Culture

We had my brother visiting over Easter.. We had some good fun. Got some booze, and good food.
As usual we walked a lot around Paris, and also visited Notre-Dame (I hadn't been there in ages.. ) - Lots of people, and especially lots of tourists.

Easter monday we visited Le Louvre, I hadn't been there since 1997 or so, not much had changed, except they had finished the Egyptian section. As always, I had forgotten my camera, so the few photos I managed to take, has been taken with my phonecam.

I was quite impressed with the Egyptian exhibition, and can warmly recommend it.

Angry lookin' mofo




They actually have a Sphinx

We also shopped and ate at "Le Caroussel du Louvre", which is a sorta mall/gallerie beneath Le Louvre. They've got a bunch of overpriced shops, and a huge restaurant with food from all over the world.

Sick as a dog

I'm rarely sick.. even more rarely to the point of not going to work. There is nothing more frustrating than sitting at home being sick..
Well, the jump from winter to summer did it for me, my body freaked out. I'm sneezing like a madman, and my throat is sore as hell.

Though, it gives me some time to catch up on some work (from the comfort of my own bed) - naturally my coding looks "interesting" as I'm pretty much super high from all the drugs and antibiotics.

Thieving bastards

I came home last night to a nasty surprise - my semi-monthly bank "statement".. It would seem that, while I was at the bbq event on Sunday - I was simultaneously using my creditcard with a passion somewhere in Belgium..

Result: ~1700 EUR charged from my account. Fucking hell..

Went to my bank this morning, and made the "opposition" and all the other damned papers that needed signing. My creditcard had to be destroyed, so I have to wait a week for a new one.. Jeebus, what a mess !
Good news is, that my bank insurance covers everything - so I've got nothing to worry about.

I'd like to get my hands on those sorry-ass hobos that duplicated my card.. it'd almost be worth the 1700EUR..

Summer is here

So we went from winter directly to summer - seems like we completely skipped spring !

Last week we had snow, and were all wearing big sweaters, scarfs and gloves. Yesterday and today it's around 23 degrees celsius - and I'm just wearing a shirt.. no need for a jacket.

I love the summer..

New laptop !

Wohooo ! My new laptop just arrived..
FreeBSD-CURRENT installation in progress.

Monday night fight action

So I was sitting at home watching a movie, when all of a sudden all hell broke loose down on the street where I live.. A couple of no-good-drunken-hobos from the little bar next to my place, had gotten into a regular fist fight..
Jeebus, they kicked the fuck out of each other, yelling and screaming like a couple of dandies... Anywho, shortly after the fight a wholelotta cop cars came, including a firetruck.. They must have been bored ?

It provided a good supplement from the crap movie I was watching..

First BBQ of the year

Went out to the 'burbs yesterday, and had this years first BBQ - and (as usual) it was most excellent. Few things are better than a shitload of meat sizzling on the grill.
It was still a bit chilly, but definently do-able.
Dim, Rog and myself also threw back a few nice cold brewskies..

aahh.. I feel the summer comin'

On a side note: The next person to send me a sms.ac invite, will be entering a world of pain..

FUCKING HELL

Alright, that's it! If someone else sends me a fucking dumbass invitation to that
STUPID FUCKING SMS.AC SHIT, I will personally fucking unscrew their heads.
I am sick of getting that stupid goddamn invitation for a service that is absolutely
fucking idiotic. FUCKING LEAVE ME ALONE! I dont want your shabby fucking no-good
service.


fucksake!

Snow

Hello All,

well guess what i woke up to this morning..



And from work..



Needless to say it was damn cold this morning. You have to understand we get about 2 days of snow in paris per year, so this is a big deal. You've got kids out there raking the snow off Peugeot hoods to make 3 inch snowmen, I mean Jacques Chirac might make a speech or something, might even fire the Assemblée there..

So it's pretty cool, I mean, it's a change in the daily routine. Did I mention I almost killed myself 7 times this morning walking on ice...


Snoop concert

The Snoop Dogg concert last week was most excellent - I had a superb time. There were roughly 15.000 people in Bercy, and the atmosphere was great !
Warm up was done by Flypside (??) and "The Game" - I especially enjoyed "The Game" - as he gave a little extra performance by jumping directly into the crowd, and kick some ass - as someone from the crowd had insulted him.. Anyway, it was great fun, especially from far away...

Snoop played a bunch of the classics, and a few songs from the new album - it was beautiful !

Needless to say, the majority of the crowd lit up da blunt, which helped to easy the tension, and after the concert - I was amazed to see everyone so calm and passive.

Spicy Chicken Basil

Hello all,

Monday! Yay!

