Friday, January 27, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
"De donde vengo yo"
Story on NPR's blog "AltLatino" on the group ChocQuibTown from Chocó in Colombia.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Exploring the downtown skyways: next fitness project
The Star Tribune did a story this morning about how the skyway system in downtown Minneapolis figures into long-range urban planning. Many people see the skyways as an obstacle to a vibrant street life, but they form their own eco-system. Travel blogger Leif Pettersen, who has been around the world in rugged conditions and who deliberately lives a frugalista lifestyle (no car!), has made an adventure out of getting to know the secrets of the skyway. This video shows some highlights of his excursions:
Videotect: Leif in the Skyway from Architecture Minnesota on Vimeo.
Videotect: Leif in the Skyway from Architecture Minnesota on Vimeo.
Friday, January 20, 2012
confused about SOPA? PIPA? Clay Shirky explains it to us
From the TED site: "What does a bill like PIPA/SOPA mean to our shareable world? At the TED offices, Clay Shirky delivers a proper manifesto — a call to defend our freedom to create, discuss, link and share, rather than passively consume. (Recorded at the TED offices, January 2012, in New York. Duration: 13:59"
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Fitness progress!
When I got back from Spain, I felt saturated, bloated, tired. I had decided it was time to lower the dosage of my antidepressants because I suspected that some of my fog and appetite issues might be related. i did it slowly, without skipping, and, although I did feel a little light-headed for a few days, I didn't get any brain zaps or mood swings, so I'm holding steady. After making sure I wasn't experiencing and major mood swings, it felt safe to start making diet changes.
After a couple of weeks with my fitness plan, I'm seeing measurable changes, and I have not been feeling tired, weak, or dizzy--no blood sugar fluctuations. By keeping a food log with the MyFitnessPal app (which makes my home site accessible from both my iPod and my phone), I've been tracking my calories and nutrients, keeping within the 1200/day range. I'm only 5'3", and my weight range for many years was 118-125, but I still felt healthy if I was a little heavier. Since I didn't have a scale, I entered my starting weight as what I was told at my my last doctor's visit: 150 llbs. I might have been a little under or over that, but that was close enough. My goal has been to lose slowly and steadily over the next three months.
Changes I made: no more beer at home; no pastries for breakfast in cafes, in fact, no cafes; no ice cream or chocolate; brown carbs instead of white; at least 3 pieces of fruit and 2 vegetables a day; portion control (keep a serving to a cup or fist size, and don't take seconds); a good breakfast; some kind of protein at every meal; non-fat yoghurt and 2% milk; beans, legumes, greens, all the good stuff; count servings of liquids and water intake. It's not rocket science, but I have found that entering the foods I eat in my log with this tool makes it really easy to see how I'm doing during the day, and I don't have to work at it. I also started adding up my minutes of cardio (mostly brisk walking), not for the calories, but just to observe what I was doing.
After a week, I could feel a shift, and I could tell I was shedding some water weight. The new scale I bought says I am down to 144--the quick initial loss being typical of resetting one's metabolism. I treated myself to a Surly Bender at a bar the other day (200 calories!) and still stayed in my daily range without being hungry or deprived.
I feel good! Now I need to see if I can make a dent in the menopot! I'm doing lots of brisk walking, and I have good energy. One day at a time.
After a couple of weeks with my fitness plan, I'm seeing measurable changes, and I have not been feeling tired, weak, or dizzy--no blood sugar fluctuations. By keeping a food log with the MyFitnessPal app (which makes my home site accessible from both my iPod and my phone), I've been tracking my calories and nutrients, keeping within the 1200/day range. I'm only 5'3", and my weight range for many years was 118-125, but I still felt healthy if I was a little heavier. Since I didn't have a scale, I entered my starting weight as what I was told at my my last doctor's visit: 150 llbs. I might have been a little under or over that, but that was close enough. My goal has been to lose slowly and steadily over the next three months.
