My Photography

Click on the picture above to see the album
or click here

My art

I put pen to paper and this is the result. What does it mean?

Would anyone care to analyse?

A week of groceries in different countries

Photographs by Peter Menzel from the book "Hungry Planet"

Mexico

Great Britain

USA

Australia 

Germany

Italy

Canada

France

Japan 

China

Poland 

Kuwait

Mongolia

Turkey 

Mali

India

Bhutan

Chad

Equador

Guatemala

click here to see the entire collection and other work by Peter Menzel

The Melksham Shake a la 'Harlem Shake' style

This is our contribution to the latest craze....

To Be Greek from ivan silverberg on Vimeo.

Thank you,


just felt compelled to thank all of you who visit, have visited and any future visits to come. Your presence here is appreciated and for what ever reason you have landed here, I hope you found what you were looking for. If not, feel free to have a look around. 


thanks again!

How to make Greek coffee

Greek coffee ("Ellinikos Kafes") is one of the simplest ways to make coffee. It is also known as Turkish coffee. Coffee has a very old history...

It travelled to Turkey from Yemen and from Turkey it became known in Greece. It became so popular that people started calling it "Greek coffee" instead of Turkish (or Arabic) coffee.

Differences
Usually Greek coffee gets roasted lighter than traditional Turkish coffee.
Another difference is that Greeks rarely add spices to their coffee.

How to make Greek coffee

The basic ingredient needed for a delicious Greek coffee is fresh roasted coffee, ground to an extra fine coffee powder (finer than espresso). You can also grind you own coffee beans using a traditional Greek coffee grinder or a modern high quality burr grinder.

Like Turkish coffee in order to make Greek coffee you basically bring a mixture of water and ground coffee almost to boil. Although Turkish people boil their coffee usually 3-4 times Greeks prefer boiling it 1-3 times.

The blends used to make Greek coffee have usually a high percentage of Brazilian coffees, and also some Robusta or a "secret" ingredient to add some more flavour (Colombian coffee, Ethiopia Harrar or Yemen Mocha).

In order to make Greek coffee we need a coffee pot known as briki in Greece. This special Greek coffee pot has a characteristic narrow top which facilitates the correct slow brewing of Turkish coffee and the forming of the famous "kaimaki", which is basically the crema-froth on top of the coffee.

Traditionally these pots were made of copper or brass, but nowadays they are mass produced using stainless steel which is more durable. (I still prefer the brass brikis for lots of reasons...). Use the proper size coffee pot to make better coffee and better froth. If you are going to make two demitasse cups of coffee use a 2-cups size coffee pot. If you use a much larger sized pot, crema forming will be much harder.

For one cup of coffee, fill the coffee pot with one demitasse cup of cold water, 1-2 teaspoons of Greek coffee, sugar to taste.

Put the pot on low fire.It is very important to use low fire and cold water to extract more flavour from the coffee. Use a gas stove-top or preferably a traditional tabletop burner.

Once the mixture comes almost to a boil and the foam covers the top, pour it into a demitasse cup slowly. You must do this slowly in order to retain the crema layer (froth) on top. If you fail to remove the coffee pot from fire on time, the coffee mixture will foam up quickly and it will get spilled everywhere! Be careful to not let this happen!

Small tip if you want to make two cups or more

There is an old trick used to maximise the froth on top of every demitasse cup, which basically involves taking the froth with a teaspoon from the coffee pot and then adding it to each demitasse cup, before pouring the coffee.

Serving:
Traditionally the coffee is served using decorative discs, in small demitasse cups made of fine porcelain.

You can also pair Greek coffee with a nice desert like cookies ("koulourakia"), "halva" or "baklava".

Things to notice

Some people bring the coffee to boil only once. Other people prefer twice and there are also some people who argue that bringing the coffee to boil three times is the absolute minimum.

Another point of argument is the stirring. Some people stir coffee, water and sugar only in the beginning and some other stir continuously till the end to make more froth.

Personal opinion

I prefer to stir the coffee continuously till the end and I also let it foam up twice.

"Why?" you may ask. It is just my taste! You can experiment and find what you like best.

What's most important is the freshness and the quality of your Greek coffee.


Karolos Tsiligirian is the author of the "Fresh Coffee Encyclopedia" and the owner of FreshCoffeeShop.com & CoffeeEbooks.com [http://www.coffeeebooks.com]

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Karolos_Tsiligirian
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1355499

How to save money on Petrol

With Petrol expected to rise even more by end of 2011 these tips might come in handy

TIPS ON PUMPING PETROL

Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the petrol, when it gets warmer petrol expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening....your litre is not exactly a litre. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the petrol, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role.

Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the petrol, when it gets warmer petrol expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening....your litre is not exactly a litre. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the petrol, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role.

A one degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps. 

When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages: low, middle, and high. You should be pumping on low mode, thereby minimizing the vapours that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapour return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapour. Those vapours are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money. 

One of the most important tips is to fill up when your Petrol tank is HALF FULL. The reason for this is the more Petrol you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. petrol evaporates faster than you can imagine. petrol storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the Petrol and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that every litre is actually the exact amount. 

