1/2 Daikon (Japanese white radish)

1 Gobo (Burdock)

1 Atsuage (Deep fried soy-bean cake)

2 cups Katsuodashi

3 tbsp Japanese soy sauce

2 tbsp Mirin

cut Atsuage bite size

cut Daikon 2 inch long, 1 inch thick

cut Gobo bite size

Boil Daikon and Gobo for 10 minutes, and then drain hot water

heat Katsuodashi, Japanese soy sauce and mirin and put everything in it

Boil it for 20 minutes, then serve into the bowl

This is very healthy side dish again.

No oil, No lard, No meat!

I hope you enjoy it!

click please

i took a tour with my son at the pearl city urban gardens. its behind the home depot. they are affiliated with the university of hawaii and have a master gardeners class. if you were ever interested in learning how to grow your own foods, this is the place to do it! they had some neat ideas i haven’t ever seen before- growing sweet potatoes in sand, and gobo grown in long tubes that are cut in half, then stuck back together- held together with a clasp. the gobo is planted on the top of this tube, and grows straight down. when ready to harvest, you undo the clasps and open the tube container to easily get your gobo with out digging deep into your garden!! i think i’ll try it with carrots….

their master gardner program also has a help line for those of you- like me- might have questions about growing things in your own garden. call them at 808-453-6055. 9am-noon, m-f.

find more info here…

This morning I woke up thinking of how I am no longer in the City and wishing I were back there though I am glad to see my nieces. I spent the day with Gianna while Alyssa was at school, Tiff at work and David went out to work as well. She mostly slept and ate but we did have a few laughs together. Got a great big smile from her when I was singing her a lullaby called “Gute Nacht Mein Feines Lieb.” It’s a German folksong that I know from when I studied vocal performance in Miami. The version we learned was set to a tune composed by Brahms. I’m not quite certain what the arrangement was but I do remember the tune and the lyrics are as follows:

“Gute Nacht gute Nacht mein feines Lieb
gute Nacht schlaf wohl mein Kind
Gute Nacht gute Nacht mein feines Lieb
gute Nacht schlaf wohl mein Kind
daß dich die Engel hüten all
die in dem schönen Himmel sind

Gute Nacht gute Nacht mein feines Lieb
schlaf wohl in Nächten lind”

Gianna seemed to really enjoy hearing that! It was a very quiet day. I came back from NYC yesterday. I left JFK Airport at around 8:30pm and arrived around 9:40pm. I miss it already. It has always been my dream to live there and I still want to see that happen. As I was thinking about this dream and what best expresses how I feel about living in NY I remembered one of my favorite songs of all time:

I believe it truly embodies my life in general! I know that I am going to make it in NY and that it will not be long now before I go back. I took several photos yesterday before leaving and had a blast getting to know different parts of Manhattan that I was not so familiar with before. I wish I’d had more time to do more sightseeing but when I move there I will have plenty of time to do that! I walked a bit down Bleecker Street and found lots of really fun places to shop and small cafes. I also went to a restaurant called Gobo which was to die for! I met a friend and his cousin there, at the one in the West Village (on 6th and 8th): http://www.goborestaurant.com/west/index.htm. Check the site out! It’s a vegetarian restaurant but the food is delicious! I enjoyed taking a walk yesterday through Union Square, Madison Square Park, the High Line, the West Village and parts of Chelsea. I think of all the places I saw this past weekend my favorite areas were Meatpackers and Lower Manhattan (West Village side).  Check these few pics out:

Those are all from Monday! You can see more on my flickr page. So, I really hope that my dreams do come true and my prayer is that by February I will be in NYC! I hope you all enjoy the photos!

Cheers!

Rice with seasonings

Boiled egg with Japanese mayonnaise

Radish

Butter Asparagus

Okaramochi

Gobo, Carrot Kinpira

Chicken nuggets

Orange

Butter Asparagus : boil asparagus and then fry with butter, add salt and pepper

Okaramochi : mix mashed potato with Okara, and then fry on the pan with butter, add Japanese soy sauce

Gobo, Carrot Kinpira : cut gobo and carrot thin strips and then boil. heat the pan and add sesame oil, fry gobo and carrot and then add Japanese soy sauce and sugar

This is Today’s Obento!

This is called Osechi-ryori, it is a special meal made for new years day.

It is eaten from breakfast to lunch and it is very large meal that requires a lot of preparation.

I am going to break this down into sections.

I will start with the Ozouni (soup), then explain each of the box sections.