Changes I made: no more beer at home; no pastries for breakfast in cafes, in fact, no cafes; no ice cream or chocolate; brown carbs instead of white; at least 3 pieces of fruit and 2 vegetables a day; portion control (keep a serving to a cup or fist size, and don't take seconds); a good breakfast; some kind of protein at every meal; non-fat yoghurt and 2% milk; beans, legumes, greens, all the good stuff; count servings of liquids and water intake. It's not rocket science, but I have found that entering the foods I eat in my log with this tool makes it really easy to see how I'm doing during the day, and I don't have to work at it. I also started adding up my minutes of cardio (mostly brisk walking), not for the calories, but just to observe what I was doing.
After a week, I could feel a shift, and I could tell I was shedding some water weight. The new scale I bought says I am down to 144--the quick initial loss being typical of resetting one's metabolism. I treated myself to a Surly Bender at a bar the other day (200 calories!) and still stayed in my daily range without being hungry or deprived.
I feel good! Now I need to see if I can make a dent in the menopot! I'm doing lots of brisk walking, and I have good energy. One day at a time.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Rice Pudding/arroz con leche
"What is the matter with Mary Jane?.... And it's lovely
english rice pudding for dinner again!
Before we left Spain, Rosemary's tío Florencio gave us his recipe for rice pudding. It involves eggs and cream (and is rich and delicious). But there are many different versions, and the one I made this morning just involved reheating 2 cups of leftover rice from our Chinese takeout with 2 cups of of milk, adding a little sugar, cinnamon, orange peel, and stirring until the milk was absorbed. It was delicious, and nowhere near as fattening as the other versions I've seen served in various Spanish-speaking countries.
Here are some variation on preparing arroz con leche: two mom-style, two cooking show style.
Here's someone's mother making arroz con leche Mexican style, very creamy, with condensed milk and butter!
Recipe:
Wash two cups of rice, then cook it in water to cover.
1/2 can of condensed milk (to taste for sweetness)
a can of evaporated milk,
a cup of whole milk,
cinammon stick,
zest of two limes (or other citrus), o a strip of peel
4 T. butter
vanilla
can decorate with raisins and cinammon
Cook the rice until it's not quite totally soft, add the cinammon stick.Add first half of the cup of milk, and stir in all the other ingredients, finishing with the second half of the cup of milk. stirring. Bring to a boil, stirring, and cook until the liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Can be served warm or cold (will thicken even more when cooled. It makes soupier rice pudding.
Top with slivered almonds, or raisins.
Here's a Spanish version, made by someone's dear mother, very traditional.
Add to 1/2 liter of whole milk:
2 cinnamon sticks,
lemon peel
3 T sugar and bring to a boil.
Cool the rice. If you want it to be creamier, leave it, but if she rinses off the starch.
Add rice to milk when it comes to a boil, cook it for about 19 minutes. Remove the cinnamon sticks and lemon peel. You can use the cinnamon sticks to decorate the rice pudding when you serve it and sprinkle it with cinnamon if you desire. Serve it cold
Adorable Peruvian style, with music and flirting:
From southern Spain, (arroz=arró), this time with two egg yolks!
english rice pudding for dinner again!
Before we left Spain, Rosemary's tío Florencio gave us his recipe for rice pudding. It involves eggs and cream (and is rich and delicious). But there are many different versions, and the one I made this morning just involved reheating 2 cups of leftover rice from our Chinese takeout with 2 cups of of milk, adding a little sugar, cinnamon, orange peel, and stirring until the milk was absorbed. It was delicious, and nowhere near as fattening as the other versions I've seen served in various Spanish-speaking countries.
Here are some variation on preparing arroz con leche: two mom-style, two cooking show style.
Here's someone's mother making arroz con leche Mexican style, very creamy, with condensed milk and butter!
Recipe:
Wash two cups of rice, then cook it in water to cover.