Another reminder, if there is a petrol truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy Petrol, DO NOT fill up; most likely the petrol is being stirred up as the Petrol is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.

Alternatively, ditch your car and convert to one horse power...

Different nations, different views...

Europe according to Greeks

Europe according to Britain

Europe according to France

Europe according to Italy

Europe according to Silvio Berlusconi

Europe according to Poland

Europe according to Germany

Europe according to Turkey

Europe according to Russia

Europe according to America

Exclusive movie trailer - Rise of the Planet of the Apes - part deux

An exclusive - and the only trailer - of the forthcoming sequel to the 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes'


This movie is due to be screened on cinemas near you late summer 2012. I have managed to obtain this exclusive trailer of the 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes - part deux' and I am proud to present it to you.
Just remember where you've seen it first....

Exclusive trailer - 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes - part deux'

works best with sound on

Pastafarian wins legal battle to wear pasta strainer on his head

The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster was featured here back in April but after a 

tip-off from a colleague of mine, I've come across the following story that deserves a second mention in my blog.


'Pastafarian' wins right to wear sieve on his head in driving licence photo (well, he does belong to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster)


Pasta strainers are now considered suitable religious headgear in Austria... at least as far as the transport authorities are concerned.

Three years after applying for a new driver's licence, an Austrian man has finally received the laminated card - in which he is pictured with an upturned sieve on his head.

Niko Alm was allowed to wear the unusual headgear as it is deemed a suitable accessory for his 'Pastafarian' religion, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

The Austrian authorities allowed Niko Alm to wear the unusual headgear as it is deemed a suitable accessory for his 'Pastafarian' religion, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

Mr Alm, an entrepreneur, said he had the idea when he read that headgear
was allowed in official pictures only for 'confessional' reasons

The atheist says he belongs to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a light-hearted 'faith' whose members call themselves Pastafarians and whose 'only dogma ... is the rejection of dogma', according to its website.

Accordingly, Mr Alm sent his application for a new driver's licence in 2008 along with a picture of himself with a colander on his head.

The stunt got him an invitation to the doctor's to check he was mentally fit to drive, but after three years, Alm's efforts have finally paid off.

He now wants to apply for Pastafarianism to become an officially recognised faith in Austria.

How did this whole thing began.....

STUDENT USES HIS NOODLE... AND A RELIGION IS BORN

In 2005, a physics graduate from Oregon State wrote a letter about a 'Flying Spaghetti Monster' as a form of protest against the Kansas State Board of Education's decision to allow the teaching of Intelligent Design as an alternative to evolution in public schools.

By professing belief in a supernatural entity composed of pasta and meatballs, Bobby Henderson, 24, called on 'Pastafarianism' to be given equal time in science classrooms alongside Christian theory.

Word rapidly spread and the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (CFSM) now has thousands of followers, mainly on college campuses and in Europe.
The central tenet of CFSM is that an invisible Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe 'after drinking heavily'.
Pastafarians celebrate every Friday as a holy day - and consider pirates 'absolute divine beings'.

May the Sauce be with you all!

Source: the Daily Mail

Capitalism at its finest - Tax evasion at its best

McDonald's argues it is a supermarket rather than restaurant 

in Russia. US fast food chain McDonald's has persuaded the Russian authorities that its outlets are supermarkets rather than restaurants in a landmark lawsuit that blocked an attempt by the Russian taxman to almost double its tax bill.

In a legal battle that is likely to see dozens of other fast food chains in the world's largest country following suit, McDonald's successfully argued that it should be classified as a food retailer for tax purposes rather than as a restaurant since many of its products are pre-packaged and sold to customers in the style of a supermarket rather than a restaurant.

It is a decision that will allow McDonald's in Russia to continue paying ten per cent tax on its profits rather than the eighteen per cent tax levied on restaurants. McDonald's has led a charmed life since it opened its first outlet in Moscow in the then Soviet Union in 1990.

Wednesday, Jan. 31, 1990, hundreds of people line up around the first McDonald's
restaurant in the Soviet Union at Moscow's Pushkin Square, on its opening day. 

Its first flagship restaurant served 30,000 customers on its first day, an absolute record, and it now has a network of 276 outlets across Russia.

Still rapidly expanding to meet huge demands for its fast food, it is patronised by almost one million Russians a day who consume specially Russianised versions of McDonald's fare such as "beef a la russe" as well as the hamburgers and sandwiches sold all over the world.

In a deal that the Moscow city authorities later challenged unsuccessfully through the Russian courts the first two McDonald's stores in Russia which occupied prime locations in Moscow were granted a special 20-year rent deal which saw them pay just one rouble (less than 1p) per square metre of space. That deal is still in place.


Source: The Telegraph

Man robs bank to get medical care in jail

By Zachary Roth

Some people who need medical care but can't afford it go to the emergency room. Others just hope they'll get better. James Richard Verone robbed a bank.