Went to an Asian market over in teh 13th yesterday to do some shopping. You can find some great stuff in there, not expensive, and things that can really make your meals a hell of a lot more fun. Here's a link to the supermarket's site, plus their addresses..

Tang Freres
Shop address: 44 and 48, avenue d'Ivry, 75013 Paris. Tel.: (33)(1)45708000
Transport: Bus 62

So we went apeshit in that store, bought a bunch of stuff, including a rice cooker and a huge knife (for me), which I put to work on the following recipe. This takes around 15 minutes to prepare. Get your rice cooking before you start, so it's all ready at the same time.

Spicy Chicken Basil.

What you need for 2 servings.

400 grams of chicken scallops.
Half of red and green peppers, chopped up in cubes.
10 basil leaves. Try to find the type used in Asian food, as it has a different taste.
half a teaspoon of ground chili powder
half a teaspoon of papkria
2 teaspoons of Soya sauce
2 teaspoons of Oyster sauce (just do it, it's worth it)
2 teaspoons of fish sauce (Nyok Mam is good)
2 small spring onions, chopped up
half a chopped up lemongrass.
2 teaspoons vegetable oil (I used olive oil, don't have any vegetable oil, and it came out fine)

How to do it:

- In a hot wok or pan, pour in your oil, and cook the chicken between 2 and 4 minutes, depending on the type of burners you have.
- Once the chicken is golden, pour in the Soya and Oyster sauces, the Nyok mam, the chili and the paprika. Let this cook for another 2 minutes.
- Next throw in the spring onions, lemongrass, peppers and basil leaves. Let cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.

Serve right away, accompanied with that fine rice you made

Voila!! That's an easy enough recipe, fast, and damn good. Enjoy!!

Snoop concert

Tonight Dim and myself are going to see the Snoop Dogg concert in Paris Bercy !!!

More to come..

Today's Drink: Screaming Orgasm

Hello All,

Here we are for today's drink. I made it a special one.

Screaming Orgasm.

In a Shaker:

Ice
2cl. Vodka
2cl. Amaretto
2cl. Baileys
2cl. Kahlua
10cl. Milk or liquid cream (nicer taste)
SHAKE vigorously.
Top the glass with whipped cream.

Now this may seem like a chicks drink, but don't put the whipped cream (so you still feel like a man),
and you've got a pretty strong smooth drink.

Another drink (today's special- SNOOP AAAND COLOMBO!!)

White Russian:

Lowball glass filled with ice
Build this drink, no shake.
4cl. Vodka
4cl. Kahlua
10cl. milk or liquid cream

Black Russian: Same as White Russian, except you don't put any milk/ cream.

and your BONUS SHOT for today:

The B52

in a 6cl shot glass: (adjust for smaller shot glasses)
2cl. Kahlua
2cl. Baileys (layered)
2cl. Cointreau (layered as well. Use Cointreau, not triple sec, as triple sec is a less refined alcohol,
therefore heavier, hence will not float properly. Cointreau on the other hand will float easily.
Use a teaspoon to layer if you can't do it otherwise.
layering instructions: http://www.drinknation.com/bartending/howto_layer.php

Take your time, and you should be able to light the Cointreau.

Stick a straw in the shotglass and down the drink immediately. Voila!

Cheers!

Spam

Roughly 75% of all emails sent in 2004 were spam - and statistics show that if nothing is done about spam - about 95% of all emails sent in 2006 will be spam.. Holy cow, we need to get something done about this NOW !

I'm using SpamAssassin, first on a corporate level - and I'm filtering on my local box once more with a much stricter ruleset - however, I still have something like 5-10 spam mails in my inbox every morning - it's crazy. (My caughtspam folder gets something like 100-150 mails pr day)

I've been looking into the whole Sender Policy Framework (SPF) thing - and I'm not convinced that it will solve our problems...

Snoop Dogg

Picked up the latest Snoop Dogg album the other day - that's some snizzle-dizzle good stuff ! Good quality music, with well constructed lyrics. This is the absolute best Snoop album since Doggystyle..

Go pick it up at your local cd pusher..

Today's Drink: Long Island Ice Tea (Paris-style)

Hello!!

Today's beverage is a classic, I grew up on this stuff, and it is also the granddad of the Serbian, so Respect!

Here's how I make a Long Island. Mich, try this tonight, it's bound to make you giddy.

In a BIG-ASS GLASS (Pint glass preferably, minimum 40cl, recommended 50 or 60cl glass)
- Fill the glass with a good amount of ice.
This is a drink you "build", so no shaking is involved
- pour in 2cl. of each of the following: Gin, Tequila, White Rum, Vodka and Triple Sec.
- next, pour in sour mix to up to 2/3 of the glass.
- top the rest of the glass with coke, pour it in gently so it floats on top of the sour mix.
- add a couple pieces of lime, no straw...