1/2 can of condensed milk (to taste for sweetness)
a can of evaporated milk,
a cup of whole milk,
cinammon stick,
zest of two limes (or other citrus), o a strip of peel
4 T. butter
vanilla
can decorate with raisins and cinammon
Cook the rice until it's not quite totally soft, add the cinammon stick.Add first half of the cup of milk, and stir in all the other ingredients, finishing with the second half of the cup of milk. stirring. Bring to a boil, stirring, and cook until the liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Can be served warm or cold (will thicken even more when cooled. It makes soupier rice pudding.
Top with slivered almonds, or raisins.
Here's a Spanish version, made by someone's dear mother, very traditional.
Add to 1/2 liter of whole milk:
2 cinnamon sticks,
lemon peel
3 T sugar and bring to a boil.
Cool the rice. If you want it to be creamier, leave it, but if she rinses off the starch.
Add rice to milk when it comes to a boil, cook it for about 19 minutes. Remove the cinnamon sticks and lemon peel. You can use the cinnamon sticks to decorate the rice pudding when you serve it and sprinkle it with cinnamon if you desire. Serve it cold
Adorable Peruvian style, with music and flirting:
From southern Spain, (arroz=arró), this time with two egg yolks!
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Easy meal with farro
I bought a package of farro with mushrooms at The Wedge (my co-op) from an organic farm in Siena, Italy. This was the first time I had seen farro packaged like a lot of other grains, as a meal base, instead of solo. Fattoria Pieve a Salti is the name of the farm, which is part of an operation that also involves a restaurant and country hotel ("agriturismo"). I cooked the farro mix (which had a recipe for cooking it like a risotto) in my rice cooker (so I didn't need to stir in the broth for 20 minutes), with some tomato sauce left over from cooking chicken, so it had a rich flavor. It was delicious!
I had always been told that farro was the same as spelt, but it turns out that farro in English is "emmer wheat"--another ancient grain.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Changing eating habits, or, remembering what I know
The temptation of turrón
One of my favorite Wellness resources starts off with the step "Remember what you know." So much of making positive changes is not about learning something new, but remembering and applying knowledge you already have, often by overcoming the inertia or other obstacles that have arisen around patterns of behavior. Until I had a child, I never had to diet to keep to a sensible weight, nor did I own a car until I was 34 so I was in reasonable shape just form walking and biking, even after I stopped playing sports like volleyball or softball in college.
After last two weeks of truly heroic holiday feasting (Spanish food is so good!) I was--am-- more than ready to make some changes. I crave salads, greens, vegetables, and feel no appetite for sweets. My new year's resolve to try new recipes and start dancing again are a good start to getting back into my previous good eating habits. From experience, I know that I have to find a new set of habits to latch on to so I don't drift back into bad habits.
The U is on a big Wellness campaign, and has provided some serious incentives this year: if you accumulate 300 points by carrying out a set of wellness activities from their offerings, you can get $300 of your health care plan costs next year.
Comparing my responses to the annual Wellness survey, from over the past few years, I see I have done better at managing the symptoms of my depression AND my back pain. But I have gained weight and become more sedentary, and I don't like having a menopot. I'm also having a recurrence of the frozen shoulder on the left side, so I need to do some active pain management: this was an incentive to sign up for the phone health coach, and I know that exercise (the right kind) will be key.
My two downfalls, ever since I started taking anti-depressants, have been nervous impulse eating, especially right before bed, and portion control. I also eat too fast. So, remember what I know: don't skip breakfast; protein with every meal; no refined carbs or empty sugar (no pastries or alcohol); five small meals a day works better for me than three big ones. In fact, I know that if I plan my food buying, prepare food on Sunday, pack my Mr. Bento, and record my eating for a month or two, I'll be back on track. I also know that returning to my former level of physical activity is possible, but I'll have to take is slowly to not go into a fibro flare.
The "MyFitnessPal" app gives me a way to record what I'm eating and get fairly quick calorie/nutritional information because it draws on a huge database of both commercial products and home-made recipes entered by users. I set a weight goal, get a calorie threshold that will allow me to lose weight slowly and steadily, and then record what I eat and my exercise; it shows me the calorie readouts combining calories eaten and calories burned, and makes predictions as to what I will weigh if keep up with a given day's pattern. So far, it has not been hard to use, either on my phone or on my laptop, and it was free. I want to see how well I can do with this for the Spring semester.
