Another in my ongoing series of iPhone photos of tunnels. This in the Sumner connecting Logan Airport to Boston.
Another in my ongoing series of iPhone photos of tunnels. This in the Sumner connecting Logan Airport to Boston.
Pyramid Valley Vineyards (Central Otago, NZ) and Williams-Selyem (Sonoma Coast) with dinner at Restaurant L'Atelier in Montreal
This is a belated update on a great dinner I recently had in Montreal with wonderful wine and company. I was returning for a day with colleagues and we had agreed I would bring some wine and my Montreal colleagues would pick the restaurant. They did a great job (thanks Nath). We met for dinner at Restaurant L'Atelier and it was excellent. Our server was enthusiastic, helpful and knowledgeable (doing her best for those of us who were French challenged) and the food was delicious. Poutine is a Montreal comfort food traditionally consisting of French Fries with cheese curd and brown gravy. I had L'Atelier's upscale version as an appetizer, and it was French Fries with aged cheddar, confit of rabbit and brown gravy over fresh cut fries. It would have been enough dinner on it's own. For the main course I had seared duck breast and for dessert a nougat. Nougat was new to me, sort of whipped cream or gelatin (I am not sure which) with chocolate chips and candied fruit mixed in. It was great with espresso and would have been even better with a little grappa. Excellent rich food, not subtle and not for the dieter or vegetarian. I brought two wines. We had a New Zealand Pinot Noir first. The Pyramid Valley was dark and concentrated and would have benefited either with more bottle age, or decanting. It was good from the beginning, but the last few sips had really opened up and were far better than the first pours. We learned our lesson and decanted the Williams-Selyem because I expected it to also be a rich wine. Whether from the decanting or just the wine itself, it was more of a 'wow' from the first glass. A strong dried fruit base with a lot of aromatics in the nose. I know Sonoma Cost is high on the Pinot hype scale right now, but the wines I have had from that area have been amazing. I certainly think L'Atelier is worth another visit, and I want to try a more typical downscale poutine next time I am in Montreal, though maybe with another good wine.
Via iPad
These are two long strings of kites with a big wing at the top. They are anchored in the sand and the smaller kites are hung off string holding the big bat wing at the top. Processed in Plastic Bullet and Photogene.
Via iPad
Kites Over the Beach - Rehoboth, Delaware
These are two long strings of kites with a big wing at the top. They are anchored in the sand and the smaller kites are hung off string holding the big bat wing at the top. Processed in Plastic Bullet and Photogene.
Via iPad
> Will and I went to see One Man LOTR tonight at Woolly Mammoth in DC. This was a performance by Charles Ross who also developed and performed One Man Star Wars (which we have also seen). > > While I would say it was amazingly creative and well performed, I think Star Wars lent itself better to the 'one man' hour long format. LOTR is a much more complicated story, with many more characters, plot threads and nuance. This performance was developed from the movies, and if you had not seen the movies - multiple times - it would have been hard to follow. > > In fact, Charles Ross asked for a show of hands of people who had seen the movie and/or read the books, then those who had done neither. About six people had neither read the books nor seen the movies. He was a bit incredulous and kept poking fun at them for even coming to the show.
> > Overall Will and I enjoyed it, I think Will more so given his superior memory for the movies. >
>
One Man Lord of the Rings - Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
> Will and I went to see One Man LOTR tonight at Woolly Mammoth in DC. This was a performance by Charles Ross who also developed and performed One Man Star Wars (which we have also seen). > > While I would say it was amazingly creative and well performed, I think Star Wars lent itself better to the 'one man' hour long format. LOTR is a much more complicated story, with many more characters, plot threads and nuance. This performance was developed from the movies, and if you had not seen the movies - multiple times - it would have been hard to follow. > > In fact, Charles Ross asked for a show of hands of people who had seen the movie and/or read the books, then those who had done neither. About six people had neither read the books nor seen the movies. He was a bit incredulous and kept poking fun at them for even coming to the show.
> > Overall Will and I enjoyed it, I think Will more so given his superior memory for the movies. >
>
Eva is much more enthusiastic about swimming this summer than she has been in the recent past. She is also learning to dive, and we saw great improvement even in just the couple of days we visited. She did very well diving off the side of the dock, and even went off the 1 meter diving board (which looks more like 4 - 5 feet off water).
Via iPad
Eva Learning to Dive at Arcadia
Eva is much more enthusiastic about swimming this summer than she has been in the recent past. She is also learning to dive, and we saw great improvement even in just the couple of days we visited. She did very well diving off the side of the dock, and even went off the 1 meter diving board (which looks more like 4 - 5 feet off water).
