Food Fridays: A Summer List of Cooking

While it's technically not summer yet, I am done school, so it's summer for me. Every summer, I make a list of things I'd like to do. Then, I slowly procrastinate until September. Okay, maybe not exactly like that, but I do make summer lists, and there generally involves plenty of procrastination. Here is my summer list specifically for food.

Photo by Paul Sham

1. Grow some of my own veggies I've already started this one, but it's not official until I actually have the vegetables, and keep them away from those crazy London squirrels.

Photo by angelanoel

2. Learn to make fresh pasta I'm growing plum tomatoes, which are good for sauce, so learning to make fresh pasta will be good as well.

Photo by Jens Dahlin

3. Cook veggies as a main It's difficult in my mind to make dishes that have vegetables as the main thing, as opposed to having some sort of meat. I'd like to find more dishes that have veggies as the main thing, other than a salad. It might also be cheaper.

Photo by scubadive67.

4. Learn to bake more I'm a little tentative about this one because I have an undeniable weakness for baked goods, like cookies. So, we'll see about this one.

I'm also looking for some suggestions that are challenging, and that will impress. It'd probably be better if I could get the ingredients locally, but other than that I don't really have that many boundaries in terms of what I'll try to cook. Leave a comment with additions to my summer list. P.S. I'll be writing a summer list for other things in the coming week, and I'll also be finishing my reviews of note-taking applications. Stay tuned.

Politics: Court orders request for Khadr's return

In a ruling by the Federal Court of Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper must "request that the United States return Mr. Khadr to Canada as soon as practicable." This decision was ruled by the Justice James O'Reilly from a lawsuit filed last year by Omar Khadr against the Canadian government. The quote that most Canadian news sources are using is:

"The ongoing refusal of Canada to request Mr. Khadr's repatriation offends a principle of fundamental justice and violates Mr. Khadr's rights," says O'Reilly in his decision.

In response, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that the government will look to appeal this decision. The appeal must be filed within 30 days of the ruling. My opinion To find out a more in depth version of my opinion on Omar Khadr, I posted a video, and wrote a post about it in February 2009. To summarize my opinions, he was a child soldier, and should have been treated like one. However, since the UN protocol on child soldier part is optional, my point was that he should have been treated like a Canadian citizen. He may be viewed as a "bad" citizen, but the Canadian government should be on the side of citizens. The Toronto Star also mentions that Harper argues that his position is the same as the previous Liberal government's. This is an interesting point, and I can't remember exactly what the previous government's stance was. Despite this, Harper's point can deflect criticism, but does not justify inaction. Historical Background Omar Khadr has been in the Guantanamo Bay Detention Centre since 2002, at the age of 15. He is accused of throwing a grenade that killed an American soldier. His legal status has been up in the air since President Obama halted all trials at Guantanamo Bay, and Khadr's head lawyer was removed from the case. [Sources: CBC, Globe & Mail, National Post, The Star, and Macleans] P.S. To read the full ruling, continue reading here [PDF, 177kb].

Taking Note of Taking Notes - Part 1: Introduction

Every student has a way of taking notes in class. Some write them, some type them, and some just don't take notes. For me, I like using a note-taking application. Why you might ask? Because it allows me to organize, and search through my notes in better ways than Word, or other word processors, can provide. Notes, in my opinion, are only useful if you can easily go back through them, and find what you're looking for. I will therefore be reviewing a few of them in my search for a new note-taking application. (Note: Mac-only apps, sorry.) Review: Evernote I was happily using Evernote, but have been looking to switch (explanation to follow). So I'll review that one first. What I like:

• Notebooks Allows for separate "notebooks" for each course, which lets me focus on one course at a time if required.
• Search through all notes Comes in handy when you know you learned about something at some point in the course, but can't remember specifically when.
• PDF support Can import and search through PDFs, which comes in handy for slides and journal articles.
• Sync This might only matter to me, and others who have more than one computer, but I can sync my notes across multiple machines.

What I don't like:

• Outdated text editing When TextEdit (Mac equivalent of Wordpad) has better text editing, it's quite a disappointment.
• Ads in free version On March 10, Evernote decided to place an ad in the free version of the application. At first, I thought it'd be fine, but it soon got too distracting.

The ad in the corner is what made me decide to switch to a different note-taking application. To remove the ad, I would have to purchase Evernote Premium at $45/year. Due to the disappointing text editing, I'm not willing to pay. I asked people for other options for note-taking applications, and here's the list of note-taking applications that I'll be reviewing:

• Schoolhouse
• Together
• Scrivener
• Journler
• Yojimbo
• DEVONthink

If you have any other suggestions, please let me know, and I'll take a look at them too. P.S. I'm not going to use Google Docs. Google knows too much. Also, I like being able to organize my notes more than what Word can offer.

Politics: How did your MP vote?