Ozouni

10 cups of shiitake broth

1/2 cup Japanese soy sauce

8 Mochi

4 thin slices of Kamaboko (fish cake)

4 shiitake

12 leaves of Mochina (green leaves)

katsuobushi

boil shiitake broth, then put everything in the pot.

cook for 2-3 minutes and add Japanese soy sauce.

serve into the bowl and add katsuobushi to taste.

Section1;

Fried Chicken, Fried Fish, Kamoboko

Fried chicken

2lb chicken thigh

1 bag of Karaage powder

cut chicken into bite size pieces

coat chicken with Karaage powder (you can get it at the Asian market)

deep fry for a few minutes until golden brown

Fried fish

2 lb white fish

1/3 cup Japanese soy sauce

Potato starch

cut fish into bite size pieces

soak it into Japanese soy sauce for 10 minutes

coat fish with potato starch

deep fry for a few minutes until golden brown

Kamaboko

This can be purchased at the Asian market in the frozen section.

just slice 1/4 inches thick

Section 2;

Chikuzenni, Nikumaki-gobo

Chikuzennni

4-5 inches Renkon (lotus root)

1 large carrot

1 Takenoko (bamboo shoot)

1/4 lb chicken thigh

3 6-inch long Gobo (burdock)

4 Shiitake mushrooms

1 cup shiitake broth

4 tbsp Japanese soy sauce

4 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp mirin

cut vegetables large chunks (look at the picture)

boil shiitake broth and put everything in, boil for 30 minutes and add Japanese soy sauce, sugar and mirin, then remove from heat

Nikumaki-gobo

I have done this recipe before, just click on the link to see it.

Section 3;

Dashimaki-tamago (egg omelet), Namasu, Tatsukuri, Kobumaki, Kamaboko, Kuromame

Dashimaki-tamago (egg omelet)

5 eggs

2 tbsp Katsuodashi (fish broth)

beat eggs in the bowl, add Katsuodashi

heat the pan, add some of the egg and roll up

add more egg to the pan and roll up again

continue doing this till you use up all the egg

remove from heat and cut 1/2 inch thick

Namasu

6 inches of Daikon

2 carrots

1/2 cup of Edamame

1/2 cup vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

peel strips of Daikon and carrot using a peeler

soak into mixed vinegar and sugar

boil edamame and remove from shell and the add to rest

Tatsukuri

1 bag of dried fish (sardine)

1/4 cup Japanese soy sauce

1/4 cup sugar

3 tbsp Ground sesame seeds

add to the sauce pan and cook on low heat for a few minutes stirring gently

Kobumaki

10 2- inch dried Konbu seaweed

dried Kanpyo

1 cup of Konbu dashi

1 tbsp Japanese white soy sauce

1 tsp salt

soak Konbu in the water (save that water)

wash Kanpyo, and then rub it with salt for 30 seconds and wash

boil it for 10 minutes and drain water

roll up Konbu and tie it with Kanpyo

boil saved water of soaked konbu, and then put tied konbu, add Japanese white soy sauce

cook for 20-30 minutes

Kuromame

1 cup of Black beans

3 tbsp sugar

soak black beans in the water for 8 hours

put it into pressure cooker and add sugar

boil for 15-20 minutes

do not take the lid off till it gets cool down

I added Kuri-kanroni.

I have done this recipe before, just click on the link to see it.

This is a Japanese New year meal.

I hope you have some fun to make and taste it.

click please

1 burdock (Gobo)

1 fried bean curd (Age)

daikon (white radish)

green onion

sesame oil

Japanese soy sauce

cut burdock and boil

cut fried bean curd and stir it with burdock using sesame oil

serve it on the plate and add grated Daikon, green onion

put Japanese soy sauce on that

I hope you enjoy it!

click please

THE GOBO LIGHTS ARE IN!!!

For all of the loyal Tulsa Wedding DJ Connection fans out there, we now have GOBO LIGHTS!!! They are sometimes referred to as Monogram Lighting, Monogram Projection, Custom Projection Lights, etc… (you get the idea).

We can COMPLETELY customize pretty much anything you want, as detailed or simple as you would like! Below is an example of what one can look like.

The Blueish Lights crawling up the walls are Par can Lights (in which we have those as well).
Par cans are sometimes called wall lights, floor sconces, or up lighting; and they go up the wall or column accenting the room in your favorite colors.

