I spent a good part of the day going over my prospective restaurant list for the upcoming Tokyo visit. Some of you may think I’m nuts researching so early given that I don’t hit Nihon until this winter, but there’s a lot to get through and you have to reserve early. In some cases, very early – three months in advance! Anyway, between Chowhound, Egullet, Bento Box, SunnyPages, and assorted foodie blogs, I think I’m in a position to make a somewhat informed decision. When I last reported on my progress, I had trimmed the restaurant list from an unwieldy 96 to a much more doable 51. Alas, between then and now, I’ve ended up adding a few, so that number has ballooned to 74. Sadly, even with double lunches AND double dinners, I wouldn’t make it so I’m going to have to pare down the roster yet again. But it’s tough. They all sound so good and/or intriguing and/or so bizarrely outlandish it’s near impossible to decide. Don’t believe me? Check out some of the restaurants in the running along with the accompanying descriptions that had me taking notice…
Akarichitei: “The habanero chicken is so hot that customers must don surgical gloves to handle it”.
Argent Aso: “Smoked Iberico pork with garlic infused cream”.
Birdland: “…one of Tokyo’s most famous yakitori restaurants, has chicken so fresh that it can be eaten rare. Bonbochi is the fatty bits near the tail, grilled up to juicy, savory bombs. Liver is rich and tender, sunagimo (gizzard) is chewy, hatsu (heart) has a nice mouthfeel, while nankotsu (cartilage; below) gives your jaws a workout”.
Chez Matuso: “Stewed baby boar with white bean puree”.
Ginza La Tour: “Foie Gras Royale slow-cooked for 4 hours then infused with Sauterne”
Gordon Ramsay: “”Oven-roasted pigeon wrapped in prosciutto with foie gras, confit of legs, mushroom ragout, prune puree and almond foam”.
Hiramatsu: “Roast lamb and onion compote with truffle sauce”
Kamiya Nokizaka: “Pork belly cooked in black vinegar and duck slow cooked in its own fat with wine”.
Kimukatsu: “Their unique concept is tonkatsu done more ways than you ever thought possible egg, garlic, miso, plum, black sesame, negi, cheese and, of course, plain. The meat itself is different to the classic tonkatsu, being made up of layers of pork like a millefeuille, crumbed and then deep fried and is quite delicious”.
Kodama: “Matsutake ice cream”.
La Bisboccia: “The parmigiano risotto, served in a bowl made of cheese, is unforgettable”.
L’Alliance: “Foie gras from Landes cooked over low heat and wrapped in a duck consomme and port jelly then served with 20 year old balsamic vinegar and vanilla aroma”.
La Tour d’Argent: “Roast duckling from Vendee served with a heavy sauce made from consomme, duck blood, liver, and Madeira wine“.
Le Bouguignon: “Interesting use of blood and organ meats”.
L’Embellir: “Pig’s feet tonkatsu”.
Maison d’Umemoto Shanghai: “Fried rice with crab innards”.
Miravile: “Japanese beef tongue with foie gras, truffles and pie crust a specialty. Also baked Japanese ox tail, pig’s feet, and foie gras pie served with truffled red wine sauce.”
Monnalisa Marunouchi: “Roast lamb covered with an herb and salt pie dough served with basil-flavored cream.”
Muroi: “Wild mushroom set menu featuring some of the 70 varieties picked”.
O’Hara’s: “Yezo Sika deer terrine and a pie made with truffles, foie gras, and potatoes.”
Okina: “Specialty sobas include soba kneaded with black or white truffles and one with homemade caviar”.
Pierre Gagnaire: “Le Grand Dessert made up of 7 different French desserts”.
Quintessence: “Goat’s milk Bavarian cream with salt and olive oil, three hour roast pork, and meringue ice cream”.
Reikasai: “San Bu Nian – a dessert made of egg yolk, cornflour, sugar and lard in which the dough is kneaded 600 times”.
Ristorante Aso: “Miyazaki and Sedai beef are grilled on charcoal and served with black pepper-flavored mascarpone. Sauteed foie gras topped with zabaione and black truffle sauce”.
Ristorante Honda: “Tagliolini with sea urchin”.
Ristorante La Primula: “ Pasta stuffed with potato puree, cinnamon, mint and raisins topped with Parmesan. Paprika-stewed beef cheeks with polenta, roasted quail stuffed with foie gras”.
