the journey inward

Watch out T-Pain

admin — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 04:35:56 +0000

My first dive into hiphop… aka me messing around with Logic Pro
This first track i’m droppin is called, Mary by D-Pain:

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Salmon with Chile-Mango Salsa

admin — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 15:59:10 +0000

I’ve made this dish a couple of times now. It’s a quick and delicious dinner.

Ingredients

1 10-ounce mango, peeled, pitted, diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons minced seeded serrano chili
1 teaspoon grated lime peel
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 6-ounce salmon fillets

Directions

Prepare barbecue (or pan fry on stove set at medium-high heat).
Combine first 7 ingredients in small bowl;
mix in 1 1/2 tablespoons oil
Season salsa with salt and pepper
Brush salmon with remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil
Grill until just opaque in center, about 5 minutes per side
Serve with salsa.

Korean Tacos

admin — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 03:18:05 +0000

One of the latest, hottest things going on in the LA restaurant scene isn’t taking place in a restaurant at all, but in a taco truck. kogibbq.com, NYTimes

Sooooo… I decided to try my hand at making this interesting fusion dish.

Check out the rest of the pics at: danvin.smugmug.com

I was slightly hesitant as I thought about making this dish but as I smelled the different components giving off it’s aroma, I had hope that this would turn out well. The sweetness of the meat complemented the onions, cilantro and lime so well, giving a party of bold flavors in your mouth.
Definitely something I’ll be making again!

The intersection of Money & Faith

admin — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:47:59 +0000

A great article from the NYTimes…

http://fish.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/faith-and-deficits/

Burger n’ Fries

admin — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 04:58:10 +0000

Sometimes it’s just nice to sit down to a big fat juicy burger and fries… So that’s exactly what I did tonight. Here is what I made…

Gordon Ramsey inspired burger:

1 lb ground sirloin
1/2 Red onion, minced
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon sun-dried tomato, cut thinly
1/4 cup garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon Stout mustard
2 eggs (Probably will only do 1 next time)

Mix all the ingredients above in a bowl and form into patties. Cook over grill for 5 mins each side for a medium well burger.

Baked Garlic Fries:

1 potato
1/2 tsp garlic (or regular) salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp pepper

Toss the cut potato wedges into a bowl with vegetable oil, salt and pepper. Bake at 400 degrees F for about 40 minutes.

In a pan, heat up olive oil and add freshly minced garlic. Cook on medium for about 5 until garlic bits start turning golden brown. Don’t let it sit too long, your garlic will burn and taste nasssty.

Once the garlic and potatoes are done, toss the garlic-infused olive oil in with the potatoes. Served topped with some parsley.

Yummmm…. everything turned out pretty good. Although, I’m not sure how the burger tasted since I devoured that thing like a beast.

Turning NorCal: Reason #1 – REI

admin — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:52:04 +0000

You know you’re turning NorCal when…

You enjoy going into REI (and other outdoor goods store). So much so in fact, you would claim that REI is your favorite store.

You enjoy perusing the aisle and aisle of outdoor goods, knowing that you can actually use the stuff that is in this door on your next hiking/camping/snowboarding/ski trip. And no matter what time of year it is, REI is always full of people. People who don’t mind shelling out the dough for the newest and best gear; and to be able to return it for ANY reason, at ANY time just because you held onto your receipt.

When you’re NorCal any trip can/will involve a trip to REI. Whether it’s to pick up a headlight or a lift ticket – you can find a way to make a stop to REI. And if REI doesn’t have it, it doesn’t exist.

So here is a salute to you REI. You make us NorCal.

On being emotional

admin — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 19:59:06 +0000

A great quote from this morning’s devotional:

Christian maturity is not about reducing the highs and lows of emotions to a level plane, but of feeling deeply in a godly way. The issue is not how or what we feel, but what we do with our emotions.

The passage coupled with that study was Psalm 35.

It’s a relief to know that as Christians we don’t have to be completely void when it comes to showing emotions. More importantly, when we do get “emotional” how and where we place our feelings is where we need to keep ourselves in check.