To inquire about our up lighting or enhanced lighting,
Call up to our office now (or shortly after now): 918-481-2010

Here are some GREAT sites to inquire within:

http://www.djconnectiontulsa.com/index.cfm?id=52
http://www.jandsvista.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=509
http://www.brettadmire.com/?showimage=166
http://www.garbes.com/low-voltage_halogen/halogen.html
http://www.net-model.com/Forums/ReadThread.asp?ThreadID=756939
http://www.mywalldecals.com/m8_view_item.html?m8:item=AMON0013
http://www.mywalldecals.com/m8_view_item.html?m8:item=AMON0019
http://www.metrobuilderssupply.com/
http://www.profitfrog.com/profitable-hobbies-articles/beaded-monogram-sweaters.htm
http://www.tulsaworld.com/site/printerfriendlystory.aspx?articleID=20081118_298_WASH423723

http://ladiesof798.org/default.aspx

http://www.restockit.com/monogram-glassware.html
http://www.specialeventsoklahoma.com/blog/?p=186
http://www.restockit.com/cake-box-monogram.html
http://hudsonvalley.weddings.com/boards/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=62154705&forumid=113
http://www.gobostogo.com/order/account_new.php
http://www.partypop.com/Forums/Bar_Bat_Mitzvah/m450973.htm
http://www.getmarried.com/bloggerbrides/archive/monograms_gobo_lighting.htm
http://livedesignonline.com/theatre/lighting_plot_thickens_moving/index.html
http://www.gobosource.com/
http://www.pictureweave.com/
http://motivationalspeakertulsa.com/2009/11/04/1006/

Gobo Lights are PERFECT for:

weddings, business meetings, holiday parties, company luncheons, birthdays, proms, motivational speaking, sweet 16’s, sweet sixteens, quinceaneras, regular tuesday parties, corporate functions, mitzvahs, reunions, college parties, sororities, fraternities, gobo, gobos, custom gobo, glass gobo, stock gobo, standard gobo, the pope, lighting, image projection, gobo projector, gobo light, logo projection, vci 300, martin SCX-700, dj equipment, Studio Equipment, Pro Audio, cdj 1000 mk3, rane serato scratch, cheap dj gear, dj lighting, dj software, Technics turntable, technics 1200, dj mixers, cdj players, stage lighting, pro audio, night club, studio software, dj music, dj turn tables, president obama, dual cd player, Technics 1200mk5, dj turntable, dj headphones, Vestax, Pioneer, Boss, Roland, Denon, JBL, Behringer, Technics, Martin, Chauvet, DJ Connection, tulsa wedding, wall decals, wall decal, vinyl lettering, vinyl graphics, vinyl decals, wall words, wall graffiti, kitchen wall décor, kitchen wall decals, baby decor, nursery décor, chidrens decor, my wall decals, mywalldecals, mywalldecal, my wall decal, affordable vinyl graphics, affordable graphics, affordable vinyl, vinyl graphics, affordable vinyl graphics owasso, affordable vinyl Owasso, vinyl letters, vinyl décor, vinyl words, former President Bill Clinton, vinyl monograms, vinyl monogram, vinyl phrases, vinyl quotes, wall art, house warming gifts, wedding gift, wedding gifts, custom vinyl lettering, decorative lettering, LEDs Magazine, OLEDs, LED packaging, power LEDs, oriental decals, oriental decor, personalized gifts, rub on decals, rub on letters, vinyl lettering quotes, walmart, vinyl stickers, stencils, wall quotes, wall sayings, word wall, words for walls, beaded monogrammed sweaters, LEDs, LEDs, Solid State Lighting, Light Emitting Diodes, LED Lighting, LED backlighting, LED News, LED technology, LED Magazine, high power LEDs, high brightness LEDs, wal-mart, gallium nitride, blue LEDs, white LEDs, red LEDs, PennWell Corporation, Oklahoma State, Centennial Celebration Sooners, Wireless, Sooners, Tulsa, Centennial, Extravaganza, Productions, Olsen, omni, portable, custom, lasers, videos, projections screens, wholesale, manufacturers, cubes, colors, galas, graphics, spheres, outdoors, giant, movies, special events, vip parties, party, corporate, festivals, fashion shows, movies, concerts, product launches, sports events, inflatables, projection surface, all weather, slides, films, lighting, trade shows, decorative vinyl lettering, inspirational wall decals, nursery wall decor, holiday, laser effects, laser light show, video, entertainment, avant garde, shows, rentals, films, special effects, fx, inflatables, ilda, lighting effects, party, portable, commercials, advertising, fashions, international, usa, houston, tx, texas, ok, oklahoma, ks, kansas, ar, arkansas, mo, missouri, former President George Bush, or anyone else of equal or greater importance.

