGAS, baby!

Winter, Winslet, and Being Worthy of Drool

Allen of Eating out Loud recently impressed me with his many talents, and it got me thinking about the last time I did anything crafty that didn't involve food. Sure, I got a design job again (will post about it sometime soon, when it's public), but it's been a while since I did some serious sketching. So I picked up my pencil and searched Google Images for pictures of one of my favorite (if not my absolute favorite) actress Kate Winslet (and boy, my girl is NOT too shy to show off her goods). I didn't use a transfer or grid, I just did the stare-at-computer-screen-sketch-on-paper method, so some proportions may be a bit off. I love the freedom anyway.

(Click to enlarge. If you like what you see, please check out my other sketches. You can also ask for a huge scan if you really like it.)
Er, what do you think? I hope I captured some of her essential features (full lips, great nose, chinniness). I knew of her since Titanic, but lordy did I hate that movie. I really took notice when she was in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which was enough goodwill to erase Titanic and even gave me the strength to sit through the big, honking chick-flick that is The Holiday (I mean, seriously, she's the only reason to watch that movie). Some of my other favorite actresses include Gillian Anderson (also weirdly chinny, not to mention she also has an English accent) and Ellen Page (and all of this is out of X-Men 3, I kid you not). It's a little difficult for me since I don't watch many movies and my other favorites have a nasty habit of signing up for horrible, boring projects (Uma Thurman, Meg Ryan).

Speaking of Ellen Page, Entertainment Tonight recently featured the cover of the new Vanity Fair Hollywood issue, featuring: "Anne Hathaway... Jessica Biel... Juno..." Excuse me? Her name is not Juno. It is Ellen Page. Morons.

Anyway. I was hoping to get this out before the ice melts:

Click here to listen to a digital recording of me playing Tori Amos's "Winter."
It's a song about a father's lesson to his daughter about learning to love yourself. I sang it and played solo piano for the graduation ceremonies of Class 2006 of UP Diliman Biology Majors (year above mine). I thought it was apt. My adorable friend Arnel told me once I'd finished, "So Manggy, when you gonna make up your mind?" Hahaha, he funny.


I've been meaning to do this for a while, but I don't think my presence in the blog world was prominent enough to name other blogs back when Anh from Food Lover's Journey awarded me with a "Droolworthy Blog(ger) Award" back in November. I didn't know many other bloggers at the time and I have to thank Anh for her part in my progress here; her linkage and good words have certainly helped me out. The award is for food bloggers who take great photos. I thought of awarding it only to men, but that might be highjacking the award and I don't want to be an ass (maybe I'll make the manly men food blogger award in the future, who knows?). I've refrained from including some very dear people who have helped me out big-time in the aesthetics department, but they are by now multi-awarded (not to mention with this specific award already-- specifically my bro in blogland Graeme of Blood Sugar and the lovely, lovely Jen of use real butter), so I thought I'd pass it along to other great blogs I've been loving recently. I feel a little funny handing this out as I'm not a pro and I use a semi-automatic camera for goodness' sake (my older brother's Canon Powershot G7).

Eating Out Loud with Allen. How did I find this blog? He linked to me and I found out via Technorati (he hadn't even commented on this blog yet, sneaky). I visited the site out of curiosity and it turns out he has a smashing blog of his own! Even if he just recently got a DSLR, his pictures are quite droolworthy already, and they really give you a sense of the imaginative home-cooking that is his blog's signature. Really a cool guy.

Spicy Ice Cream with Lisa. I'm not a designer (I just, uh, dabble), but Lisa is the real deal-- a young, vibrant pro designer. On her downtime she likes preparing food for her family in Australia, and I like her classic taste in food and uncomplicated style of cooking.

Cooking is My Passion, Baking Is My Adventure with Thip. This is a very young blog-- we're talking a month old, here. Already you can see great things in the future for the blog of this professionally-trained chef. I love desserts (NOOOOO. REALLY.), and even if she's just starting (?) her "adventure" in baking, I feel like she's been doing this forever, what with all the fantastic pictures and all.

La Vida en Buenos Aires y Afines with Sylvia. I promise that you will be very impressed with the amount of thought and effort she puts into each of her pictures. Sylvia has that magic touch-- she can even make black pasta look like fine velvet.

Fresh From the Oven with Mandy. I don't know why bakers in Singapore all have lovely photographs. Is it something in the air? Does the government give them a camera and studio when they start up? Ha ha ha. If you love desserts, your monitor will soon be violated by your tongue constantly licking the screen when you visit Mandy's blog. Everything really does look "Fresh From the Oven."