- make sure to mix the drink up before downing it.

Voila! Enjoy

Drinks - a gogo !

So tried out a few drinks the last couple of days.. Here my sad little report..

Tequila Sunrise:
- 6cl Tequila
- Orange Juice
- a dash of grenadine

Fill a tall glass with ice, and pour in the Tequila - fill the rest of the glass with orange juice. Stir it up real good, and finally add a dash or two of grenadine (note: when adding the grenadine, do it with a swift movement so the grenadine falls to the bottom of the glass fast - it will then raise a bit from the bottom and give the drink that authentic sunrise look)

Best enjoyed in the comfort of your couch.

I tried out that Gin Fizzzz ala Dim.. (No I did not choke on the wedge, as I used the straw.. sucker)
It was good, though you might want to put a little more gin, and a little less sour mix.. (I mean, we drinking this shit for a reason)

Today's Drink - Gin Fizzzzz

Hello Fellow boozers,


Here's Today's cocktail recipe... enjoy!

Gin Fizz (my way)

In a shaker:
- 4 cl. Bombay Sapphire gin
- 2 cl. Triple sec or Cointreau
- 15 cl. sour mix (if you don't have this 'mich', put half lime juice, half sugar cane syrup, so that's 7.5 cl of each, approximately)
- throw a wedge of lime in there, for color.
Shake all that (vigorously)
Pour into a nice highball glass (yeah mich, a big glass)
Top the mixture up with some Sprite/ 7up.
Add an umbrella, and a straw.

Voila (I hope you choke on the lime wedge mich)

Cheers!

Dimitri

Gotta love the Firefox

If you haven't already done it, I urge you to go into the "preferences" menu in Firefox, choose "Web Features" and click "Advanced.." - in here you can disable all those nasty things that javascript fucks around with..

I can especially recommend, disabling "move or resize existing windows" - so you can surf poRn in the office hours without worrying about some naked chick being blown up fullscreen in 1600x1200 resolution.. yay !

Personal Bar necessities

Hi all,

Here's a little something for those people who want the quality of a good drink in the depth of their living room couch (mich...), or for those who are sick of seeing bartenders pretend they know how to make a drink.

I've decided to place here a little lists of ingredients you might need to open your own personal living room bar. Being a former bartender, i can guarantee that the following is what YOU need to have a cocktail party in the warmth of your own home. Of course i have made this personal bar as I would make it, and with the ingredients which would end up in my favorite drinks. Here we go.

Alcohols - the fundamentals.

Scotch whisky (just normal stuff. You might want a good bottle of pure malt as well)
Bourbon - Jack Daniels No7, Wild Turkey, Four Roses
Vodka - a bottle of normal vodka, I have a bottle of Zubrovska (polish) vodka lying around as well.
Gin (Bombay Sapphire)
Tequila (José Cuervo)
Rum (Bacardi white, and a bottle of dark agricultural rum as well)
Triple Sec or Cointreau
Blue Curacao (It has exactly the same taste as Triple sec, it's just blue to be pretty)
Baileys or some Irish cream
Kahlua
Amaretto (just cheap stuff, no need for the expensive stuff)
Peach schnapps or Crème de Peche
Sambuca (very important, for one drink in particular)
Cachaca
Malibu
Southern Comfort

Mixers.
Orange juice
Pineapple
Cranberry
Coke / Pepsi
7up/ Sprite
Tonic (Schweppes)
Club soda
grenadine
mint syrup
Sour Mix (Lemon, Lime, and sugar cane syrup)
milk
Sugar cane syrup
Limes
Lemons
Mint leaves
whipped cream

Ustensils.
Shaker
Glasses
Ice (lots of it)
straws and paper umbrellas (if you want to look cool sitting there in your boxers on your couch)

I know all these seems like a lot, but once you have a bottle of each, it'll last you a while (unless you go by the name of mich or dim..) I've probably omitted some stuff, but fuck it.

Here are some drinks you can make. If you need the recipes, send me an email. I'll try to put up recipes later.

Alright, so with the above ingredients, you can make.. (short list, there's more)

Screwdriver, Tequila Sunrise, Amaretto Sour, Gin Tonic, Gin Fizz, White Russian, Black Russian, Screaming Orgasm, Long Island Ice Tea, Serbian Ice tea, Mai Tai, Planter's Punch, Blue Hawaiian, Kamikaze, Jack&Sam, Irish carbomb (need guinness), Flaming Dr.Pepper (need beer) B52, B57, Mudslide, Blowjob, Cosmopolitan, etc etc etc.

Cheers!