Propaganda & Highly-Biased Fun Facts about DJ Connection:

*
2009 – DJ Connection was named by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as “Blue Ribbon Small Business Award” sponsored by Sam’s Club
*
2009 – “Wedding Wire 2009 Bride’s Choice” Winner
*
2008 “Best of the Best Wedding Award” Winner – www.weddingmba.com
*
2008 Host of the 9th Annual Tulsa Apartment Association “Zenith Awards”
*
In October of 2007 DJ Connection became a Better Business Bureau Accredited Business for our team’s continued excellence in customer service.
*
In June of 2007 DJ Connection was featured in the Tulsa World Business Section for our recent awards and for our owner’s upcoming book “Turn Your Passion Into Profits”
*
Clayton Clark owner of DJ Connection Tulsa Inc. was named the 2007 State of Oklahoma Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
*
During the early summer of 2007 DJ Connection was featured in Oklahoma Magazine’s feature entitled “40 under 40″ which was an article describing Oklahoma’s top 40 entrepreneurs under the age of 40.
*
During the calendar year of 2006 DJ Connection donated $10,000 + of service to local Oklahoma charities including March of Dimes and Relay for Life.
*
DJ Connection received recognition from the “American Wedding Association” as Tulsa’s Best Wedding Vendor in 2006.
*
DJ Connection was named “The number-one DJs in the Tulsa area…They are great party executors” by Modern Bride Magazine in their December/January 2005 edition
*
DJ Connection is a proud member of Tulsa Bridal Association
*
DJ Connection, DJ Clay and the rest of the DJ Connection staff volunteered over 100 hours of work with local (Tulsa) in school peer and mentor groups.
*
DJ Connection Tulsa Inc. is an ecstatic member of the American Wedding Association
*
DJ Connection Tulsa Inc. received the 2002 Tulsa Metro Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
*
DJ Connection Tulsa Inc. is an ecstatic member of the Tulsa Metro, Bixby & Broken Arrow Chambers of Commerce.
*
DJ Connection Tulsa is a proud member of the Better Business Bureau “Excellence In Customer Service Honor Roll.”
*
Clay Clark co-owner of DJ Connection was featured in September of 2003 on “Oklahoma’s News Channel 8’s Good Morning Oklahoma” with Lori Montag of Montag Photography for their role as President and Vice President of the Tulsa Bridal Association respectively.
*
Tulsa DJ Rabu “Flava” Leyva was named the “Outstanding Casanova of the Year” by his beautiful wife Kena.
*
“The average human head weighs 8.1 lbs!”

Gugu alcançou a liderança de audiência neste domingo na prévia e ficou a 1 ponto da Globo no consolidado. Além do quadro da casa, ele foi embaixo de um viaduto para mostrar a situação de um morador de rua, que até já apareceu em alguns programas. O morador ganhou um trato no visual, oportunidade de emprego e mais. O problema: era claro que tudo aquilo foi feito por audiência. Não digo que foi por parte do Gugu, mas da direção sim. Exploração da desgraça humana. É triste, mas é assim que a TV funciona. Pelo menos ambos saíram felizes: Gugu e Piu Piu.

Bom, nem todos… Plim Plim!

1 lb ground beef

1/2 Tofu (soft)

1 Burdock

2 tbsp cut green onion

1 Egg

1 tbsp Bread crumbs

1 tbsp milk

Potato starch

oil

3 tbsp Japanese soy sauce

2 tbsp Sugar

1 tbsp Sake

mix ground beef, drained tofu, cut green onion

add cut very finely burdock, egg and mixed bread crumbs with milk

make 1 inch size ball and coat with potato starch, and then deep fry in the oil till it is cooked (about 2-3 minutes)

when it is cooked, remove it from oil

heat the skillet and put Japanese soy sauce, sugar and sake into it, and then put meatballs back to that

stir it for a few seconds

serve it on the plate

Burdock makes this very crunchy and taste so good!

You can enjoy different meatballs!

click please

The Gobo at Traders Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

I tried its high tea for the first time. The restaurant is quite spacious as well and offered quite big range of food. The food was quite ok but nothing much special. I remembered it also offered soft-shell crab sushi. It’s quite hard to get it because I think people know it’s special among other sushi in the Japanese section.

I hope I have a chance to go there once again and take more pictures from there so that I can give more comments.