It also warned me on the first day that I was eating too few calories, which might prompt my body to go into "starvation"mode and defeat the slow weight loss purpose. I want to become more fit, not lose weight fast. So I could have had that second piece of 12-grain toast with peanut butter for breakfast, and still kept to my calorie goal.
Paying attention to health eating goes very well with saving money (don't eat out or sit around in coffee shops), so I get to pat myself on the back.
After last two weeks of truly heroic holiday feasting (Spanish food is so good!) I was--am-- more than ready to make some changes. I crave salads, greens, vegetables, and feel no appetite for sweets. My new year's resolve to try new recipes and start dancing again are a good start to getting back into my previous good eating habits. From experience, I know that I have to find a new set of habits to latch on to so I don't drift back into bad habits.
The U is on a big Wellness campaign, and has provided some serious incentives this year: if you accumulate 300 points by carrying out a set of wellness activities from their offerings, you can get $300 of your health care plan costs next year.
Comparing my responses to the annual Wellness survey, from over the past few years, I see I have done better at managing the symptoms of my depression AND my back pain. But I have gained weight and become more sedentary, and I don't like having a menopot. I'm also having a recurrence of the frozen shoulder on the left side, so I need to do some active pain management: this was an incentive to sign up for the phone health coach, and I know that exercise (the right kind) will be key.
My two downfalls, ever since I started taking anti-depressants, have been nervous impulse eating, especially right before bed, and portion control. I also eat too fast. So, remember what I know: don't skip breakfast; protein with every meal; no refined carbs or empty sugar (no pastries or alcohol); five small meals a day works better for me than three big ones. In fact, I know that if I plan my food buying, prepare food on Sunday, pack my Mr. Bento, and record my eating for a month or two, I'll be back on track. I also know that returning to my former level of physical activity is possible, but I'll have to take is slowly to not go into a fibro flare.
The "MyFitnessPal" app gives me a way to record what I'm eating and get fairly quick calorie/nutritional information because it draws on a huge database of both commercial products and home-made recipes entered by users. I set a weight goal, get a calorie threshold that will allow me to lose weight slowly and steadily, and then record what I eat and my exercise; it shows me the calorie readouts combining calories eaten and calories burned, and makes predictions as to what I will weigh if keep up with a given day's pattern. So far, it has not been hard to use, either on my phone or on my laptop, and it was free. I want to see how well I can do with this for the Spring semester.
It also warned me on the first day that I was eating too few calories, which might prompt my body to go into "starvation"mode and defeat the slow weight loss purpose. I want to become more fit, not lose weight fast. So I could have had that second piece of 12-grain toast with peanut butter for breakfast, and still kept to my calorie goal.
Paying attention to health eating goes very well with saving money (don't eat out or sit around in coffee shops), so I get to pat myself on the back.
Sunday, January 08, 2012
Leo welcomes us home
Epic trip back from Spain. First, the plane in Madrid was delayed for two hours, while they check out why that pesky systems alert light was on. After revising all the moving parts, they had to turn the whole airplane off and then on, to reboot the system. It reminded me of this sketch from The IT Crowd: "Hello, IT, have you tried turning it off and on again?"
Then we could go. Atlanta was the usual transition hell, until we emerged and found we'd been rebooked to the next flight out, just one hour later. Then we could relax. Taxi to where I left the car, in my work parking ramp, to discover a dead battery. But, as the Gopher hockey game was letting out, all I had to do was pop the hood, get out the jumper cables and stand next to my car for 30 whole seconds before a wonderful Minnesota handy guy with wife in tow leaped forward with an offer to help. Before he could even pull his car around, another such offer had been made. I love MN winter car help!
So we are home again, with our beloved pal, Leo. You know him as Mr. Kitty.