Via iPad
We were visiting Eva this weekend at Arcadia in Casco, Maine. We stayed near Portland and made it into the city for breakfast on Saturday. Two years ago we randomly discovered Hot Suppa! and were instantly addicted. We have since discovered that it is deservedly a foodie institution.
I would not expect great biscuits and gravy north of Virginia, but Hot Suppa! has them. Also (of course) blueberry pancakes, great omelets and the signature corn beef hash with eggs. Currently they are only open for breakfast and lunch, but after some renovation in August they will be opening for dinner in September. It is definitely worth a detour if you are near Portland.
We drove up to Portland from Logan Airport, and stopped for lunch at Giuseppe's in Newburyport, just off 95N. It should be in any guide to 'just off 95' restaurants. Any trip to New England requires seeking out local pizza and subs, Giuseppe's exceeded expectations. We split an Italian sausage sub that tasted fresh and homemade from the bun to the sauce to the sausage.
Via iPad
Best. Breakfast. Hot Suppa! - Portland, Maine
We were visiting Eva this weekend at Arcadia in Casco, Maine. We stayed near Portland and made it into the city for breakfast on Saturday. Two years ago we randomly discovered Hot Suppa! and were instantly addicted. We have since discovered that it is deservedly a foodie institution.
I would not expect great biscuits and gravy north of Virginia, but Hot Suppa! has them. Also (of course) blueberry pancakes, great omelets and the signature corn beef hash with eggs. Currently they are only open for breakfast and lunch, but after some renovation in August they will be opening for dinner in September. It is definitely worth a detour if you are near Portland.
We drove up to Portland from Logan Airport, and stopped for lunch at Giuseppe's in Newburyport, just off 95N. It should be in any guide to 'just off 95' restaurants. Any trip to New England requires seeking out local pizza and subs, Giuseppe's exceeded expectations. We split an Italian sausage sub that tasted fresh and homemade from the bun to the sauce to the sausage.
Via iPad
Cathleen and I visited Eva at camp this weekend and saw her in many of her activities. She was justifiably proud of her progress in swimming and diving, but reserved her greatest passion for riding. She did not do quite as well as she had hoped, but she looked great to me and much improved from last year. Her confidence and poise on her horse was noticeably better than when I have seen her ride before.
Via iPad
Eva Riding at Arcadia
Cathleen and I visited Eva at camp this weekend and saw her in many of her activities. She was justifiably proud of her progress in swimming and diving, but reserved her greatest passion for riding. She did not do quite as well as she had hoped, but she looked great to me and much improved from last year. Her confidence and poise on her horse was noticeably better than when I have seen her ride before.
Via iPad
Lyra loves to help cook, and cinnamon rolls are a special favorite both for eating and helping. Lyra gets to mix the cinnamon brown sugar filling and then scrape the leftover filling off the pastry cloth and eat it. She enjoys kneading the dough, although she gets annoyed about it sticking to her hands (as do I).
Via iPad
Lyra - Master Baker
Lyra loves to help cook, and cinnamon rolls are a special favorite both for eating and helping. Lyra gets to mix the cinnamon brown sugar filling and then scrape the leftover filling off the pastry cloth and eat it. She enjoys kneading the dough, although she gets annoyed about it sticking to her hands (as do I).
Via iPad
No trip to the Alexandria Farmers Market is complete without fresh squeezed orange juice from Fresh Joseph. He also sells great fresh mozzarella and bread, but the juice is the best, and all hand pressed.
We are having a discussion about whether the farmers in farmers market is plural or possessive (or both). I can make an argument either way.
Cath wanted me to try and Photoshop out the rope running top to bottom through this photo. I decided that was in the 'too hard' category.
Fresh Joseph's - Alexandria Farmers Market
No trip to the Alexandria Farmers Market is complete without fresh squeezed orange juice from Fresh Joseph. He also sells great fresh mozzarella and bread, but the juice is the best, and all hand pressed.
We are having a discussion about whether the farmers in farmers market is plural or possessive (or both). I can make an argument either way.
Cath wanted me to try and Photoshop out the rope running top to bottom through this photo. I decided that was in the 'too hard' category.
Alexandria, VA Fireworks Photos
We attended the Alexandria fireworks last night at Oronoco Bay Park to watch the fireworks and listen to the Alexandria Symphony. We can walk to this event, which makes it a lot easier than the National Mall fireworks and they actually have vendors selling lemonade and stuff, which for some reason the Park Service does not permit at Iwo Jima where we saw the July 4th fireworks. As I suspect others will write, this was not a great year for the fireworks. For some reason the fireworks kept starting and stopping, to the point that when the music stopped for good someone came on stage and said the crowd needed to wait because the fireworks were not over yet. Fireworks should be a logical progression toward a finale, not a series of 5 - 10 minute pauses to watch planes fly by (which seemed to be the reason for the delays). We don't remember the air traffic control causing problems in the past, and if that was the reason it was not well planned for, because the choreography between the music and the fireworks was not as smooth as in prior years.