Sushi Nakamura: “Seared sea cucmber ovaries good with sake”.
Tateru Yoshina Shiba: “Pork head cuts roasted and served with soft-shelled turtle”.
Uchiyama: “Giant pacific octopus eggs, jellied ray fin broth”.
Yamariki: “This izakaya’s signature nikomi of cow intestines is slow-simmered until tender—the cooks have used the same broth continuously for close to 40 years. Yamariki is known for its yakiton, or grilled bits from pork, including juicy kashira (temples) and chewy teppo (rectum).”
I’m expecting some fabulous dinners! And various Weird Food Purchase of the Day opportunities!
From tasty to tasteless, check out the Time’s Top 10 Tasteless Ads: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1907218_1907236,00.html
From tasteless to terrifying. This Swedish ad was designed to sell personal care products – but instead ended up creeping out many t.v. viewers: http://www.thelocal.se/21116/20090805/
I knew it! Yet another reason dogs are better than kids (http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/personal/08/07/smart.dogs/index.html?iref=mpstoryview). I think I’ll train Jelly to do my taxes.
Mailbag:
Mishmee writes: “Are they working on the SG1 movie now?
My brother and I are working our way through the SG1 series again. We are on season 2. I’ve forgotten many of these episodes and I remember falling asleep on the couch watching them. Can’t remember why I was tired back then.
When did you join the show as a writer?”
Answer: The SG-1 movie script is with Brad right now. Paul and I joined the SG-1 writing staff at the beginning of season four.
Shirt ‘n Tie writes: “I know it’s insanely early, but have any of the actors been approached about doing audio commentary for the eps?”
Answer: Way too early.
Major D. Davis writes: “I heard SGU’s budget was up by 1 million bucks from Atlantis’ budget. So is SGU’s budget 3 million US dollars???”
Answer: Sorry, I’m not about to discuss numbers. However, I will say this – many have erroneously assumed that this was in reference to Atlantis’s FINAL season. It wasn’t. The comparison was being made to Atlantis’s FIRST season. Two very different budgets.
dune knight writes: “ hey joe, since the other guys read your scripts roughly at the same time they are writing theirs; so how are all 22 episodes in-sync in terms of the development of story arc and characters. and how do all of you write for the same character without making them sound different in each script especially for a new show like this.”
Answer: The first three scripts – Air I, II, and III – written by Brad and Robert, are the templates for all future scripts. We attempted to follow through on the various elements (ie. Character voices) that the show’s creators established early on. Once the scripts are completed, Brad and Robert always do a pass to ensure they remain true to their original vision. Also, the more we hear the actors in character, the easier it is to capture their voices. As for the story arcs – we beat out the stories as a team, well aware of what has come and what is coming. It’s not as if one of us will go off and come back with a script in which, say, Eli gets married or one of our major characters is killed off. All of the overall arcs and in-story arcs are discussed prior to going to script. In small instances, Brad and Rob may also tweak and adjust later scripts to reflect earlier developments.
duneknight also writes: “you probably answered this one before, how do you get yourself into writing mode”
Answer: Easy. I force myself. If I have the luxury of time, I’ll take it. If, however, I’m facing a deadline, then I sit down in front of my laptop and force myself to get it done.
Ytimyona writes: “Have the puppies been waking you up that early, or did it just kind of happen?”
Answer: As outrageous as it sounds, I’m waking up even earlier than my dogs!
Ascended Tauri writes: “I have a question about script lengths. If I’m not mistaken, the Atlantis scripts would often come in at 60-70 pages, yes? So then, why would you say are the SGU scripts coming is as so much less at around 50 pages? (and with the ‘larger’ font, that would make the difference even greater, would it not?)”
Answer: Atlantis scripts would come in at approximately 60 pages. As for the difference in the SGU scripts – different font, different show.
Paloosa writes: “From what you’ve said, SGU is more character and relationship focused, which means that more script and thus screen time is spent in developing these relationships. Doesn’t that equal less action time and therefore less expense?”
Answer: It’s not as simple as saying more focus on relationships will yield less expensive episodes because something has to happen in these episodes – besides developing relationships. The show is more action-adventure than space opera.