BBC News: Drinking lots of coffee may produce visions

admin — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:20:40 +0000

To all my coffee drinkers out there

‘Visions link’ to coffee intake

Besides coffee, caffeine is found in tea, energy drinks and chocolate

People who drink too much coffee could start seeing ghosts or hearing strange voices, UK research has suggested.

People who drank more than seven cups of instant coffee a day were three times more likely to hallucinate than those who took just one, a study found.

A Durham University team questioned 200 students about their caffeine intake, the journal Personality and Individual Differences reported.

However, academics say the findings do not prove a “causal link”.

They also stress that experiencing hallucinations is not a definite sign of mental illness and that about 3% of people regularly hear voices.

“This is the first step toward looking at the wider factors associated with hallucinations,” said psychology PhD student Simon Jones, who led the study.

Under stress

He said previous research had suggested factors such as childhood trauma could be linked to hallucinations.

When under stress, the body releases a hormone called cortisol which is produced in greater quantities after consuming caffeine.

The extra cortisol boost could be what causes a person to hallucinate.

Therefore, Mr James added, it made sense to examine the link between caffeine and mood.

Besides coffee, sources such as tea, chocolate, “pep” pills and energy drinks contain caffeine.

After asking the students about their typical intake, the research team assessed their susceptibility to hallucinatory experiences and stress levels.

Pregnancy problems

Among the experiences reported were seeing things that were not there, hearing voices, and sensing the presence of dead people.

However, Mr James stressed more work was needed to pin down the link.

He said: “Stressed people may simply drink more caffeine.”

And he added: “Even if caffeine were responsible for hallucinations in some way, the part it plays would be small compared to other factors in life.”

The researchers now plan to investigate whether other aspects of diet, such as sugar and fat consumption, might be associated with hallucinations.

Dr Euan Paul, of the British Coffee Association, stressed the study only focused on people with a very high caffeine intake.

He also said no details were recorded of other substances consumed that might have had hallucinogenic effects.

“There are literally thousands of well conducted published studies looking at all aspects of the coffee, caffeine and health debate and the overall conclusion clearly demonstrates that moderate caffeine intake, 400-500mg per day, is safe for the general population and may even confer health benefits.”

Recent research has linked high caffeine intake among pregnant women to miscarriage or low birth weight.

Other studies suggested it could help prevent skin cancer, reduce nerve damage associated with multiple sclerosis, or cause problems for diabetes sufferers.

The Durham study was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and Medical Research Council.

BBC News: Teen killed mother over Halo 3

admin — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 21:20:57 +0000

Wow… tragic and utterly unbelievable…

Teen killed mother in Halo 3 row

A US teenager killed his mother and wounded his father in revenge after they took away his violent computer game, a judge has ruled.

The defence team for Daniel Petric, 17, had argued his addiction to the Halo 3 game, in which players shoot invading aliens, had made him insane.

But the judge rejected this, saying he had planned revenge for weeks.

Petric, of Ohio, was tried as an adult and faces a maximum possible penalty of life in prison without parole.

On the night of the shooting in October 2007, Petric used his father’s key to open a lockbox and remove a 9mm handgun and the game, the court heard.

His father Mark, who was shot in the head and survived, testified that his son came into the room and asked: “Would you guys close your eyes? I have a surprise for you.”

He said he expected a pleasant surprise. Then his head went numb from the gunshot.

The Associated Press news agency reports that Microsoft, which owns the intellectual property for the game, declined to comment beyond a statement saying: “We are aware of the situation and it is a tragic case.”

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/7826663.stm

Published: 2009/01/13 17:52:36 GMT

A matter of inches…

admin — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:03:01 +0000

Brothers

And I thought I had my mind made up… It was going to be the 15 incher… and now this…

Beautiful 17 inch LED backlit display – great for development and photos
8 Hour battery life – yes, internal battery… I can live with that
2.66 GHz processor w/ 4GB RAM standard
It’s pretty

Gonna see it in person tomorrow. Taking Daddy and hominita Jo to Macworld.

15? no… 17? no… 15. no… 17… bahhhh…