Have you ever wondered how a company’s logo, pattern, or husband and wife’s initials were lit and projected in multi-colored patterns onto unique areas at an event or wedding?   Well, I know I have, but I always thought it was an intricate and complicated process that was only suited for a lighting technician here at Acme.  Last week, the owner of Acme, Mark Miskimen challenged me and Carolyn to project a gobo onto a wall in our back studio with no help from the crew.

You are probably wondering what this word “gobo” that I keep referring to actually is.  A gobo is a circular disc made of metal or glass, with a pattern cut out of it, similar to a stencil.  This is what is used to project a picture onto any surface.  We usually recommend the glass gobos because they create a higher quality picture.

Gobo projection in a tent

Carolyn and I tried our hand at projecting a gobo, and we successfully completed our challenge.  Carolyn had a little bit more success at figuring this out than I did, but more on that later.  First, we had to set up a stand for the light fixture to be propped on, and set it to the correct height for the gobo to be projected clearly.  After we set everything up, it was time to place the glass gobo into the light fixture.  We slipped it into the appropriate slot in the front of the light fixture and plugged everything in, and with minor adjustments in focusing and height we successfully projected a gobo.  You can also make the gobo any color you want, which is always fun!  Carolyn and I each did this individually but when it came to my turn…. Well, let’s just say I had some minor problems. I blew out the light bulb, thought I broke it, and then burnt my finger on one of the back metal levers. Fortunately I did not break the light and I did not burn my finger too bad!

Warning, please learn from my experience, and if you are at an event and see light fixtures, do not touch them! They are extremely hot!  I repeat EXTREMELY hot!  I’d also recommend leaving the set up of lighting to the experts whenever possible.

-Kristin

Nach dem Mega-Erfolg vom X-Move LED spendiert American DJ jetzt ein mächtiges Upgrade für seine Moving Heads. Durch die Verwendung einer neuen LED ist die Lichtausbeute des X-Move LED Plus ca. 35% größer als bei dem herkömmlichen X-Move LED.

Nach wie vor verfügt der X-Move LED Plus über eine kaltweiße LED, separates Gobo- und Farbrad, Gobo Scroll, Gobo Shake und vieles mehr. Dieses Gerät ist ein ebenso vollwertiger wie auch attraktiv kompakter Movinghead mit einer LED als Leuchtquelle. Die ultra kompakte Bauform mit den Außenmaßen 205 x 190 x 285 mm und das ganze bei einem Gewicht von lediglich 4,5kg machen diesen kräftigen Winzling zu einem perfekten Begleiter nicht nur für mobile DJs. Sehr beliebt ist auch die einfache Ansteuerung über den optionalen UC-3 Handcontroller, mit dem die Geräte auch im Master/Slave Modus ganz einfach und ohne große DMX Programmierung bedient werden können. Die hoch auflösenden Schrittmotoren und die 0-100% Dimmung lassen keinen Zweifel daran, dass der X-Move LED Plus an die Erfolgsgeschichte seines Vorgängers anknüpfen wird.

Eine komplette Übersicht der Features des kraftvollen Moving Heads American DJ X-Move LED Plus findest du im Deejayladen.

Nach dem Mega-Erfolg vom X-Move LED spendiert American DJ jetzt ein mächtiges Upgrade für seine Moving Heads. Durch die Verwendung einer neuen LED ist die Lichtausbeute des X-Move LED Plus ca. 35% größer als bei dem herkömmlichen X-Move LED.

Nach wie vor verfügt der X-Move LED Plus über eine kaltweiße LED, separates Gobo- und Farbrad, Gobo Scroll, Gobo Shake und vieles mehr. Dieses Gerät ist ein ebenso vollwertiger wie auch attraktiv kompakter Movinghead mit einer LED als Leuchtquelle. Die ultra kompakte Bauform mit den Außenmaßen 205 x 190 x 285 mm und das ganze bei einem Gewicht von lediglich 4,5kg machen diesen kräftigen Winzling zu einem perfekten Begleiter nicht nur für mobile DJs. Sehr beliebt ist auch die einfache Ansteuerung über den optionalen UC-3 Handcontroller, mit dem die Geräte auch im Master/Slave Modus ganz einfach und ohne große DMX Programmierung bedient werden können. Die hoch auflösenden Schrittmotoren und die 0-100% Dimmung lassen keinen Zweifel daran, dass der X-Move LED Plus an die Erfolgsgeschichte seines Vorgängers anknüpfen wird.