RebeccaH writes: “I’d feel your pain, JM, but I’m currently battling swine flu.”
Answer: Hey, get better.
PG15 writes: “Speaking of which, she hasn’t been around the blog in a while. Is she still employed at Bridge Studios?”
Answer: Oh yeah. It’s really more the case of me no being around the office since I’ve been homing working on these scripts.
Grapesofwraith writes: “And a question about the script-font mix up – if you guys are using Courier now, shouldn’t you have realized it when writing Space a couple months ago?”
Answer: I did realize when writing Space. Then promptly forgot and realized again while writing these two scripts.
joe/Answer: Oh yeah. It’s really more the case of me no being around the office since I’ve been homing working on these scripts.
joe, you *need* to get out of the house! 😛
I think planning a trip is half the fun!
Are we going to vote on which restaurants you are going to go to? I tend to go for the lighter meals so my personal favorites on the list are:
Muroi: “Wild mushroom set menu featuring some of the 70 varieties picked” One of the best meals I’ve had in Japan was at a small noodle shop near Mt. Fuji – wild mushroom soba and duck soba. Yum. I wanna go back!!!!
Kodama: Matsutake ice cream – the idea of mushroom flavored ice cream in intriguing and I love the name Kodama (echo).
Okina: soba with truffles.
La Bisboccia: “The parmigiano risotto, served in a bowl made of cheese, is unforgettable”.
Ristorante Aso: “Miyazaki and Sedai beef are grilled on charcoal and served with black pepper-flavored mascarpone. Sauteed foie gras topped with zabaione and black truffle sauce”.
Birdland: “…one of Tokyo’s most famous yakitori restaurants, has chicken so fresh that it can be eaten rare. Bonbochi is the fatty bits near the tail, grilled up to juicy, savory bombs. I love yakitori and chicken innards!
@RebeccaH: get well soon!
how does one become a free lancer writer for SGU?
Ya, so I’m about as far away from a foodie as you are from a nature nut, so reading that list of restaurant was…confusing. I’d say that I’d have a better time understanding all that mySQL gobbledygook from a few days back than knowing what any of those food terms are; I swear, some of them sound more like Engrish.
But, good luck trimming it down! 😉
Thanks for answering my question about Ashleigh! Here’s to more hilarity from your nemesis when you’re done with these epic scripts. Speaking of which, what happens when you’re done with these scripts? You’re not “doing passes” on any other scripts, there are no more stories to spin or break (assuming episode 17 is off the table and your scripts remain in 2 parts), so are you basically…done? I mean, I guess you’d need to read other scripts and watch cuts, but is that it? Are you free to engage in shenanigans?
I know the Atlantis movie is looking more and more like it’s not going to happen (thus say the twitterers), but if the money somehow rolls in following a massive fan outrage and the actors can all rearrange their schedules (maybe it can be filmed when most other shows are on hiatus?), do you think there’s still a chance?
David Chapple writes: “What month are you going?
The winter months may be a littler busier because of the heat from the food.”
Answer: I’m going from late November to early December. I’m having the concierge at my hotel book most of the other restaurants on my itinerary so I’ll do the same for this one. Oh, and while we’re on the subject, have you heard of a restaurant called Kabukicho?
Joe,
Sorry I didn’t reply sooner. Been pretty busy lately.
November and December are good times to go. It doesn’t happen often, but you may get some snow sticking in Tokyo while you’re there. One of my great memories is when I visited the 47 Ronin Shrine near Shinagawa station during a blizzard. It just seemed appropriate.
I have a picture of that day in one of my albums.
I don’t know of a restaurant called Kabukicho, but there is an area of Shinjuku known as “Kabuki-cho.” It was originally named that because it was going to have a kabuki theater built there. The theater was never built but the name stayed.
It is kind of a rough area. It is known to be a Yakuza area(although that might have changed in the past few years).
Lots of drink bars and pachinko houses. BUT there are some good small restaurants in the area.
Not sure if I would go without a Japanese friend though.
If you like Tempura cooked with good oil, try a place in Shinjuku called “FUNIBASHIYA.” The rice is outstanding and the tempura is never oily and the tastes are always fresh.
I don’t remember the address though. I believe the restaurant has been around for many years. The area is on the steep outside staicase side of Shinjuku station. I’ve been there about 12 times and I know how to get there but have long since forgot the address and street name.