Then we could go. Atlanta was the usual transition hell, until we emerged and found we'd been rebooked to the next flight out, just one hour later. Then we could relax. Taxi to where I left the car, in my work parking ramp, to discover a dead battery. But, as the Gopher hockey game was letting out, all I had to do was pop the hood, get out the jumper cables and stand next to my car for 30 whole seconds before a wonderful Minnesota handy guy with wife in tow leaped forward with an offer to help. Before he could even pull his car around, another such offer had been made. I love MN winter car help!
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
Movies in 2011 (here be spoilers)
I began last year, intending to blog about all the movies I watched. I think I got up to #6 before I stopped the blogging, but I watched a lot of movies: on Netflix, I had a mini-Korean fest; at the Film Society, I saw quite a few Spanish-language films in their "Latin" film fest (I'll save the rant about the label). The documentary The Mexican Suitcase was outstanding. I joined the Talk Cinema group, so I can see previews on Saturday mornings through the Landmark Cinema chain, and stay on for a conversation after the film. I like not knowing until the last minute what they are going to show us. In that series, I was able to see Melancholia, The Artist, and Carnage. I still hate Roman Polanski, and think he framed the play with the exterior shots the way he did as a kind of special pleading, but I enjoyed the hell out of the acting.
I also saw The Ides of March, Drive, Shame (yes, I knew someone who was as fucked-up as that character, absolutely) Young Adult, and The Descendants. Stuck Between Stations, a film shot in Minneapolis, was really terrific. It won't get the distribution it deserves.
On my list to see when we get home from Spain:
Fincher's Girl w/Dragon Tattoo, Cronenburg's A Dangerous Method, Tinker Tailor, Hugo (if it's still around).
I also saw The Ides of March, Drive, Shame (yes, I knew someone who was as fucked-up as that character, absolutely) Young Adult, and The Descendants. Stuck Between Stations, a film shot in Minneapolis, was really terrific. It won't get the distribution it deserves.
On my list to see when we get home from Spain:
Fincher's Girl w/Dragon Tattoo, Cronenburg's A Dangerous Method, Tinker Tailor, Hugo (if it's still around).
Near Canfranc in the Pyrenees.
We drove from Zaragoza up to Jaca in the foothills of the Pyrenees so Blas could have a work meeting. We strolled around town, enjoying the unusually mild weather. For lunch, we drove to the Hotel Santa Cristina, near Canfranc, close to the ski resorts near the French border. The building itself used to be a customs house. They have an excellent restaurant, El Boj, where we had an amazing meal.
Here are some of the views from the terrace behind the hotel.
Looking north toward France and the puerto de Somport:
Southeast, across the deep gorge to the peaks, the only place where there is snow right now:
South, toward Jaca, and the Camino de Santiago:
Looking down into the gorge at the river (el río Aragón).
Here are some of the views from the terrace behind the hotel.
Looking north toward France and the puerto de Somport:
Southeast, across the deep gorge to the peaks, the only place where there is snow right now:
South, toward Jaca, and the Camino de Santiago:
Looking down into the gorge at the river (el río Aragón).
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
Castillo de Peracense 3/3
Castillo de Peracense 2/3
Castillo de Peracense, in Teruel 1/3
Monday, January 02, 2012
TV and me
This was a good year for TV. Since I don't get cable, I end up watching shows on Netflix. A good show will provoke a marathon, so I have to time it around work and time availabitity.
Some shows I enjoyed this past year, or plan to watch eventually this year:
Mad Men was postponed this year, but that gave me time to marathon all the previous seaons. It lives up to all the hype. I watched all four seasons on Netflix, WITH all the commentary! and just loved it. It brings up all kinds of memories of when I was under ten years old, which is when the show is set, and I know that my parents lived through many of the types of situations that the show portrays. Watching the show with my daughter has lead to many interesting conversations
I really, really liked Homeland. Claire Danes, Morena Baccarin, Damian Lewis, Mandy Patinkin: what an amazing cast! SO suspenseful, so well-written and directed. I was wary of anything that might have been like the disgusting 24, but I'm completely hooked. Claire Danes is utterly gripping in her complete surrender to this complex role.