Eine komplette Übersicht der Features des kraftvollen Moving Heads American DJ X-Move LED Plus finden Sie im Musikhaus Korn.

Don’t forget to Eat Your Veggies!!

Apologies for my 12 year old boy sense of humor.

(Seriously though, this really is my squash…pretty impressive huh?)  I’m going to chop it up and put it in a butternut squash risotto for dinner tonight.  Any fans of Gobo out there?  As an ex-New Yorker living on the Upper East Side, Gobo was our favorite restaurant, and their butternut squash risotto was my favorite dish.  Oh how I miss it so!

1/3 Daikon (White radish)

1 Carrot

3 Satoimo (Taro potato)

1/5 lb Tofu

1 Gobo (Burdock)

1/2 pack Enoki mushrooms

1/4 lb Thin sliced pork

1/6 lb Kabocya (Japanese pumpkin)

5 cups Katsuo dashi (fish broth)

2 tbsp Miso

cut vegetables

cut pork

put Katsuo dashi into the pan and boil it, then put pork into that

add Gobo, still boiling

add Daikon, Carrot and Satoimo

still boiling, add Enoki mushrooms

add Kabocya

Put Miso into that and still boil for a while

cut Tofu into half inch cubes, and put into the pan

when Tofu becomes hot enough, turn heat off

serve it into the bowl

This is called  “Tonjiru”.

There are many vegetables with some meat.

I hope you enjoy it!

0

click please

Rice with rice seasoning

Fried pork

Yaki udon

Gobo and Okura Nimono

Chikuwa(fish cake)

Egg omelet (roll asparagus)

Potato and sausage

Fried pork : stir pork and add Japanese soy sauce and sugar

Gobo, Okura Nimono : boil Burdock and Okura, add katsuo-dashi and soy sauce

Egg omelet : beat eggs and pour into skillet, while it is cooking, add asparagus across the middle of the eggs, then roll it up

potato and sausage : cut this strips potato amd stir it with sausage. add salt,  pepper and Parsley

I made this Obento in 30 minutes this morning.  Normally, I decide what I make for the Obento before I go to sleep . But sometimes I forget it and it takes little bit longer to make Obento the next morning.

You will have an easier time in the morning if you plan ahead.

Harvested our gobo and some eggplant for tonight’s dinner. The gobo was not as straight as the ones we see in the store! But the kinpira turned out well. Here’s a good recipe for kinpira, along with a picture of how gobo should look: http://justbento.com/handbook/recipes-side-dishes-and-space-fillers/classic-kinpira-gobo. Next year we may try sinking some pvc pipes in the ground to grow the gobo.

Gobo (Burdock Root)

Eggplant

Kinpira

Eggplant and Chicken Stir-fry

Os Jogos de 2016, que poderão ser no Rio de Janeiro, serão transmitidos pela Globo, pela Record e pela Band. O Comitê Olímpico Internacional decidiu não concentrar a exibição na mão de uma só emissora, pondo fim à disputa pela exclusividade da transmissão entre a Globo e a TV Record, que dois anos atrás garantiu o direito de exibir sozinha os jogos de 2012.

A proposta da Globo e da Band foi feita em conjunto e não pedia a exclusividade ao Comitê Olímpico Internacional. A Record apresentou sua proposta separadamente e também foi aceita.

As you can see from my previous posts I eat EVERYTHING!  I love fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low fat dairy.  When it comes to protein sources I enjoy a wide variety, from legumes to eggs to fish to poultry to soy protein and red meat on occasion.   Eating a variety of foods is extremely important for a healthy diet.  Which makes it fun to try all different types of restaurants, and living in NYC makes that possible!

Last week, I visited a vegetarian restaurant on the Upper East Side called Gobo. The restaurant claims:

“Welcome to Gobo, where spirited vegetarian dining awakens the five senses for each guest. Rooted in Zen compassion, Gobo is founded on the belief that delicious food & beverages using wholesome, non-meat ingredients will nourish both your body & mind. Our food for the five senses include unique vegetarian creations using: konnyaku, nori, seitan, soy and tofu.”

As usual, my friend and I decided to share two dishes.  I’ve mentioned before that I love sharing, and I’m always happy when my friends want to do the same!  It’s nice to try a few things on a menu, in particular things I may not cook at home (i.e. seitan).

