StaggerLee

Here's an interesting article from the BBC about a study assessing the cost of environmental loss and comparing it to the current market troubles:

Check out CouchSurfing.com, there are a dozen folks in Oakville you could try.

It's good, but not as good as any of their other albums. I was hoping for more.

I saw Land of Talk last night for their album release party and they rocked. Andrew Barr plays drums on their new album Some Are Lakes, but last night they had Loel Campbell from Wintersleep playing.

Peel it and eat it. It's good when slivered and served raw in salads. I've used it in kohlrabi and apple salad with mustard dressing and also with pea shoots and sesame dressing; both were tasty.

My younger me would be astounded to learn that I had become anything but a rock star. But also: that I'm a carpenter and farmer that I have short hair that I think cross-country skiing is cooler than downhill that I want nothing more than to move home to small town Nova Scotia and settle down Fuck I'm old.

I'd guess that the total economic loss to victims likely includes such things as medical bills, income-loss replacement, and payments made for loss of quality of life, not just the value of goods stolen or damaged.

Word. I was living in Central Nova when that foolishness was announced. Liberals in the riding are pissed, and very few will vote Green, they're far more likely to turn NDP or CPC. And when the Libs run their next candidate in the riding they'll have a hard time winning many of those folks back. May and Dion should mutually break that agreement; they still have time to round up a couple more candidates and put their names in.

The larger issue here is that the leaders debate has become an important part of our election process, but it's not regulated by legislation, so a media consortium gets to make the call about who participates. I don't often find myself advocating for government control of the press, but surely there should be some kind of standard criteria for inclusion in the debate. Harper said he would not participate if May were included in the debates, that it would be undemocratic if she were there; what he should have done is introduced legislation that provides fair criteria for inclusion in the debates and said that he would not participate unless those rules were followed. That would be democratic.

My ravioli turned out pretty good considering it was my first time making it. I adapted a few recipes to use up some leftover ricotta, Swiss chard, spinach, parsley and basil that was in our fridge. Pasta: 1 1/2 cups flour 2 eggs Mix into a dough and knead until smooth. Let rest for 20min then roll out with pasta maker. Filling: 1/4lb Swiss chard and 1/4lb spinach, steam the greens until wilted then drain and chop. 1 small onion diced and 1 clove garlic minced, fry in oil until soft then add chopped greens and 1/2 lemon's juice, cook a few minutes until liquid evaporates then transfer to a bowl and add 1/2 cup ricotta, 1/4 cup grated parmesan, 1/2 a lemon's grated rind, 1.5 tbsp chopped basil, 1.5 tbsp chopped parsley, a little salt and lots of pepper Sauce: 2 bulbs garlic, tops cut off then drizzled with olive oil, wrapped in foil and roasted at 400F for 45min. 4 tomatoes, cut in half and placed cut side down on foil lined baking sheet, roasted 15min. Skin the garlic and tomatoes once cooked and then puree and add 1 tbsp red wine vinegar and 1/2 tbsp honey Assemble ravioli using egg white to seal. Boil for 3-4min, top with sauce and more parmesan and parsley.

The ricer we bought has three interchangeable plates with different sized holes. We used the smallest one to make the gnocchi. The advantage is that it has very small holes and produces a very light, fluffy and consistent potato mixture, smoother than mashed potatoes, but not as gluey as whipped potatoes. It's also easy and a time-saver. It'll make spaetzle noodles using the largest plate, which is what we'll try with it next, and it's meant to be great for making baby-food too.

Last night's gnocchi turned out great, though next time we'll add a little more sage and pancetta. It made enough gnocchi to freeze some. We had it with balsamic roasted shallots and steamed broccoli, and made rhubarb grunt for dessert. I'm going to make the ravioli tonight. We've got some swiss chard from the CSA box and a little leftover ricotta from a pie I made last week, so I'm thinking of something like this or this.

That's some good looking ravioli. We get a weekly CSA box too and also got some sage this week. We used some this morning when we had Turkish poached eggs with yogurt and spicy sage butter. I was planning on making ravioli tonight, but my wife and I went shopping this afternoon and bought a potato ricer, which we've wanted for awhile, and we got some potatoes in our CSA box so we're making gnocchi with pancetta and sage instead. Gnocchi: 2 1/4lbs floury potatoes, baked for an hour then peeled and riced 2 egg yolks, beaten and mixed with 2 tbsp grated parmesan, then mixed with the potato 1 1/2 cups flour, kneaded into potato to form a soft dough Roll out the dough and cut into gnocchi. Boil in water for a few minutes until cooked. Sauce: 1 tbsp butter, melt in frying pan and add 1/2 cup pancetta, cook and then add about 8 sage leaves shredded and 2/3 cup cream, reduce to form a sauce with salt and pepper to taste Toss the gnocchi and sauce in a casserole dish. Top with 1/2 cup grated parmesan and bake at 400F for 10-15 min. Eat.

I quit at the same time as my wife; having someone else going through it with you can help a lot. Avoid your smoking friends for awhile, especially when drinking. In fact, it's best to lay off the booze for awhile as it increases the cravings and weakens the resolve. Anytime you feel like a smoke, remind yourself that a single cigarette will undo the effort you've put in so far and knock you back to square one. Quitting smoking sucks, but after awhile you'll stop envying smokers and start pitying them. It took me about three months to feel completely free, but the worst of it was over in about three weeks.

Calexico -- Feast of Wire Howe Gelb -- 'Sno Angel Like You Land of Talk -- Applause, Cheer, Boo, Hiss Rhythm & Truth Brass Band -- Fife & Drum The Holy Shroud -- Ghost Repeaters

Jay, you forgot to mention that Evolve will be happening simultaneously in England this year.

Nice. This was my first Calexico show and my first time in le National, and I was blown away by both the band and the venue. Thanks for the recording.

Yeah, great movie. The soundtrack album is good too.

A mystic walks up to a hot dog vendor and says, "make me one with everything."

Hot and sticky here in Montreal for the last few days with late afternoon thundershowers. Today is overcast and a little cooler.

Canada has a burgeoning biotechnology industry that the government is doing its best to promote, so it'll be close, but I think it has a chance of passing. The Bloc and NDP will support it en masse, and I would expect and bunch of Liberals and even a few Conservatives will voted in favour of it unless their parties tell them to do otherwise. If it passes it will may well mean the end of GMOs on grocery store shelves, as the law reads that such products would have to be in clearly marked genetically modified sections of the store. (The second reading of the bill is here.) GMO crops would likely still be grown in Canada for export to the US, and for animal feed, as the bill does not require animals fed with GMOs to be labelled. Sure hope the bill passes.

The new Nick Cave album. It's great -- pretty upbeat for Cave.