You can visit any of the other great food/food blogger links on the right. They're all on my RSS feed aggregator. I've removed food indexing sites such as Tastespotting from my feeds, because I really have to get a move on studying for the medical licensure exams. When it's all over, I'll put it back on. However, that also means less entries for this blog (not to mention I'll be making a short trip to California next month). Priorities! :)

Ring of Fire

WARNING! Animated depictions of mature themes in the following film. Parental discretion is advised, especially since this is an animated film, children may be attracted to watching it and you will have to explain a whole lot of stuff that you are not yet prepared to explain.

"But much more, we waited for beauty to touch us from somewhere way beyond."
This is the animated short Ring of Fire from respected German animator Andreas Hykade. It was released in 1999 and won 11 international animated film awards. It's quite artistic, not in the way that word is thrown around to mean annoying and deliberately confusing, but rather it allows the viewer to discern between true beauty and what may seem attractive but really will tear your soul violently to shreds (dramatic enough for ya?). The story is thankfully straightforward. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
Part 1: (5 minutes)

Part 2: (10 minutes)

My Addiction (Okay, one of them)

I don't know when it started, but hitting the used bookstore has been more or less a weekly thing for me. Here in the Philippines, we have a few used-book and magazine chains (Booksale, Taurus, Papyvore, Back Issue, Previously Owned Books, Books On Sale Everyday). I actually receive text messages from one of them when a new shipment has come in. I think this is a parallel to those olden days (er... the 90's) when drug dealers had pagers and soon schools started to get paranoid (you probably don't remember that, younguns!). Actually, to call my bookshelves such would be a stretch, because I rarely read books as they are outside my medical textbooks. This is one of my "true" bookshelves (the other books are about Photoshop and Corel Painter). Cookbooks. You can see some of my favorites-- Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé, Cook With Jamie, How To Eat, and The Simple Art of Perfect Baking. I also have a few (ahem) graphic novels, my favorite of which is Goodbye Chunky Rice, which my brother gave me last Christmas. The others are design books, art books (Yoshitaka Amano's work is excellent, do visit an exhibit soon), and a few true books, like the Parables of Peanuts.


My shelves should be called magazineshelves. Because I have entirely too many. Here is a shelf full of magazines on my non-food passions-- digital art and design. There are even some magazines on menswear, which as you may have guessed are mostly obsolete, either by trend or by my own adoption of a personal style.

And these are my food magazines, which due to their constant multiplication and pulling in and out of shelves I decided to just leave them on a stack next to my bed. Sigh. Anyway, I'm glad they're not lumped together with "Women's Interest" magazines like they are in the UK (or just Lincoln maybe, according to Graeme) because that would piss me off enormously. They're not "Cosmo"s, people!

Short list:

• Bon Appetit - of course


• Gourmet - though Bon Appetit edges this magazine out in photographs
• Chocolatier - America's best dessert magazine
• Pastry Art and Design - America's best professional pastry magazine
• Cook's Illustrated - no-fail recipes
• Martha Stewart Living - the recipes are always suspicious but if you need inspiration for styling anything, you can rarely beat it.
• Food and Wine - very old issues. I don't read it anymore.
• Fine Cooking
• Good Food - published in the UK by BBC
• Delicious - published in Australia (voted the #1 food magazine-- it's quite good.)
• Cuisine at Home - what I like about it is that they have a short and long version of the recipe, sort of a summary to look through while cooking
• Saveur - I just got into reading this magazine. Looks good.
• Donna Hay - published in Australia by their own Domestic Goddess
• Food and Travel - two very good things put together!
• The Baker's Companion - produced by King Arthur Flour
• Everyday Food - also by Martha Stewart. Recipes are dubious, again.

Design Magazines:

• Print - my favorite non-food magazine. Lots of inspiration for print material.
• HOW - good but edged out by Print (weirdly its sister magazine)
• Creative Review - another stellar magazine from the UK, one of my favorites.
• Grafik - an extra-large, excellent design magazine
• Baseline - too large to fit anywhere.
• Eye - excellent British design magazine with lots of commentary
• Communication Arts - intelligent articles but too little inspiration for me.
• CMYK - a showcase of student work in advertising, photography, and illustration
• Design Graphics - Australian instructional magazine
• Lino - Australian design magazine
• I.D. - International Design, NOT the fashion magazine (that's i-D)
• Digit - British digital design magazine. Comes with a free CD each issue.
• Icon
• Design Week
• Publish RGB