After perusing the lunch menu and getting suggestions from the waitress we chose:

Tender sliced seitan in ginger marinade on a bed of asian kale, squash, brown rice

Vietnamese spicy stir-fry rice noodle with five spice tofu roll

We ended up finishing just about everything you see (except for the tofu roll which was deep fried, and tasteless!).    Overall, I really enjoyed both dishes; my only qualms were the small portion of vegetables and the heavy use of oils.  The seitan description sounded like there would be a plethora of veggies, but in reality there was ~1/2 cup steamed kale and 2 small hunks of squash.  The noodle dish had some small pieces of broccoli throughout, but not much to speak of.

While these dishes are vegetarian, they are not super low calorie.  It’s hard to estimate exactly how many calories are in each dish.  The food was not drenched in oil, like typical Chinese dishes, but they did contain their fair share. Additionally, the seitan claimed a “ginger marinade” but this was more of a thick teriyaki type of sauce and while it was delicious, I could taste the sugar.  Next time I would order one vegetable heavy dish that was light on sauce or dressing in lieu of another to balance out the meal.

Nutrition Tidbit:  Seitan

• Seitan is a processed wheat gluten that resembles meat and is high in protein.
• “Mock” meats are typically made out of seitan.
• Wheat gluten is naturally low in sodium and fat.  One ounce of raw wheat gluten provides 10 mg sodium, 0 grams fat, and 7.5 grams protein.  The extra fat, sodium and calories come from the preparation — and it’s not uncommon to find it fried!
• In the supermarket you may find seitan produced by White Wave and Lightlife Foods.
• A 3-oz portion of traditional White Wave Seitan (which is seasoned and salted) has 90 calories, 1 gram fat, 380 mg sodium, 3 grams carbohydrate, and 18 grams protein
• Try experimenting with seitan at home, it’s inexpensive, a good source of protein, and you can control the added fat and sodium.   You can use it in stir-fry dishes, burritos/tacos, skewers, casseroles or any other place you may use meat or chiken, get creative!

James Downey is an experienced Lighting director from Toronto. He has worked on numerous projects in the Toronto scene, with some of the more recent being ET Canada’s new Studio, the 2008 Gemini’s and Genies, and the most recent “The Score” studio install. This article comes from Chris Alexander at Rosco, with many thanks!

~Jonathan Stainton
CinequipWhite Inc.

James Downey – Lighting Director
Chris Alexander – 2009 – Rosco Newsletter

I went to an SMPTE conference in my final year at Conestoga College and met Adrian Goldberg who was giving a lighting demonstration. I got his card and hounded him until he put me in touch with a company called Electric Images. My first job was with them as head of their lighting department even though I didn’t have a clue as to what I was doing. I worked with a bunch of different lighting directors; Tom Swartz, Adrian Goldberg, Frank Merino and Ken Sala as their lighting assists.

My first big colour lighting show was a kids’ program with Tom Swartz. I remember he would send us up between the shows to change the gels and gobos to get different looks with the same lighting. This was all before moving lights. When Electric Images went out of business I started doing individual projects, a day here a day there, and it slowly blossomed. Then suddenly I got my own show and it went from there.

I always carry my “Rosco Kit”, as I call it. I have over 800 Rosco Gobos and at least 500 sheets of Rosco gel colours. I have a package truck as well with two rolls of pretty much everything from colour correction, diffusions, and reflectors to ND’s. I’m definitely a heavy Rosco user. I own about 12 Rosco Gobo Rotators and use them regularly as well as the Image Pro projectors.

I find having my “Rosco Kit” with me helps when deciding the colour scheme for shows. I do a Franklin Templeton show for Business News Network and have three Franklin Templeton people sitting with me going through combinations of colour for their Fund Group. Having the kit with all the colours right there in large pieces makes it easier to decide with them which ones work best.

I use gobos a lot in my lighting, but rarely in focus unless it’s a logo. For Franklin Templeton I use three different gobos to light the sign with his head on it. This combination of a different gobo for three lights on one sign gives me a great breakup of light and effect. I use gobos as my paints! I heard there’s going to be a new iPhone app that will have the Rosco Gobo catalogue on it which is great; I can carry it around and do quick searches for the type of gobo I’m looking for. In my kit I usually carry a minimum of 8 copies of each gobo and as many as 20 of the standard/popular ones. Gobos are definitely a palatte I like to work with.

In 2002-2003 I designed the world exclusive Lord of the Rings exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum, which broke attendance records at the ROM. We used over a dozen Rosco double gobo rotators in the forest set along with Rosco’s Delta 3000 smoke machines to recreate the Fangorn forest scene. In another recreation of the dead marshes set, we used eight Rosco Image Pro’s with custom made water gobos to help set the mood. In all we used over 140 Rosco gobos, 20 Rosco double gobo rotators, 12 Rosco Image Pros, and three Delta 3000 smoke machines.