Will was generally is a bad mood, but one understandable issue that really set him off was a nearby cigar smoker. I think a letter to the city will be forthcoming about banning smoking at public events. Cigar smoke smells foul, and I can't comprehend the level of selfishness and bad manners required for someone to smoke one in a crowd, especially a crowd of mostly families with children. A number of people sitting near us were also disgusted. The smell eventually drove Will to leave early.
The constant delays and my bad choice on where to stand made photography challenging. I thought shooting over the bandstand would create some context for the photos, but it was not a good angle and the bandstand was too bright in relation to the fireworks and is over exposed. I had initially thought of shooting near the water, and that would have been the right move, except I did not figure it out soon enough. I also had my tripod packed up when the music stopped and people started to leave, and had to scramble to get it set up again when the announcer finally said the fireworks were not in fact over. I do think the last couple of photos I took over the water, while not great, were the bast of the evening. All of these photos are processed with Photogene on my iPad. It is GREAT software. It is not as powerful as Aperture (by a wide margin) but it is a lot better than 'good enough' for quick edits. I did try one of the Photogene pre configured 'effects' on an overexposed photo, and I like the result.
Via iPad
There is a plaque at Union Station in Washington honoring Amtrak employees killed on the job. This is from the bronze above the plaque.
Sent from Bill Phelps' iPhone
Amtrak Worker, Union Station, Washington
There is a plaque at Union Station in Washington honoring Amtrak employees killed on the job. This is from the bronze above the plaque.
Sent from Bill Phelps' iPhone
Washington, DC Fireworks Photos from Iwo Jima Memorial - (Set 2 of 2)
PART TWO
I posted three photos last night right after the fireworks just based on a quick review on the iPad and some edits with Photogene. This is the first half of the best dozen shots from the evening, with some mild tweaking in Aperture. I think there are a couple from this dozen that will end up on my wall.
Washington, DC Fireworks Photos from Iwo Jima Memorial - (Set 1 of 2)
I posted three photos last night right after the fireworks just based on a quick review on the iPad and some edits with Photogene. This is the first half of the best dozen shots from the evening, with some mild tweaking in Aperture. I think there are a couple from this dozen that will end up on my wall.
> This is taken at the beginning of the finale. I like the layering of the blasts, from the blurrier background to the sharp foreground, and the red streaks falling at the bottom in what looks like a bird foot pattern. >
>
Washington, DC Fireworks Photo Series - No. 3
> This is taken at the beginning of the finale. I like the layering of the blasts, from the blurrier background to the sharp foreground, and the red streaks falling at the bottom in what looks like a bird foot pattern. >
>
> This photo was taken about two thirds of the way through the fireworks display. As soon as I saw it on the camera back I knew I had a keeper. I love how you can see the rocket trails showing the launch path of the rockets carrying the fireworks. >
>
Washington, DC Fireworks Photo Series - No. 2
> This photo was taken about two thirds of the way through the fireworks display. As soon as I saw it on the camera back I knew I had a keeper. I love how you can see the rocket trails showing the launch path of the rockets carrying the fireworks. >
>
We went to watch the DC fireworks this evening at the Marine Corp War Memorial in Arlington. This is the park with the Iwo Jima Memorial and the Netherlands Carillon. All of the fireworks photos are taken from base of the Netherlands Carillon.
I took several photos that I really like. On this one I think it is cool that you can see that the fireworks are being shot in front of the Washington Monument, but behind the Lincoln Memorial as the fireworks 'rain' down obscuring the Washington Monument.
I took several photos that I really like. On this one I think it is cool that you can see that the fireworks are being shot in front of the Washington Monument, but behind the Lincoln Memorial as the fireworks 'rain' down obscuring the Washington Monument.
Via iPad
Washington, DC Fireworks Photo Series - No. 1
We went to watch the DC fireworks this evening at the Marine Corp War Memorial in Arlington. This is the park with the Iwo Jima Memorial and the Netherlands Carillon. All of the fireworks photos are taken from base of the Netherlands Carillon.
I took several photos that I really like. On this one I think it is cool that you can see that the fireworks are being shot in front of the Washington Monument, but behind the Lincoln Memorial as the fireworks 'rain' down obscuring the Washington Monument.
I took several photos that I really like. On this one I think it is cool that you can see that the fireworks are being shot in front of the Washington Monument, but behind the Lincoln Memorial as the fireworks 'rain' down obscuring the Washington Monument.
