quote:

Originally posted by pianojuggler:

quote:

Originally posted by musicasacra:

quote:

Originally posted by apple*:
thanks for the LOL cats. I've come to really enjoy them.

What is the best thing you've ever eaten in your life?

Lots!

A perfect Chateaubriand with an amazing Chateauneuf-du-Pape stands out, and the brasserie burger and pomme frites at my favorite place in town -- that one I could eat about every day.

That I've cooked myself -- beef medallions with cognac sauce. Or maybe the goat cheese with shallots dip, that's addictive.

I'm crushed. At least I hope that a certain lunch at a certain Thai restaurant in a certain Pacific Northwet town is at least in the top 100.

haha

That was awesome Thai food.
I have Thai food fairly often, we have a fantastic local.

quote:

Originally posted by pianojuggler:

quote:

Originally posted by musicasacra:
BTW, on that atrium wall in the photo above, this is the sort of thing I'd like to do, a vertical garden, like the one I saw in Madrid. It might look cool with the right mix of plants, texture and color.

Has anyone done a vertical garden?

That's going to be one of my future projects. I've been propagating sedums and other xeriscape-y varieties for a possible green roof project... but I may try a green wall instead.

One of my faves -- a post-it note yellow sedum makinoi just seems to get clobbered by every semi-hard freeze we get.


Can you recommend a good recording of the Victoria Requiem?

Cool, I hope you post your garden project details and photos. IT likes the idea of a vertical garden too and wants me to paint the wall first. We'll have to start thinking about the right mix of plants.

Victoria -- my favorite composer!

I'm a big fan of the Choir of Westminster Cathedral's recordings of Victoria's music -- I have all of their Victoria (and Palestrina) recordings including their recording of the Requiem.

I'm also a huge fan of the Tallis Scholars. They also recorded the Requiem, and although I have nearly their entire catalogue of recordings, I don't seem to have the Requiem, off to Amazon . . .

Probably my favorite Victoria recording:
http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/al.asp?al=CDA66738

And a favorite gem, William Mundy's Vox Patris caelestis.

http://www.gimell.com/recordin...ersary-edition-.aspx

That's my favorite choral recording period -- Allegri, Mundy, Palestrina, Tallis Scholars, sublime.

Thanks. I heard a live performance of it some years ago and I absolutely loved it.


I have seen some planters for vertical walls offered online, but they are very expensive. I've been thinking more of poking lots of holes in a wall -- angling the holes downward -- filling them with organic medium, then draping burlap over the wall. Then start planting small items poking the roots through the burlap into the holes. I figure after a couple years, the roots will take over, and as the burlap disintegrates, the network of roots will hold the whole thing up.

At least it sounds good in theory.

I guess you could also use hardware cloth (wire mesh) for something that will take a lot longer to disintegrate.

google (images for) "green wall"

quote:

Originally posted by pianojuggler:google (images for) "green wall"

oooh, succulents
http://www.fallingwatersweb.co...mg_5602-1024x768.jpg

http://brooklynroofgarden.file...t_sunsetmagazine.jpg

Here's IvoryThumper and me in Rome.

He's in Haiti now, designing a village for people devastated by the earthquake.

What a cute couple!

Here's a green wall on a bank in Pittsburgh...



I walked past it Saturday night on the way to a theater and it looked a lot browner than it does in the picture. I'll be watching to see how it revives when spring comes.

Nice shot of you and IT at St. Peter's. Please feel free to post any travel photos you might care to share.

If I remember correctly, you hail from North Dakota and your mother still lives there. How did you end up so far away and how is your mother these days?

Your home looks very comfortable and seems to afford quite a bit to do. Do you tend to nest there when not working or travelling? When you're at home, what sort of activities lure you out of the nest besides running?

What is the best book you've read in the last year? Best concert or recital? Best play or movie?

Big Al

quote:

Originally posted by big al:

If I remember correctly, you hail from North Dakota and your mother still lives there. How did you end up so far away and how is your mother these days?