The first year of Treme was outstanding, and I need to watch the next season, but I want to set aside enough time to do it justice. The music is so wonderful, the food world, the characters. I think I'll re-watch season 1; the music, the portrait of New Orleans, the loving attention to the magnitude of the events that were the aftermath of Katrina: all are equal to the quality of The Wire.
BBC's show The Hour, about a group of news reporters who want to make a new kind of TV news show. The actors--Dominic West (from the Wire) Romola Garai and Ben Wishaw--are terrific, especially Wishaw. It was only a six-episode first season, but apparently a second will be forthcoming.. Marvelous costumes and set design, intelligent dialogue, and attractive men, yay! Another entertaining BBC show was Downton Abbey ("literary soap-opera fantasy") which made me re-watch Gosford Park. Such fun! I'm looking forward to the second season, which will start while I"m away, but should be easy to catch up on. I LOVE Kate Atkinson's novels, so the news that there is a BBC show, called Case Histories, based on them was great. I was able to watch a few episodes, and it makes me want to go back and reread all her books.
Another period piece I watched was about half of Boardwalk Empire (HBO) because it was on just before True Blood, and I'd often find a streaming channel on Tumblr where I could watch both shows. Coming in midway, I wasn't up on all the characters, but it was compelling and a great period piece.This one will have to wait until the summer for a marathon.
Dexter was very good for the first few seasons, a real exploration on a character, but this fifth year it has not been so great.I hated the season ending.
In comedies: we still love The Big Bang Theory AND Community, and I hate that they are on at the same time! Community still has some episodes in the can, but is on hiatus for a few months, which has the fans in an uproar. I have not yet watched any episodes of Louie, but I'm really intrigued by how he produces it, how many risks he is willing to take. I am not as big a fan of Parks and Rec as some, but only because I've just seen a smattering of episodes; I have to go back to the beginning and watch the whole thing. Same for Modern Family.
United States of Tara was good in its first year but I wasn't able to follow it the following season and now it has been cancelled after its third season. But I adore Toni Colette, so I'll put it in my queue.
Shows I have not seen yet, but want to watch:
Justified on FX gets a lot of love from the critics, and since it's based on Elmore Leonard stories, I'm sure it's good. My mother loves The Good Wife; that's another one I'll have to make time for. Apparently Breaking Bad is everyone's FAVORITE show, but I haven't wanted to watch a show about meth, and it's already had four seasons.
I only saw the pilot of Game of Thrones, but I'll catch up with it next. One show a lot of people like that I haven't seen yet is The Vampire Diaries, but I'm not sure about that one. I have never had any interest in Friday Night Lights (Texas, football, ugh).
That's a lot of TV! But the quality of some of these shows has been better than so much TV in the past. I'll probably watch SYTYCD again, but the show has lost its charm for me, alas.
Some shows I enjoyed this past year, or plan to watch eventually this year:
Mad Men was postponed this year, but that gave me time to marathon all the previous seaons. It lives up to all the hype. I watched all four seasons on Netflix, WITH all the commentary! and just loved it. It brings up all kinds of memories of when I was under ten years old, which is when the show is set, and I know that my parents lived through many of the types of situations that the show portrays. Watching the show with my daughter has lead to many interesting conversations
I really, really liked Homeland. Claire Danes, Morena Baccarin, Damian Lewis, Mandy Patinkin: what an amazing cast! SO suspenseful, so well-written and directed. I was wary of anything that might have been like the disgusting 24, but I'm completely hooked. Claire Danes is utterly gripping in her complete surrender to this complex role.
The first year of Treme was outstanding, and I need to watch the next season, but I want to set aside enough time to do it justice. The music is so wonderful, the food world, the characters. I think I'll re-watch season 1; the music, the portrait of New Orleans, the loving attention to the magnitude of the events that were the aftermath of Katrina: all are equal to the quality of The Wire.