I did The Score studio installation in 2008 from the ground up. It was my first opportunity to specify RoscoView for windows. We had windows approximately 50 feet wide by 12 feet high to cover. I wasn’t aware of RoscoView when we first started the project and I was at odds as to what to do with these windows. They were in a concave arrangement and I didn’t want to deal with rollers in that situation. It was a “eureka” moment when I heard about RoscoView. We did a test with The Scores’ Creative Director Sam Nasrawi and it did everything it was supposed to do. Sam gave the go ahead. We had a learning curve with the installation, but now it’s in and everything is working well. They love it.

In 2008 I was also doing the installations for Global Studios’ new newsrooms and the new Global National set, as well. Each of those would be outfitted with a full Rosco Kit of diffusions, ND’s, Cinefoil and anything else I felt they needed.

I have been a Rosco user from day one. I like the fact that I can have a Rosco rep come out and show me things when it’s convenient for me. That Rosco has a face to go with the name is important. I was shown the “wet test” between Rosco 3026 Tough White Diffusion and LEE 216 which shows that when exposed to water the LEE 216 diffusion became translucent, the Tough White didn’t. I work outdoors a lot and maintaining the integrity of your diffusion in all kinds of weather, particularly with large sources, is important.

I own much of my own gear but deal with Angelo Colussi at P.S. Production Services for generators and any extra film gear I need, David James at PRG for extra rock n’ roll moving head gear and also Louise Nardella at the Source Shop for a variety of things. What they bring to the table is “my emergency is their emergency”, which is great! I remember one time my light meter battery died and Louise jumped in a cab and brought me a replacement battery because I was in such a panic. It’s customer service like that I give to my clients. I don’t expect it, but I sure do appreciate it when I get it.

Very fun day yesterday! We went and saw Wiked the musical. I have already seen this, and I have written about the aspects of it in a previous blog. But as with most things, when you watch it again you always see something you’ve missed! The other theatre girls really loved it. I really enjoyed the technical aspects, the various vocal performances and the amazing choreography. However, although it was quite stunning visually, it was not my favourite theatre performance I have seen yet. Musicals are fun and exciting for the audience, but I feel they, and in particular Wiked, lack real symbolism of what the director was really trying to get across to the audience. I just feel it came through stronger in other theatre productions I have seen, maybe this was due to the intense ‘in your face’ factor created by the combined theatrical elements present in this particular performance? Maybe it was really all about appearance, because although that was what the aim of the storyline was (don’t judge a book by it’s cover), there seemed to be a lot of airy-fairy bright and colourful things. I’m not being overly skeptical, but it didn’t really delve into that heavily for me. But then I guess that is musical theatre so I’ve heard!!

Well now told you what I don’t like about Wiked, I’ll share with you what I do like about this particular performance. First of all, the lighting was quite amazing, the green theme really came through here. The gobo effects were also quite amazing, especially the illusion of the rain. I also really loved how the lights were either slowly faded out, or gone straight away. I also noticed a man on either side of the stage using spots to light the two main characters, this was effective in the OZ scenes especially as all other lighting was green!

The costumes were really exquisite, there were many costume changes which were quite fast, so I would be particuarly interested in how the costumes were designed to compensate for this. Although, I do believe I saw buttons all up the side of one dress, so I think this may have been a way they were doing the quick changes. I believe they looked most elaborate in the OZ scene, where every costume had elements of green. 

I quite enjoyed the vocal techniques used in this performance, my teacher pointed out to me that they were using an older style of singing which really came through in all of the scenes. Combined singing and choreography was really amazing, I love to see anything like this, and I think there was such alternative choreography and I really enjoyed seeing these put together.

The set design was simple however it gave it an elaborate appearance. The main focus for me was the giant dragon at the top of the set design, it was only used twice, and I feel for such an amazing puppetry piece it was quite underused. There were other elements of puppetry in this performance, such as the elaborate display of the talking head used by the Wizard of Oz to suffice to people’s expectations. Also, the lion cub scene was also a puppetry scene, the puppeteer sat under the cart which covered to operate the lion on top of the cart.

Well, I think I’ve mentioned most of what I liked about it in my other blog, so I’ll leave it at this, I definately am under the impression that no money was spared making this elaborate, but enjoyable musical!!!