I’ll try to find the location if you might be interested.
By the way, if you get a chance to come to Los Angeles, I have a great sushi restaurant for you.
Take care,
Dave Chapple
How was dinner with Ivon?
@RebeccaH–Get well soon!
Joe, I’ll trade my dilemmas for your dilemmas, any day! If the biggest thing I had to fret over was which high-end Tokyo restaurants to dine at…I think I’d be semi-normal by now!
@ RebeccaH – Get well, soon! And stay away from me! 😀
Big day, again. I’m pooped. Bigger day tomorrow. But at least I’m sleeping good. Maybe that’s because I’m not fretting over where to eat a few months from now. 😉
(Actually, the early waking could be because you’re eating better, losing a little weight, and as a result, have more energy. Start eating crispy pig brains and gobs of nutella again, and see if you don’t start sleeping til noon!)
das
Akarichitei: “The habanero chicken is so hot that customers must don surgical gloves to handle it”.
Okay, if that’s more than just hype, then what’s it gonna do to the taste buds? Or the entire tongue? Total annihilation, I’m thinking. With akari, light, in the name, maybe this restaurant has a very small but exclusive clientele of those who want to experience the gastronomic equivalent of consuming a laser beam.
Outside of that, almost everything sounds great, really outstanding in many cases, in one way or another. Except maybe for the chewy teppo. Well, I might take one nibble, but only if I could watch it being cleaned and then look at it under a microscope afterward.
COW Intestines???? EEEEEWWWWWW!!!!
Have you ever experinced Writer’s Block especially when a deadline is near????
Any pic’s of the Crispy Duck Dinner with Ivan
Joe,
I’m fascinated by all this font business (too much time on my hands). You said that on SG-1 and Atlantis, the scripts had the same font and SGU has a different one. Is there an industry standard? Why the change? Is there a pecking order situation going on here??
Best,
Rose
Viewed in the privacy of my study, the tasteless ads seemed mostly pretty funny; South Park (and life in general) can inoculate you to any number of things. But that doesn’t mean the ads belong on TV. And now, I’ve got one more gripe against PETA. Grrrrr.
The results of the dog-intelligence study were very interesting. It could be even more interesting to read your blog as you type up entries from a tax-bureau interrogation room, since Jelly would most likely claim herself, Bubba, Maximus, Lulu, and maybe even Brie as your dependents. But major props for the pioneering spirit, and good luck with it all.
Foie gras topped with zabaione sauce sounds rich enough for a whole meal. – I guess whatever you miss this trip, you can look forward to for the next time. Giant octopus eggs . . . as a sci-fi writer/producer and adventurous gastronome, how could you pass on that? Decisions, decisions.
There’s always the time honored geek solution to the restaurant problem. Roll percentile dice(I;m sure you have a couple of ten sided dice lying around, or maybe even a hundred sided one)
From the look of it, if you ever decide to give up the writing thing, you have a career in showing others how to do time management. Producing scripts, answering mailbags, AND still have the time to put up some entertaining links to othr websites? Never mind keeping up your reading, BotM and otherwise. Thanks for taking the time to share.
Joe, I’m going to be an Auntie!!!
I enjoyed your link to the most tasteless ads. I seldom say that I could just walk in and do something better than those who do it for a living, but I have said that on occasion about advertising.
Not because I am that good, but because some of them are so bad anyone with a pulse could do better.
Example: The Burger King “King”. He’s creepy – and not in a good way.
Another (which shall remain nameless) had a mock taste test with “bile” as the alternative to the product. It was an effective ad in that I never pass the product in the food aisle without thinking of the word “bile”, but as far as increasing sales – not so much.
Man, where do I start? After reading The Speed of Dark early in July and encouraging everyone not to miss it, life happened and I missed the BOTM discussion and question submission. Was so disappointed about it this week. So what happened? I think we blog readers lead symbiotic lives some times, that’s what…especially after spending hours tonight catching up on the past week’s blogs and comments.