Yesterday was supposed to be Food Friday, but I was working on this logo for my college class. So, I apologize. But, moving onward, the Canadian government has released a new interesting online feature from the Canadian government. You can now see how every MP voted for every bill, and I'm all for more governmental transparency. Photo credit: Paul Sham You can find this information by going to the Members of Parliament website. Under each MPs page, you will find a tab called "Votes" that lists how they voted. For example, you can find Prime Minister Stephen Harper's voting information here. At the moment, it's an overwhelming amount of information. But, the information is also provided in XML format, so somebody could take the information and present it in a cool visualization. Any takers? (via Toronto Star) P.S. In other political news, the United States and Cuba appear to be on the path to fixing their strained relationship.

Quick Post: Video of the Twitter Stream

Here's one last remnant from the Twitter presentation that Adam and I did for blogging class. I created an animation of the Twitter stream using real tweets drawn from friends, celebs, and the public timeline. It's not an accurate visualization, but it's still mesmerizing. Enjoy.
The Twitter Stream from Paul Sham on Vimeo.

Food Fridays: The Infamous Bunny Incident

Happy Easter everyone! I guess it's oddly time-appropriate that I write about "The Infamous Bunny Incident" on this Food Friday. Last weekend, while at the Covent Garden Market, my housemate, Charlie, dared me to buy a rabbit from the butcher. We had seen some the previous week, and had talked about them in passing. Last week, though, I took Charlie up on the dare, and bought the rabbit. The rabbit came from a farm in Arthur, Ontario. After marinating the rabbit in red wine, olive oil, garlic, rosemary and time thyme, I grilled it on the barbeque. It turned out alright, but a little bit overcooked in my opinion because our barbeque is crazy, and impossible to control the flame on it. In terms of taste, rabbit has a light flavour, and is similar in texture to chicken. What interests me more is the response I received from this "Incident". It ranged from people in utter disgust and sadness, to people saying it was perfectly normal thing to do, and, finally, to Charlie laughing all the while. Granted, I pretty much provoked a response when I twittered "postscriptus was dared by @hammyace007 to buy a rabbit. I bought one". It was vague, which made the reveal all the more surprising. So, how do I feel about eating a rabbit? I feel fine, normal even. Am I cold and heartless? No, I wouldn't say so. In fact, I've even had a rabbit as a pet when I was younger. I simply don't see any moral objection to it, unless you're vegetarian, and I don't think what I did deserves an excuse. Hunting and eating rabbit has happened for generations. I actually feel better morally about eating a rabbit that was raised and slaughtered humanely than eating factory-grown animals. Granted, I do draw the line on killing and eating animals that appear more sentient. This entire incident reminds me of an episode of "Jamie's Great Italian Escape" where Jamie Oliver visits a small community in Le Marche, Italy. He participates in a wild boar hunt. When the boar is brought back to be butchered, the entire family, including their young daughter, gathers around. It's striking to see the father tell his daughter, "It's not very nice, but it's normal." Warning: Video does contain images of the boar getting butchered, but if you do choose to watch, please watch until at least 4:00. That pretty much sums up how I feel. It's not about being pretty. It's about eating, and I'd much rather eat something that I know was ethically raised and slaughtered. I might be pushing the limits of the average person's culinary diet, but I hope I'm pushing it in a more ethical and sustainable direction. I will apologize for, at times, joking about it when it is a sensitive subject for some people. Leave me a comment, and let me know what you think about me and the "Infamous Bunny Incident" now that you've read my response. Also, will anybody else try eating rabbit? P.S. The best new show on the Food Network is The 100 Mile Challenge based on the book, The 100-Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating by Alisa Smith and J.B. Mackinnon. Catch it on Sundays at 8pm.

Media: Who to follow on Twitter?

Last night, Adam and I did a presentation on microblogging in our blogging class, with a focus Twitter. In the eight minutes, we really couldn't get all the information that I would have liked to get out. Mostly, if you're looking to get into Twitter, here are some people that you might be interested in following. I've organized them into topics, and they're in no particular order. Music, Art, and Culture (but mostly music)

• K'naan Warsame - @thedustyfoot
• Arts and Crafts (the Canadian label) - @artsandcrafts
• Q, on CBC Radio - @CBCRadioQ
• CBC Radio 2 - @cbcradio2
• CBC Radio 3 - @CBCRadio3
• Open House Arts Collective (London, ON based music and arts collective) - @openhouselondon
• George Stroumboulopoulos (host, The Hour) - @strombo
• The Hour (TV Show) - @TheHour

Food

• Food Network Canada - @foodtvdotca
• Jamie Oliver - @jamieoliver
• Martha Stewart - @marthastewart

News/Politics

• CBC - @thecbc
• Prime Minister Stephen Harper - @pmharper
• Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff - @M_Ignatieff
• NDP leader Jack Layton - @jacklayton
• Green Party leader Elizabeth May - @ElizabethMay

Celebrity

• Shaq - @THE_REAL_SHAQ
• John Mayer - @johncmayer
• John Hodgman - @hodgman
• Rainn Wilson - @rainnwilson
• Felicia Day - @feliciaday
• Adam Savage (of Mythbusters) - @donttrythis

Technology

• Kevin Rose (founder of Digg) - @kevinrose
• Ryan Block (co-founder of Engadget, gdgt) - @ryanblock
• Peter Rojas (co-founder of Engadget, gdgt) - @peterrojas

Design

• Smashing Magazine - @smashingmag
• 37Signals - @37signals
• Freelance Folder - @FreelanceFolder
• Tuts+ - @tutsplus (also look for the other Tuts+ network)

If you think there are other people worth following that I missed, please post them in the comments. Thanks! P.S. Also, follow me (@postscriptus) and Adam (@Tuckinator) on Twitter.