BBC's show The Hour, about a group of news reporters who want to make a new kind of TV news show. The actors--Dominic West (from the Wire) Romola Garai and Ben Wishaw--are terrific, especially Wishaw. It was only a six-episode first season, but apparently a second will be forthcoming.. Marvelous costumes and set design, intelligent dialogue, and attractive men, yay! Another entertaining BBC show was Downton Abbey ("literary soap-opera fantasy") which made me re-watch Gosford Park. Such fun! I'm looking forward to the second season, which will start while I"m away, but should be easy to catch up on. I LOVE Kate Atkinson's novels, so the news that there is a BBC show, called Case Histories, based on them was great. I was able to watch a few episodes, and it makes me want to go back and reread all her books.
Another period piece I watched was about half of Boardwalk Empire (HBO) because it was on just before True Blood, and I'd often find a streaming channel on Tumblr where I could watch both shows. Coming in midway, I wasn't up on all the characters, but it was compelling and a great period piece.This one will have to wait until the summer for a marathon.
Dexter was very good for the first few seasons, a real exploration on a character, but this fifth year it has not been so great.I hated the season ending.
In comedies: we still love The Big Bang Theory AND Community, and I hate that they are on at the same time! Community still has some episodes in the can, but is on hiatus for a few months, which has the fans in an uproar. I have not yet watched any episodes of Louie, but I'm really intrigued by how he produces it, how many risks he is willing to take. I am not as big a fan of Parks and Rec as some, but only because I've just seen a smattering of episodes; I have to go back to the beginning and watch the whole thing. Same for Modern Family.
United States of Tara was good in its first year but I wasn't able to follow it the following season and now it has been cancelled after its third season. But I adore Toni Colette, so I'll put it in my queue.
Shows I have not seen yet, but want to watch:
Justified on FX gets a lot of love from the critics, and since it's based on Elmore Leonard stories, I'm sure it's good. My mother loves The Good Wife; that's another one I'll have to make time for. Apparently Breaking Bad is everyone's FAVORITE show, but I haven't wanted to watch a show about meth, and it's already had four seasons.
I only saw the pilot of Game of Thrones, but I'll catch up with it next. One show a lot of people like that I haven't seen yet is The Vampire Diaries, but I'm not sure about that one. I have never had any interest in Friday Night Lights (Texas, football, ugh).
That's a lot of TV! But the quality of some of these shows has been better than so much TV in the past. I'll probably watch SYTYCD again, but the show has lost its charm for me, alas.
Our day trip to La Laguna de Cañizar in Teruel
Between the villages of Villarquemado and Cella is an area that was a shallow lake until it was drained 300 years ago, for agriculture. A geologist, working with the mayors of the two towns, managed to get community support for a project to return some of this land to its natural state, despite the fears of some farmers. As of last year, the Laguna de Cañizar is now once again a "humedal" or marshy fresh-water lake. Thousands of cranes have arrived to overwinter, and dozens of other species of wildlife have returned or become more visible, including wading birds, ducks, swallows, raptors, frogs and toads, snakes, fish, otters, badgers, and other creatures. Because the canes can grow so quickly, an experiment with a few water buffalo is being conducted to see if they do well through the winter, and if their grazing will help keep the growth under control.
We had a wonderful walk, windy and cold, but with gorgeous clouds. Our lunch in Villarquemado was excellent. We went on to other adventures (a castle!) later in the day, but that's for another post.
This place is a birder's paradise. The most impressive sight for us were the clouds of cranes. My photos hardly give an idea of how many there were, or how loud they were!
Here's one TV clip that shows the water buffalo (which we didn't see) and some of the many bird species that have returned to the area.
This video gives more of an idea of the cranes we saw.
We had a wonderful walk, windy and cold, but with gorgeous clouds. Our lunch in Villarquemado was excellent. We went on to other adventures (a castle!) later in the day, but that's for another post.
This place is a birder's paradise. The most impressive sight for us were the clouds of cranes. My photos hardly give an idea of how many there were, or how loud they were!
This video gives more of an idea of the cranes we saw.
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