Computer trouble? Check! (Where is scary when you need him/her?) We had a Huge Thunderstorm on Tuesday that knocked out power for half the day, and cable/Internet for 3 whole days. DougIndy, were you affected? Giant old trees were also toppled, houses damaged, and sign posts and garden plants were flattened literally against the ground. I had to go to a friend/co-worker’s house to work a couple shifts of my online job. Her house, in an historic, artsy neighborhood, was one of the ones damaged by falling trees. On Thursday I tracked down some of the Comcast guys on our street, where more neighbors found them. Enough of us had trouble, so they declared it an outage and got maintenance to fix it in time for my shift – only I still couldn’t get high-speed Internet. Two hours later figured out that my 1-year-old router is likely fried by the storm. Thought we got it fixed, then found no connection at all. Tonight my IT guru Sis-in-law and I patched a simple connection together and she looked at the computer router via remote assistance (pretty cool). Time to start shopping, she said.
Caring for hurting family? Check—though not the longterm care others here are committed to. I slept through the morning of the bad storm that caused the trouble. I’d been up all night, mostly with my Dad. The past couple weeks he’s been in horrific pain, including an overnight trip to the E.R., hospital stay, and CT scans, MRIs, echoes and EKGs galore. No diagnosis till we got back home and saw the primary doc after the next weekend. He took one look and announced, “Shingles!” (Why couldn’t the hospital have told us that???) Poor Dad! We’d thought it was back pain. Shingles causes such severe pain that even an ex-farm boy, ex-jock, ex-military Alpha Dad can’t handle. Some of the worst pain of his life. The meds for calming the nerve pains are finally beginning to work. We’re doing everything we can to keep him comfortable until this passes over. Prayers and good thoughts?
That’s enough coincidence among us for me. :-/
Joe, great news about your short story Downfall. Hope it will be, conversely, the start of many good things for you. And splash some good will on your joint projects with Paul.
Chev, I’m one of your social/extroverted types who still needs her downtime. I scored 19 on the Autistic Quotient test.
Couldn’t we bum a few mill from the nearest billionaire in order to make the Atlantis Movie? Or barring a windfall from Baron Destructo’s counter-extortion attempts, could we set up a web site with a PayPal donation button? We fans could raise our own production money. Any itchy tech fingers out there?
So enjoyed reading this week’s discussion of The Speed of Dark. Everyone had something interesting or thought-provoking to say. The best will probably be Elizabeth Moon’s Q&A. Like many, I felt bereft at the loss of “Lou-before.” I cried when he woke up after surgery as a mental infant. Eventually I’ll “get it together” and post a review link.
Sparrow_hawk caught a good turning point for Lou Arrendale in his decision making: the sermon on healing he heard in church. Someone else wondered why religion even surfaced in the story, but church was a sanctuary for Lou for many reasons. He loved the structure, order, and beauty of Bach, which the organist liked playing. Music was the calming force in Lou’s world. He liked the patterns of the sunlight through the windows, but he said he also wanted to become a better person. That’s what was driving his decision: the process of Becoming.
In the sermon story, the Reverend used the Pool of Bethesda (John, chapter 5). At that pool, an angel would occasionally stir the waters, and the ill and the sick believed they could be healed if they would be the first to be lowered into the water after it rippled. One crippled man complained that there was no one to help him into the water. Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be healed?” A controversial question, for sure. Lou thought so, and the Reverend agreed. He’d intended it for other people in the church who weren’t letting go of past grudges, not Lou. He wanted people to stop thinking in their old ways, and try new ones. Lou said he didn’t want to be thrown into the pool anyway—he was trying to avoid other people throwing him in.
After Lou left for home, he was still thinking about what the story could mean for him. His parents had told him that autism was an accident, therefore it wasn’t wrong to want to change. The more he thought he thought about the pool, he understood the story. He thought it was about letting go of only one type of healing (like the crippled man had his heart set on), and being open to God and all the possibilities for healing. He realized he’d already begun to change without the surgery, by “fencing off” Don’s attempt to kill him, by cramming all the knowledge he could about neuro chemistry, and by falling in love with Marjory. He was going to change anyway, why not in a more dramatic way? He wanted to become better, he wanted a bigger future, and he wanted it with Marjory.
That was the hinge on which Lou’s life turned. He chose to give up the known path, “act as normal as you can,” for the big risk. He was free to try, and after a lifetime of people telling him “no,” he was going to say “yes.”