Blog: This Week's Winner for Best Blogging Week Award

The last blogging class is over, but that doesn't mean everything is finished yet. Last week, I nominated three blogs for the final Best Blogging Week Award (unless somebody chooses to somehow continue it), and the winner for this week is: Blog Awkward Good job Julie-Anne. I chose Blog Awkward because, despite the busy times, you were able to get two guest posts, which shows that you have a drive to get people engaging with your blog. P.S. To everyone in my blogging class, have a good summer.

Final thoughts on MIT-2412

This is the final week of The Post Script as we know it. I am planning to keep my blog going, but it will no longer be for a university course. It has been an interesting experience, and it is definitely not your typical university course. We did anonymous course evaluations last week, but I'll write some non-anonymous comments here as well. Some things I liked about the course:

• It was a challenge. A good challenge, that is. I tried new things that I would have never done otherwise, like posting a YouTube video, or commenting on other blogs. It was also good to challenge myself to write more often.
• Newsrooms. I thought it was a great way to start off class, and the pretend competition was fun. (It was also funny to hear the groans as people stole your story.)
• It was fun. I always had a great time in class. (Maybe because my classmates were so awesome. Shout out to them.)
• It's a different learning experience. Some might say that it's not theoretical enough, but what better way to learn about something than by actually doing it. It's like what cultural anthropologist, Michael Wesch, does with his students and YouTube.
• I now have a successful blog That in itself is a great accomplishment. I don't have the largest readership, but I have a blog that I'm proud of, and I'm very grateful for the readers that I do have.

Some things that could be improved:

• Posting five times per week. I know our class voted for this, but I think it was a bit unrealistic. Pro bloggers can post five times a week. It pushed me towards posting really short posts, and away from things that took more time, like video blogs. Also, the definition of what is a blog post was a bit too open, especially for people who prefer writing lengthier posts, like me.
• The computer lab. Sitting behind giant monitors in the dark while listening to lectures was not the best classroom environment. Especially sitting at the back, I felt it difficult to participate. (Speaking up in class is not something I do well apparently.)

The most important question is: Would I recommend this course? This was the first time this course was offered, and I think it will continue to get better. So, I would recommend this course to any students who have an interest in blogging, or the Internet in general. P.S. With the end of the course, there will also be some changes happening to my blog, but I would also like your opinions. I'll write more about that in my next post.

Food Fridays: My First Sprouts in the Grand Adventure

Spring is here, which means my grand adventure in growing is under way! Last week, I planted the seeds in these "Jiffy Windowsill Greenhouses". My mother said it'd be easier to start in them. I just nodded and agreed. It's one week in, and I have my first sprouts. I planted the tomatoes and herbs. The cucumber and zucchini don't need to be started as early according to the seed packet. I guess the next steps will be transplanting them into pots when they get big enough. Then, once summer rolls around, I'll send them outside to grow. Oh ya, and finally eating them. P.S. One of my concerns when I put them outside is the crazy neighbourhood animals will get to them. Is there any way to stop them?

This Week's Nominees for Best Blogging Week Award

As part of our blogging class, the winner of last week's MIT-2412 Best Blogging Week Award nominates this week's bloggers. Here are the nominees for this week: Julie-Anne at Blog Awkward. I like Blog Awkward because I find awkward things funny, so this blog gets me to awkwardly laugh when I read it. Ariane at Keep it Fresh. I like Keep it Fresh because it has a unique mix of art, music, design and culture. There's a lot of good Canadian, and independent content here. Lauren at Laur Lore. I like Laur Lore because every blog is a good, substantial post that gets me thinking about the topics that she writes about. So, hopefully the nominees keep blogging this week.

Best Blogger of the Week! Woot!

Our blogging class has an award called the MIT-2412 Best Blogging Week, and I won it this week. I really try to find a mix of topics that I think people would be interest in, and topics that people should know about. Also, thank you to everybody who leaves comments, they are greatly appreciated. Laura is so awesome that she also brought me cupcakes. It's just before 1 AM but I'm going to eat it anyways. So a wonderful thank you to Laura Daniel at Citizen 19. Everyone go visit her blog. P.S. Even though there are no required posts this week, I'll still recommend three other blogs for the award.