SJ wrap-up

A few straggling thoughts from my recent SJ visit:

I had dinner at Chez Panisse with Gordon (to pay a very old debt). We visited Games of Berkeley (one of the best game shops I've been to in recent memory) and then headed off to dinner. Chez Panisse is somewhat famous for being one of the creators of "California Cuisine", but that term has become so cliché that I do the restaurant a disservice to describe it thusly. Yes, it's high-tone and falootin', but the food is as wonderful as I remembered from my last visit, years ago.

Unlike "gourmet" or nouveau restaurants go for the shock value of exotic and often clashing ingredients to show off, CP blends ingredients in an uncanny way where each complements and enhances the other-- with no single ingredient overpowering the dish. We ate at the café upstairs, which I prefer over the prix fixed menu of the restaurant on the first floor. I had a halibut with a corn salsa: the halibut was *fresh* and the corn salsa was buttery rather than spicy and together were a combination that was both delicious and something I'd never tasted before. John-- if you haven't eaten there yet, you should make an effort to go the next time you're up in the BArea (it's in Berkeley). Make sure to get reservations! See the website for the daily restaurant menus and weekly café menu.

SJ wrap-up

A few straggling thoughts from my recent SJ visit:

I had dinner at Chez Panisse with Gordon (to pay a very old debt). We visited Games of Berkeley (one of the best game shops I've been to in recent memory) and then headed off to dinner. Chez Panisse is somewhat famous for being one of the creators of "California Cuisine", but that term has become so cliché that I do the restaurant a disservice to describe it thusly. Yes, it's high-tone and falootin', but the food is as wonderful as I remembered from my last visit, years ago.

Unlike "gourmet" or nouveau restaurants go for the shock value of exotic and often clashing ingredients to show off, CP blends ingredients in an uncanny way where each complements and enhances the other-- with no single ingredient overpowering the dish. We ate at the café upstairs, which I prefer over the prix fixed menu of the restaurant on the first floor. I had a halibut with a corn salsa: the halibut was *fresh* and the corn salsa was buttery rather than spicy and together were a combination that was both delicious and something I'd never tasted before. John-- if you haven't eaten there yet, you should make an effort to go the next time you're up in the BArea (it's in Berkeley). Make sure to get reservations! See the website for the daily restaurant menus and weekly café menu.

SJ wrap-up

A few straggling thoughts from my recent SJ visit:

I had dinner at Chez Panisse with Gordon (to pay a very old debt). We visited Games of Berkeley (one of the best game shops I've been to in recent memory) and then headed off to dinner. Chez Panisse is somewhat famous for being one of the creators of "California Cuisine", but that term has become so cliché that I do the restaurant a disservice to describe it thusly. Yes, it's high-tone and falootin', but the food is as wonderful as I remembered from my last visit, years ago.

Unlike "gourmet" or nouveau restaurants go for the shock value of exotic and often clashing ingredients to show off, CP blends ingredients in an uncanny way where each complements and enhances the other-- with no single ingredient overpowering the dish. We ate at the café upstairs, which I prefer over the prix fixed menu of the restaurant on the first floor. I had a halibut with a corn salsa: the halibut was *fresh* and the corn salsa was buttery rather than spicy and together were a combination that was both delicious and something I'd never tasted before. John-- if you haven't eaten there yet, you should make an effort to go the next time you're up in the BArea (it's in Berkeley). Make sure to get reservations! See the website for the daily restaurant menus and weekly café menu.

Bugz

( ANTS!!! )

Darkling beetles are an interesting (to nature geeks like me) conundrum: They're *everywhere* on the trails, easily visible (shiney black on dusty trails), don't seem to have any natural enemies (except for bikes and human feet) and don't seem to pose any kind of threat. So visible, yet so innocuous that nobody seems to have studied them: even the "Insects of L.A." book (the bible for bugs here) essentially says that "little is known about the life cycle of the darkling beetle." And this book has oodles of information on nearly every other insect here!

However, now Roz and I know a *bit* more about them: this is apparently their mating season! While on a solo dogwalk I heard rustling in the leaves: too small to be toads, I flashed my light and saw dozens of darkling beetles scuttling about in a large group. Creepy. And their butts were in the air-- the position they normally take when defending themselves (they squirt out some noxious fluid). Apparently this is also a pheromone, as many of them were in this position despite the lack of nearby threats. I still can't tell which is the male or female: the larger of the beetles is usually the female (according to Roz), but that's also the one that seems to have its butt airborne.

.Here's a large version of the picture above, showing an area where the darklings were gathering and an intense grouping of beetles

Mighty Zor! lends her foot for a size reference, with commentary

Bugz

( ANTS!!! )

Darkling beetles are an interesting (to nature geeks like me) conundrum: They're *everywhere* on the trails, easily visible (shiney black on dusty trails), don't seem to have any natural enemies (except for bikes and human feet) and don't seem to pose any kind of threat. So visible, yet so innocuous that nobody seems to have studied them: even the "Insects of L.A." book (the bible for bugs here) essentially says that "little is known about the life cycle of the darkling beetle." And this book has oodles of information on nearly every other insect here!

However, now Roz and I know a *bit* more about them: this is apparently their mating season! While on a solo dogwalk I heard rustling in the leaves: too small to be toads, I flashed my light and saw dozens of darkling beetles scuttling about in a large group. Creepy. And their butts were in the air-- the position they normally take when defending themselves (they squirt out some noxious fluid). Apparently this is also a pheromone, as many of them were in this position despite the lack of nearby threats. I still can't tell which is the male or female: the larger of the beetles is usually the female (according to Roz), but that's also the one that seems to have its butt airborne.

.Here's a large version of the picture above, showing an area where the darklings were gathering and an intense grouping of beetles

Mighty Zor! lends her foot for a size reference, with commentary

Bugz

( ANTS!!! )

Darkling beetles are an interesting (to nature geeks like me) conundrum: They're *everywhere* on the trails, easily visible (shiney black on dusty trails), don't seem to have any natural enemies (except for bikes and human feet) and don't seem to pose any kind of threat. So visible, yet so innocuous that nobody seems to have studied them: even the "Insects of L.A." book (the bible for bugs here) essentially says that "little is known about the life cycle of the darkling beetle." And this book has oodles of information on nearly every other insect here!

However, now Roz and I know a *bit* more about them: this is apparently their mating season! While on a solo dogwalk I heard rustling in the leaves: too small to be toads, I flashed my light and saw dozens of darkling beetles scuttling about in a large group. Creepy. And their butts were in the air-- the position they normally take when defending themselves (they squirt out some noxious fluid). Apparently this is also a pheromone, as many of them were in this position despite the lack of nearby threats. I still can't tell which is the male or female: the larger of the beetles is usually the female (according to Roz), but that's also the one that seems to have its butt airborne.

.Here's a large version of the picture above, showing an area where the darklings were gathering and an intense grouping of beetles

Mighty Zor! lends her foot for a size reference, with commentary

Howl's Moving Castle

Cut to prevent spoilerage!

( I finally saw Howl's Moving Castle (possible spoilers!) )

Howl's Moving Castle

Cut to prevent spoilerage!

( I finally saw Howl's Moving Castle (possible spoilers!) )

Howl's Moving Castle

Cut to prevent spoilerage!

( I finally saw Howl's Moving Castle (possible spoilers!) )