Earlier this month, Verone (pictured), a 59-year-old convenience store clerk, walked into a Gaston, N.C., bank and handed the cashier a note demanding $1 and medical attention. Then he waited calmly for police to show up.

He's now in jail and has an appointment with a doctor this week.

Verone's problems started when he lost the job he'd held for 17 years as a Coca Cola deliveryman, amid the economic downturn. He found new work driving a truck, but it didn't last. Eventually, he took a part-time position at the convenience store.

But Verone's body wasn't up to it. The bending and lifting made his back ache. He had problems with his left foot, making him limp. He also suffered from carpal tunnel syndrome and arthritis.

Then he noticed a protrusion on his chest. "The pain was beyond the tolerance that I could accept," Verone told the Gaston Gazette. "I kind of hit a brick wall with everything."

Verone knew he needed help--and he didn't want to be a burden on his sister and brothers. He applied for food stamps, but they weren't enough either.

So he hatched a plan. On June 9, he woke up, showered, ironed his shirt. He mailed a letter to the Gazette, listing the return address as the Gaston County Jail.

"When you receive this a bank robbery will have been committed by me," Verone wrote in the letter. "This robbery is being committed by me for one dollar. I am of sound mind but not so much sound body."

Then Verone hailed a cab to take him to the RBC Bank. Inside, he handed the teller his $1 robbery demand.

"I didn't have any fears," said Verone. "I told the teller that I would sit over here and wait for police."

The teller was so frightened that she had to be taken to the hospital to be checked out. Verone, meanwhile, was taken to jail, just as he'd planned it.

Because he only asked for $1, Verone was charged with larceny, not bank robbery. But he said that if his punishment isn't severe enough, he plans to tell the judge that he'll do it again. His $100,000 bond has been reduced to $2,000, but he says he doesn't plan to pay it.

In jail, Verone said he skips dinner to avoid too much contact with the other inmates. He's already seen some nurses and is scheduled to see a doctor on Friday. He said he's hoping to receive back and foot surgery, and get the protrusion on his chest treated. Then he plans to spend a few years in jail, before getting out in time to collect Social Security and move to the beach.

Verone also presented the view that if the United States had a health-care system which offered people more government support, he wouldn't have had to make the choice he did.

"If you don't have your health you don't have anything," Verone said.

The Affordable Care Act, President Obama's health-care overhaul passed by Congress last year, was designed to make it easier for Americans in situations like Verone's to get health insurance. But most of its provisions don't go into effect until 2014.

As it is, Verone said he thinks he chose the best of a bunch of bad options. "I picked jail."

(Photo: Ben Goff/The Gaston Gazette)

Source: news.yahoo.com

Arts & Crafts time...

Garden Gnomes all over the world, Unite!

A Garden Gnome protester faces riot police during an anti-austerity demonstration near parliament in Athens today.

Dad's school project - building a Teepee

I thought my school days have finished a long long time ago, until that is, I had to help my daughter finish (meaning: start) the school home project that needed to be in at school the next morning. Great!

Luckily we had some materials to hand from the previous day's visit to the shops. Brown paper, some bamboo barbeque skewers and a base. Great, what can go wrong..... well, for starters it's already 7.30pm

After doing some quick rough calculations the 'skeleton' of the teepee was born...

Now all I needed to do was add on the cover and job's done. Wrong...! 

I've pre-cut some triangular pieces of brown paper and tried to super-glue them to the sticks. Needless to say, I got covered in the stuff. Had to prise my fingers apart several times. This method was soon abandoned. Needed to come up with plan B. 

After some collaboration with my daughter, we've come to the conclusion that we needed to add an authentic look to the teepee. And the idea of an animal skin was born. After all, that's what the Indians used to built their teepees. A mention of skinning our cat did not go down well with my daughter. Second best option was to use a chamois leather. I did not have one so it was time to scrounge. And where does one go when one needs to scrounge? David, my brother in law. He has everything. So a quick trip to his house to dig up some old piece of chamois leather he inherited from his dad (and I was about to make a tent out of it). That was more than 30 years old piece of leather there. Anyway, it had to be done. My daughters education was at stake! I am sure grandad would have forgiven us.

We came home and the chamois leather had the 7 star treatment. Hand washed as it was filthy, a spin in the washing machine to get it as dry as possible, we smoked the pipe, performed the (stop the) rain dance, slaughtered a buffalo to appease the great Manitou and various other native American rituals.

Finally, it was ready to be used on the frame. Hmm.... see for yourselves, not so great!

Manitou wasn't on our side. We quickly abandoned that plan too!

Time was running out and failure wasn't an option. Ditched the authentic look and gone back to basics.

Plan C was to go back to Plan A and refine it. This time, Greek ingenuity kicked in (keep the comments to yourselves) and everything started coming up nicely together. Bit by bit we were nearing completion. We had to, it was nearly midnight. 

  

.... and finally, the Masterpiece, nicely decorated by my daughter

This better get some good marks at school, but as she has told me towards the end, she will not be taking History next year, so it doesn't matter!!! Arghhhhhh.........

One thing's for sure though, I will not be wasting anymore buffalos to Manitou again!

GC