After the big gamble, Lou Arrendale found his bigger future, as a captain of a spaceship. Was he a better person for it? We weren’t allowed to see. His process of becoming was hidden by a seven-year ellipsis in story telling. We didn’t see Tom, Lucia, Marjory, and the fencing group help Lou rehabilitate after the surgery, help him re-evolve. Lou had said he didn’t want the surgery if he lost his memories, if he lost his dislike of anchovies on pizza. Above all, he didn’t want it if he lost his feelings for his friends, for Marjory.
Was it worth it? We’ll never know.
In the beginning, Lou hated getting pelted with questions. Now he gets to ask the questions, not us.
No swine flu here, but I’m back on antibiotics which are causing nasty side effects this time.
Anne Teldy
Just playing catch up. I’m doing my usual of leaving my holiday preparations till the night before, makes it SO much more interesting but then again we are only travelling to Scotland a mere 600 ish miles away mostly motorway which equates to mostly traffic snarl up.
As for carbon emissions I have faith that the planet will sort it out for itself, humanity is nothing more than a parasite anyways. Nature will always find a way so carry on with bottled water and don’t worry too much, I don’t 🙂
Dans un des derniers trailers, on voit la porte de la base Icarus exploser. L’équipa a-t-elle vraiment fait exploser la porte ?
Heard dinner was interesting….care to spill or share some pics? 🙂
I went through your list and had a few thoughts.
San Bu Nian – a dessert made of egg yolk, cornflour, sugar and lard in which the dough is kneaded 600 times
What if the chef lost count? Would it fail if it was only kneaded 598 times?
Sushi Nakamura: “Seared sea cucmber ovaries good with sake”.
OK, so I was curious about the sea cucumber ovaries so I looked it up and found an interesting article – sea cucumber delicacies. 100 sea cucumbers to make a triangle? Woah, sad.
So, you’ve all probably guessed by now that I like taking quizzes. I hope you do too. Continuing from the Autism Test I give you………..
What kind of thinker are you?
“Some people have a strong preference for one style of thinking, and find some skills come more naturally than others. Other people tend to adopt different thinking styles in different situations.”
Source BBC Science & Nature Thinker Quiz Results
My results: I’m a Logical-Mathematical Thinker.
Logical-Mathematical Thinkers:
-Like to understand patterns and relationships between objects or actions
-Try to understand the world in terms of causes and effects
-Are good at thinking critically, and solving problems creatively
Sounds about right. How about you?
Cheers, Chev
As far as the list, take the time machine with you from SGA and you can go back and eat and go back and eat and so on and on and on, you get the idea. Gives you more hours in a day to eat, unless you can come up with a different way, pretty darn near impos…,unless you stay longer than you planned originally…..hmm, dilemnas, make some time to sleep, if you can. I love planning for a trip. Going to Chicago soon to visit my son, so planning away here also, but not as intense, maybe, hah, Have a great time!. Bring back presents. 😉
@ for the love of Beckett – you are a prime example of the saying, “better late than never”. Very much enjoyed your thoughts on The Speed of Dark! Too bad you missed the real time discussions. We could have gotten even more out of ya!
One thing. God does not make mistakes. Lou’s autism was not a mistake. Look how many people he affected around him because he was autistic. Everyone is born for a reason and a purpose. Sometimes it may take a lifetime to realize that reason . Even Jesus was born for a purpose – dying on the cross to save us.
Get better soon to:
RebeccaH
Anne Teldy
for the love of Beckett’s dad
and anyone else who needs this wish
Burger King’s ads are getting disgusting. Maybe it is time for a boycott? Eat roast lamb and onion compote with truffle sauce instead. That one sounds good to me!
for the love of Beckett –
I’m sorry to read about your father’s case of shingles. The intense pain makes you hurt so bad for the person going through it, so thank goodness the meds are starting to help. You, your dad, and your family will be in my thoughts and prayers.
Anne Teldy – I know it’s a complicated situation with the antibiotics, and miserable for you. You remain in my thoughts and prayers.
Hi Mr M!
Greetings from the local internet cafe! Sorry I missed the BOTM discussion. I was up the walls this week with various odds’n’ends. I’m still finishing The Speed of Dark…it’s such a great book.
On that topic, Autism affects such a significant percentage of people, throughout the world. I (like many) have a relative who is diagnosed on that spectrum.