Via iPad
Eva's Writing Blog - http://livelearnlovewrite.wordpress.com/
Eva loves to write and her facility with words is amazing, at least to me. She started a blog and I was afraid it would be dormant for the summer while she is off at Camp Arcadia. So far though she has been mailing poems and stories to us that Cathleen posts for her on the blog. Hopefully at some point Eva will have access to the Net and can see the results of her work. Via iPad
Licking Up the Eton Mess Leftovers - Photos of Lyra
I love the Australian food and wine magazines. The June 2010 issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller had a recipe for a desert called Eton Mess I have been wanting to make. Eton Mess is essentially strawberries tossed in whipped cream mixed with crumbled meringue. I had fresh peaches not strawberries, so made a peach version. It was good but strawberries would have been even better.
I gave Lyra what I thought was going to be a small sample of the uncooked meringue. She wanted the spatula, beater and bowl to herself. We made a deal that she could lick the beater if she would let me take photos. I think it was a good deal.
Via iPad
Wow this is good wine.
The July 31 issue of the Wine Spectator magazine has a feature article on the 'best of Australia'. Unless I missed one, not a single Mornington wine was listed, definitely nothing from Ten Minutes by Tractor, Kooyong, or Merricks Creek, which all produce great Pinot Noir. Most people in the US if they think of Pinot Noir from the southern hemisphere think of New Zealand not Australia. Too bad, because Mornington Pinot Noir is excellent.
I thought the 2007 TMBT McCutcheon Vineyard was balanced but powerful. Sometimes I find wine that is described as 'balanced' means all the edges have been rounded off to the point that the emotion in the wine is gone. This Pinot was a little lighter than what I often favor, possibly a little less dense. However the flavors are rich and powerful. Floral and perfume notes are very strong relative to the more typical fruit. I saw another review that described the flavor as 'forest berry' - I am not sure what a forest berry is, but the combination of forest aroma and berry taste evokes the right idea in my mind. We drank this with a wood grilled steak, but I could see it going very well with cured meats as well, or possibly a grilled fish. I would give this a 4/5 on my scale - RFG.
Ten Minutes by Tractor also publish an unusually informative (for the genre) wine news letter, linked here.
This is an excerpt of a review of the 2007 McCutcheon quoted in the news letter:
2007 McCutcheon Vineyard Pinot Noir
This has a forest berry smell to it, with flinty smokiness and mintiness too. There's plenty of tangy, pippy fruit on the palate, and powerful chewy tannins that pull everything together. This is serious, structured pinot.
Tim White, The Age Melbourne Magazine, February 2010
Ten Minutes by Tractor 2007 Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir McCutcheon Vineyard
Wow this is good wine.
The July 31 issue of the Wine Spectator magazine has a feature article on the 'best of Australia'. Unless I missed one, not a single Mornington wine was listed, definitely nothing from Ten Minutes by Tractor, Kooyong, or Merricks Creek, which all produce great Pinot Noir. Most people in the US if they think of Pinot Noir from the southern hemisphere think of New Zealand not Australia. Too bad, because Mornington Pinot Noir is excellent.
I thought the 2007 TMBT McCutcheon Vineyard was balanced but powerful. Sometimes I find wine that is described as 'balanced' means all the edges have been rounded off to the point that the emotion in the wine is gone. This Pinot was a little lighter than what I often favor, possibly a little less dense. However the flavors are rich and powerful. Floral and perfume notes are very strong relative to the more typical fruit. I saw another review that described the flavor as 'forest berry' - I am not sure what a forest berry is, but the combination of forest aroma and berry taste evokes the right idea in my mind. We drank this with a wood grilled steak, but I could see it going very well with cured meats as well, or possibly a grilled fish. I would give this a 4/5 on my scale - RFG.
Ten Minutes by Tractor also publish an unusually informative (for the genre) wine news letter, linked here.
This is an excerpt of a review of the 2007 McCutcheon quoted in the news letter:
2007 McCutcheon Vineyard Pinot Noir
This has a forest berry smell to it, with flinty smokiness and mintiness too. There's plenty of tangy, pippy fruit on the palate, and powerful chewy tannins that pull everything together. This is serious, structured pinot.
Tim White, The Age Melbourne Magazine, February 2010
Lyra loves lollipops that turn her tongue bright colors. She just finished a blue raspberry pop. The photo is processed through Plastic Bullet for added spookiness.
Sent from Bill Phelps' iPhone
Photo: Blue Tongued Alien (Lyra after a blue rasberry lollipop)
Lyra loves lollipops that turn her tongue bright colors. She just finished a blue raspberry pop. The photo is processed through Plastic Bullet for added spookiness.
Sent from Bill Phelps' iPhone