Main: Section 1 onion, break up 1/3 cauliflower (perhaps 1.5 cups worth?), cube (thumb width) 1 large potato – place in frying pan – add water so it half covers the potatoe cubes. Bring to boil then cover and simmer until cauliflower cooked aprox 5 mins. Remove lid and simmer for 5-10 mins or until sauce is ready. You’ll only need to stir this once or twice – stir gently.

Sauce: Blend 1 (sml to med) onion, 2 cloves garlic, 1-2 red chillies (to taste), 2 tbsp peanut oil – heat in sauce pan till light brown (aprox 5 mins). Blend 2-3 (medium) plum tomatoes, bunch of coriander, thumb of ginger – add to pan, simmer 5-10 mins till half of the liquid is gone. Stir in ground seasonings 1tsp each: coriander, paprika, garam masala, salt, tumeric. 2 tsp each: cumin, fenugreek.

Combine sauce and main, add widely sliced portabello mushroom, add squeeze of lime juice. Simmer until enough of the liquid has gone – aprox 5 to 10 minutes.

Makes enough for 2 – 3 servings…

The sun is just going down. I’m back from the local coffee shop, where I sat on the patio and read what is quickly becoming my favorite book of the year, “Hold Everything Dear” by John Berger. It’s very good.  You would probably like it.

If you read it we could then have a lively chat about what constitutes “better”.  Berger’s letters, what’s going on in Iran, my own struggle to reconcile paying work with worthwhile work, and the (zen) dissonance between renunciation and compassion, have all brought that question to the forefront of my thoughts recently.

It’s sort of a nebulous conversation topic for me though.  Berger portrays the current conflicts, and ultimately social injustice in general, through the lens of class struggle (which I’m inclined to agree with) – but that’s not very helpful afterward when trying to bring it back into the realm of the actions of an (this) individual.

What are your experiences/thoughts on “social justice” and that fuzzy area where the actions of an individual get mired in the shear scope of the issues?

If you are a Rogers cellphone customer in Canada your mailbox may have been graced by the marketing drivel that is “URMagazine“.  Presumably the “ur” stands for “ur lets just ignore our own opt out list” because that what is they seem to have done.  Presumably so they could brag about “publishing over 500,000  copies per issue”.  It seems unlikely that anyone would voluntarily subscribe to this garbage, so that probably translates into close to half a million pissed off Rogers customers.

If you are one of those pissed off customers and would like to opt out you can do so following this link: http://ur.marketspace.ca/contact.htm

The link to opt out of all marketing material from Rogers is here: https://your.rogers.com/newsletter/opt_out.asp (Though this is the same list they seem to have ignored when mailing out URMagazine)

My favorite Canadian musician Lhasa has a new album out, and it’s really great!

You can listen to it here.

Click to listen…

1. Hollywood – Angus and Julia Stone
2. Sea Song – Lisa Hannigan
3. November Was White, December Was Grey – Say Hi
4. Donde Esta La Playa – The Walkmen
5. Oh My God – Ida Maria
6. You Really Wake Up The Love In Me – The Duke Spirit
7. Stay Positive – The Hold Steady
8. Never Had Nobody Like You – M. Ward
9. Crabapples – Bruce Peninsula
10. I’m Confused – Handsom Furs
11. 2080 – Yeasayer
12. Helen of Troy – Telefon Tel Aviv
13. Graveyard Girl – M83
14. Paris Is Burning – Ladyhawke
15. Handsfree (If You Hold My Hand) – Sonny J

Got any suggestions for music I might like?  Please leave a comment.

Some fun quirky indie tunes.  Enjoy.

Click to listen…

1. Animals – Ketch Harbor Wolves
2. Taking The Farm – The War On Drugs
3. Another Travelin’ Song – Bright Eyes
4. Big Waves – Sad Day for Puppets
5. Alina’s Place – Fredrik
6. Mothertongue – Nico Muhly
7. Melodies & Desires – Lykke Li
8. Bruises – Chairlift
9. En hand i himlen – Jonathan Johansson
10. Fuck You – Lily Allen
11. Waitin’ For A Superman – The Flaming Lips
12. Keep Yourself Warm – Frightened Rabbit
13. Anna – Hello Saferide
14. A Small Setback to a Great Comeback – Her Space Holiday

Got any suggestions for music I might like?  Please leave a comment.

I’m really loving the new album by Ketch Harbour Wolves called Dead Calm Horizon.   Ketch Harbour Wolves are a fantastic Canadian indie band who sound at bit like a cross between Arcade Fire and The National (two of my favorite artists). “Midnight Dark Waters” is my favorite track so far.

Check it out:

Started out as a rough sketch to play around with sepia tones and textures – but I liked it so much I ended up spending the whole evening working on it.  Initially she was going to be an old fox, but it seems more poignant if she’s a cub.

fox, jan 1st 2009, digital media, © simon giles

Click the image to see full size.

Hope you all had a great and safe new years eve, and didn’t wake up with too much of a hang over this morning.

Lets start 2009 off by getting in touch with our inner fraggle.  Nothing is better at that than some serious livingroom dancing!  To facilitate here are some great covers of some great songs…

Click to listen…

1. Human Behavior – The Decemberists
2. Love Will Tear Us Apart – Calexico
3. Friday I’m in Love – Billie the Vision & The Dancers
4. Sweet Child O’ Mine – Taken By Trees
5. Dancing With Myself – Nouvelle Vague
6. Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide – Black Box Recorder
7. Ray of Light – Natasha Bedingfield
8. Tainted Love – My Brightest Diamond
9. My Body Is a Cage – Sara Lov
10. Crown of Love – This is Ivy League
11. Bleeding Love – Mystery Jets
12. Buskets of Rain – Neko Case
13. Halleluja – Jeff Buckley
14. Fake Plastic Trees – Scala
15. Hoppípolla – We Are Scientists

Well I guess that sort of turned into “slow dancing in the living room” at the end there   So sorry if you didn’t quite pull off a Tom Cruise…

This evening I hooked the digital out from my guitar effects processor up to my computer and played around seeing what the sound quality would be like and ended up recording a brief little two minute “noodle” (for lack of a better word) on the guitar.  What amazes me is that it actually sounds like music, which is pretty good considering I haven’t had many lessons.

Click to listen…  It’s not that bad, honest