Art Magazines

• Digital Camera World - lots of fun to leaf through, also plenty of instruction
• Digital Photo Pro - here is where I quote my good friend Charisse. "Feeling," she'd say (Filipino-speak, as in feeling like a photographer when you're really not.)
• American Artist
• The Artist's Magazine - comes with instruction. Yay
• Artist's Sketchbook
• Watercolor Magic
• Art in America (I don't seem to see any non-American art magazines, hmmm)

Computer Magazines

• Computer Arts and Computer Arts Projects - my favorite instructional magazine for digital design. Lots of inspiration.
• Photoshop Creative - holds your hand too much throughout the teaching process, but a lot of fun.
• ImagineFX - digital fantasy painting magazine
• Corel Painter - a new magazine, looks promising. (Kind of too much like ImagineFX)
• Photoshop User - official magazine of the NAPP. Best Photoshop magazine out there.
• Advanced Photoshop - not as good as I thought it would be.
• Layers (formerly Mac Design, which I also have)

Miscellaneous Magazines

• Cargo - a defunct menswear magazine
• Men's Vogue - replaced Cargo.... eh
• Details
• Vanity Fair - the best reason to own this magazine is the absolutely stunning photographs inside.

Soooo..... Anybody have a bigger selection? :)

Baby You're Mine

The first artist (musically) I was really interested in as a kid was Polish singer Basia. Atypical, I know. Regardless, it was the late 80's and there were just not a lot that resonated with me (Johnny Hates Jazz? Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark? Madonna? Debbie Gibson?), even if I was in sync with the radio. And I certainly can't explain why I love Basia's music even to this day despite the fact that I find new "Bossa" acts nauseating and affected. I think most of it has to do with her genius writing partner, Peter White. They came out with really good songs (which I knew all the lyrics to despite not knowing what they were at the time), and age has given me only a greater appreciation for them. Especially now that other artists have come up with ghastly covers for "Reward" and "Time and Tide." Yecch.

Click here to listen to a digital recording of me playing "Baby You're Mine." I'm not going to say my playing does justice to it. Notice that I hired my synthetic drummer to do the beat. :) There's not a real piano solo to speak of, because I'm not a jazz pianist (nor a real pianist by any stretch of the imagination), and I don't know how to improv something that sounds good (I could have cheated and layered the track, but I didn't want to pretend to be a better pianist than I am).

Unfortunately I don't have an upload of the original track, nor do I have a Youtube video for it, and I don't want to break copyright laws by providing one. So I give you another "type" song by Basia instead. (Video: "Astrud." Wow, this looks ancient.)

Medical School According to Peanuts

(Click on the image if you can't see all of it.)
There are two comic strips that are untouchable in my book: Calvin and Hobbes and Peanuts. Calvin and Hobbes is excellent because it depicts childhood and imagination as it is, while Peanuts is brilliant because it depicts adult behavior and philosophy through the actions of a cast of unforgettable children. (You can even teach Christian philosophy with it.) I have a few more wallowing in my collection, but for now, I'll give you Lucy experiencing the harsh reality of medical school. So true, Lucy... So true.

Bridging the Gap: From Concept to Final Work Series 3

Despite a few hiccups, I have to say that Vienna left yet another deeply artistic mark in me (soooo... I'm adding it to a list with London, Venice, Prague, Florence and Brussels), probably because of the pervasively enshrined Art Nouveau movement of the early 1900's. Gustav Klimt is the most prominent artist I could see there. I've seen "The Kiss" before, but seeing it printed on little notepads and t-shirts made me appreciate the beauty of the original work. I probably couldn't wait to exercise its influence on me for the first poster I made for the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at PGH.

The Three Ages of Woman by Gustav Klimt.
My brother has a copy of Taschen's inexpensive books on Klimt's works. I really tried to study what makes Klimt's technique unique-- including his love for the detail of textiles. Close-up, I have to admit they looked like a cacophony, but from afar the effect seemed orchestrated. Women were dominant figures in his paintings, so it seemed like a good match for the subject.

Unfortunately, I threw out my old sketches and early paintings for this project, I think (it may be somewhere on my hard drives, but I can't find it). But since the subject was bridging tradition and modern practice, the intricately woven Ilocos blankets of my childhood seemed like the perfect textile for this application. I scanned two of them and they became the basis for her gown.

Here is the finished painting, before it was crowded by too many details (like the organizations, venues, blah blah blah):