thank you!

20080119_coast_020, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

Beach

Gonna hit the beach this weekend.
Why?
Because it's been a long time, and my nostrils are clogged with pollution.

The city

We made it to San Francisco :)

secret spot

Ok, well not so secret, but it was found partly by memory, and perhaps a little bit of luck. If you drive up the coast there is a water fall that spills into a small cove. The view is nice.

backlog

Due to my laziness I've accumulated a backlog of photos, so I'll be posting in twos or threes now.

These are from the same trip up the coast.

My favourite kind of trip

20080119_coast_07, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

My girlfriend. My camera. Good times. Can't wait until our next one.

white on green

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

Ok so it looks more like puke green, but I think that has something to do with the late afternoon sun that was streaking through the valley at the time. I though it would be a nice break from all the white on blue I've been posting lately. Oddly enough, this was also taken out of a moving car. Maybe I should start a blog just on that.

Tilted

20080218_lakelouise_kicking_164, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

Sure it's tilted, off center, blurry. That's what you get when you take a picture out of a rapidly moving car. The sky was so perfect and the trees so generously holding onto their dustings of snow that I had to give it a try.

This was on our way back to Calgary from Kicking Horse.

Kicking Horse

20080217_lakelouise_kicking_081, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

I have to say, out of all the different ski resorts I've been to. Kicking Horse in BC has got to have one of the most consistently beautiful views. I had to ski like a little girl for most of the day to avoid landing on my camera gear, but it was worth the captures.

By "little girl" I of course mean, "awesome little girl"

Barely touched

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

You would think that this is an example of a highly retouched photo, but it's not. Not to say I didn't tweak things here and there, but in large the sky really was this crazy beautiful that day. I forgot exactly where, but I remember I was in a valley and the light was gorgeous.

Dutch painting

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

I had to pull off on the wrong side of the road for this one to get a better view. I couldn't believe how much the landscape looked like a Dutch painting. The challenging part is getting the lighting timed out perfectly. With all the cloud cover in Ireland, it can go from flat to beautiful in a matter of seconds. I was more unlucky than lucky overall, but this was one of the rare moments where it came together.

Pho-tastic

I bought my aerogarden thinking that it would make the perfect compliment to the occasional meal that required or could be enhanced by fresh herbs. Little did I know that it would grow out of control and necessitate the cooking of meals that use as many herbs as humanly possible. The biggest problem for me was the cilantro and the purple basil that was growing out of control. To remedy this I decided to cook Pho from scratch.

Boil the beef bones


Roast Ginger, Onion and Star Anise




Discard this




Clean the bones off



Scrape off burned bits





Back in the pot they go, along with your meat of choice, fish sauce, sugar and salt.




Simmer on low FOREVER and then add the bag of clovers, star anise, cinnamon and ginger. Notice how clear and clean the broth is here now. MSG free baby!




In the meantime, you can get your prep ready.

Sprouts




MEAT




Blanche the noodles and get everything ready.




Wash the herbs and get some limes cut up




Pour on the boiling stock and enjoy! Notice the mandatory sriracha in the background :)

Get your own flash!!!

20080207_dwa_strobist-6, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

Brought the flashes into the office just to fool around. Someday James (pictured) and I are going to have a flash party.

More sheep

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

Possibly the best thing about the Giant's Causeway in Ireland isn't the Causeway itself, but rather the hike one can take that takes you around the cliffs overlooking the ocean and eventually on top looking down. If one were to take this and face away from the ocean instead of forward, they'd be greeted by green pastures as far as the eye can see and an abundance of sheep and cloud.

Portrush at night

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

Still no notebook, so no new pictures. Just more of Ireland. I took this one after eating an excellent meal at a restaurant on the pier in Portrush. I think I had to use a rock wall as a makeshift tripod.

It's for you

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

Despite being in a somewhat alien and remote looking landscape, it's hard to escape people nowadays. I tried to be the first person out on the Giant's Causeway, but sadly somebody beat me to it. He had so much time in fact that he decided to make a phone call.

Portrush Ireland

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

This small town happened to have a little carnival area. Everything was shut down as I was travelling during the off season. Somehow that made me like it more.

The coast

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

I still haven't gotten my computer back so here's another from my Ireland trip.

More green

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

It's raining in LA now too.

The life

Ireland 2007, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

I was walking up the grassy hill pictured earlier when I saw these two ladies enjoying the view. Something about the way their hair was blowing and the way they were standing reminded me of an advertisement for something. I could even see it in B+W.