Your home looks very comfortable and seems to afford quite a bit to do. Do you tend to nest there when not working or travelling? When you're at home, what sort of activities lure you out of the nest besides running?

What is the best book you've read in the last year? Best concert or recital? Best play or movie?

Big Al

South Dakota

How I ended up here . . . I met IT when I was visiting the Bay area, then we came here. Mom is doing great, she's an awesome person, I really admire her. My whole family is wonderful.

It's a fun house to hang out at, especially in the summer with the pool, and I like to host dinners. But I'm pretty active and enjoy getting out to the movies, running, dinner with friends, road trips, art museum, short hikes, and the occasional concert. I recharge that way so I suppose I'm not much of a nester. And we're next to a mountain so there are great trails and scenic views of the city.

Book I've read in the last year . . . I'm working a lot so books tend to be work-related. IT buys art and architecture books, those are fun. I collect Ronald Knox books, whenever I'll have time to read them all -- the only thing I collect.

Best concert . . . really, every Sunday at church, the schola cantorum is fantastic. Mozart, Palestrina, Victoria, chant, a string trio, amazing organist, just wonderful. I occasionally catch the Tallis Scholars on their annual US tour. I'd like to go to more concerts and plays, if I had more free time. When I lived in London, I went to plays and concerts all the time. I'm a big fan of Shakespeare and have read all the plays. The last Shakespeare productions I saw were during our Christmas trip to London in 2006, Antony and Cleopatra and a lively Much Ado About Nothing set in pre-Castro Cuba, with cool music.

quote:

Originally posted by musicasacra:
QUOTE]
Lots!

A perfect Chateaubriand with an amazing Chateauneuf-du-Pape stands out, and the brasserie burger and pomme frites at my favorite place in town -- that one I could eat about every day.

That I've cooked myself -- beef medallions with cognac sauce. Or maybe the goat cheese with shallots dip, that's addictive.

It's taken me some time to revisit this thread..

Chateaubriand has been interpreted many ways. When I cheffed we served the meat with 3 sauces, with an awesome sauce of crushed green peppercorns (they come in a can), cognac and butter, a real bernaise (even in better restaurants they make it from a mix in KC) and a demi-glace reduction with a red wine, garlic and mushrooms. One could order all or one of the sauces. It was a special on date nights and Valentines Day. So can you describe your accompaniment?.

In my college days my best friend and roommate was VERY rich (His father had an incredible collection of aging Bordeaux's (how do you spell that?) as well as sample bottles from all over southern France. It was our duty to consume a bottle every Friday nite, lest the bottles pass their prime. That pleasant task kept us from dating and focused on our school work. Good food was rather scarce on the south side of Chicago, but we attempted a few fancier meals on our budget to accompany the awesome wines. I remember making an actually awesome hamburger patty with leftover wine that was great. I was working for a German chef at the time and had some pretty good spices including capers.

quote:

Originally posted by apple*:

quote:

Originally posted by musicasacra:
QUOTE]
Lots!

A perfect Chateaubriand with an amazing Chateauneuf-du-Pape stands out, and the brasserie burger and pomme frites at my favorite place in town -- that one I could eat about every day.

That I've cooked myself -- beef medallions with cognac sauce. Or maybe the goat cheese with shallots dip, that's addictive.

It's taken me some time to revisit this thread..

Chateaubriand has been interpreted many ways. When I cheffed we served the meat with 3 sauces, with an awesome sauce of crushed green peppercorns (they come in a can), cognac and butter, a real bernaise (even in better restaurants they make it from a mix in KC) and a demi-glace reduction with a red wine, garlic and mushrooms. One could order all or one of the sauces. It was a special on date nights and Valentines Day. So can you describe your accompaniment?.

That Chateaubriand was served with bernaise sauce.

I'm extremely bummed that my favorite restaurant in town just closed due to the economy. We were just there for Valentine's Day, I had the moules frites and IT had the steak frites (awesome hangar steak!), and a wonderful raspberry clafoutis for dessert. I miss that place already.