In my profession, I treat all types of people. Most are “normal” although, almost everyday, I am re-evaluating what “normal” is…and more importantly, the people who “decide” what normal is!
I love a book like TSoD because it tackles this issue HEADON without flinching. Very classy.
I would love if E Moon or another writer could tackle another major issue under the SciFi guise. By that I mean Cancer / Heart Disease / Alcoholism / Road Traffic Accidents / Abuse. I’m pretty sure that there is no-one reading this comment, who has not been affected in their immediate family (or extended) by at least one of the above.
On a lighter note, I was at the International Horse Show in Dublin over the weekend. I have a funny story to tell (SG related) which I will post tomorrow, when back at base.
Thank you for answering my question (as always). Yes, I though it might be too early! *Keeps fingers crossed for Brian J. Smith to do a commentary*
And finally : couple of questions:
Any sign of the Joel Q and A ?
ANd the John Lenic Q and A ?
Where is Ashley…or has she Czech-ed out? (boom boom!)
Best to all!!
Shirt’n’Tie
Chevon7: Thank you for another test. It was fun, and I’m a Spatial Thinker.
Well wishes for all the sick ones today. I hope will have good health soon.
Good luck on your diet, Mr. M.
Tam
Joe – no chocolate on your Tokyo foodie list? Guess you’ll just have to rough it.
RebeccaH and all – hope you get better soon.
In my opinion, the Burger King is the scariest clown on face of the planet.
Chev – Thanks for the latest, cool test. I just took it and hope others do as well. My results are a cross between the following:
Linguistic thinkers:
Tend to think in words, and like to use language to express complex ideas.
Are sensitive to the sounds and rhythms of words as well as their meanings.
Intrapersonal thinkers:
Spend a lot of time thinking about and trying to understand themselves
Reflect on their thoughts and moods, and work to improve them
You understand how your behaviour affects your relationships with others
Hey Joe,
I have recently been chosen to receive 2 unsolicited Grants!! Wow, just what I needed! May I be so bold as to borrow some of the Barons more subtle responses to spammers?
Thanks,
G
@for the love of Beckett: Good thoughts coming your way – no need to ask!
@Anne Teldy: Get better soon! We’re thinking of you!
Oh yes, their definition of Spatial Thinkers:
Tend to think in pictures, and can develop good mental models of the physical world.
Think well in three dimensions
Have a flair for working with objects
My husband took the test and was labeled: Logical-Mathematical thinker. Not a big surprise for a computer geek.
That fits, as a couple we make stain glass windows (hobby only). Hubby does all the measurements/plans and I implement the designs/cut/construct the glass pieces. Stain glass windows are similiar to constructing a big jigsaw puzzle from glass. Little more blood loss involved than a regular jigsaw puzzle, though. 😉
Thanks again Chevron7,
Tam
Chev – Interpersonal Thinker here.
* Like to think about other people, and try to understand them
* Recognise differences between individuals and appreciate that different people have different perspectives
* Make an effort to cultivate effective relationships with family, friends and colleagues
It’s interesting that Mother Teresa is in that list as she was discussed quite a bit when I caught up with my parents at the end of last week. What a sad realisation she had at the end of her life. One of my Dad’s friends is creating an incredible oil on canvas reflecting the last part of her life. She looks like she’s going to come out of the canvas. I don’t come from a traditionally religious family and the result was that we were exposed to all religions. Hearing her tale, no matter what your viewpoint on religion is, made me sigh with sadness.
Do all these restaurants like making purees? There seems to be an awful lot of them.
Also, “Gordon Ramsay: “Oven-roasted pigeon wrapped in prosciutto with foie gras, confit of legs, mushroom ragout, prune puree and almond foam”
My Grandma would swear to you that a few of these things are what she is served in the nursing home.
I don’t do offal so I can’t contribute to the vote there!! Won’t go near liver even for the dog after seeing one cut up in an autopsy once…and I don’t do feet either 😉
Pierre Gagnaire: “Le Grand Dessert made up of 7 different French desserts”. YUMMY!!
Hiramatsu: “Roast lamb and onion compote with truffle sauce” MmmmMmmmmm
Love Yakitori but I would not touch chicken raw!!
@suziesbluefeather Congrats on being an Auntie!!When is bub due?? My niece is due in December. It’s all very exciting being a first time Auntie 🙂