He even tattooed "厨魔" ("Demon Chef" in Chinese) on his upper right arm.

He's had no formal culinary training before.

His looks appears to be a complete opposite of that of a well-groomed gourmet chef.

And his restaurant has also been referred to as the "El Bulli" of Hong Kong with 5-star ratings from South China Morning Post, BC Food Guide and HK Magazine, a 9 out of 10 from Hong Kong Tatler, a "TOP 10" from Weekend Journal Asia and finally, "Best New Restaurant in Hong Kong" by Food and Wine Magazine.

Alvin Leung's Bo Innovation, as odd as the name may sound, has been the talk of the town for quite some time now. The current location is Bo Innovation's or Alvin's third relocation (the first location was under a different name) and is located within the heart of Wanchai and its Urban Renewal Project.

His menu changes every month and each month, Alvin and his team would put together the most daring and innovative dishes. Check out my comments for each dish by clicking into the photos!

• Century Egg
• Marennes Oyster, Green Onion Lime Sauce, Ginger Snow Oyster Tofu, Seaweed
• Smoked Quail Egg, Crispy Taro Crust, Caviar
• Toro Paper, Foie Gras Powder, Dried Rasberry
• Braised Vermicelli in Porcini Essence, Spring Onion Sauce
• "Xiao Long Bao"
• "Slow Cooked Cod in White Miso, Saffron, Braised Lotus Root in Beet Root and Osmanthus"
• Crab Souffle
• Slow Roasted French Pigeon, Foie Gras, Fermented Black Bean, Wild Honey, "Choy Sum" Puree, Drunken Pigeon Terrine, Pear Ravioli
• Australian M9 Plus Wagyu Striploin, Black Truffle "Cheung Fun"
• "Bo" Fried Rice
• "Bo" Dessert

If you're tired of having "traditional" cuisines and want something that really challenges your idea of taste together with texture (i.e. a certain taste goes with a certain texture), then give Bo Innovation a shot! Your taste buds will never send you the same message ever again.

However, at HKD 1,080 per person (plus 10% service charge) or HKD 1,680 (plus 10% service charge) with wine pairing, Bo Innovation doesn't come cheap. Its definitely on the more expensive side, but was it worth the experience? Err, I'm tempted to say "yes", and it probably was, but the damage has been done, lol ... Its definitely worth a visit.

(Inside Joke: Nick, I can finally write this blog!)

Bo Innovation
X-treme Chinese Cuisine
Shop 13, 2/F., J Residence
60 Johnson Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
(Private lift entrance on 18 Ship Street)
Tel: +852 2850 8371
Website: www dot boinnovation dot com

"It is difficult to act both quickly and wisely, but that is what is required of us right now. Time is short, and doing nothing is not an option."

Obama's Response:

"This is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person who, in approximately 40 days, will be responsible for dealing with this mess," Obama said in Clearwater, Fla. "It's going to be part of the president's job to deal with more than one thing at once."

Eh?

It seems like suspending one's Presidential campaign is one step away from a concession. But clearly, that's not McCain's intention. How does the McCain feel it appropriate to drop all open discussion and to deny American's the opportunity to learn the soon-to-be President's strategies on the issues affecting us?

I am sure McCain's campaign suspension has nothing AT ALL to do with the economic crisis that the United States has found itself in, but more to do with saving face. If he can find grounds to cancel the Presidential debate on Friday, he can surely substantiate grounds to cancel the VP debate, which is to take place a week later, as our economic crisis is not likely to be resolved by then. By doing so, McCain will have managed to save the GOP from utter humiliation when Sarah Palin and Joe Biden go head-to-head on the issues, an area where she demonstrates great ineptness.  I do not doubt for a minute that McCain is capable of debating the issues with Obama, but his running mate is another sad, sad story.

I don't call McCain's strategy putting country first. A little less than two weeks ago, the GOP's candidate wouldn't even acknowledge our economy as the fragile wine glass teetering off the edge of the dining room table when in all actuality, the glass is free falling to an uncushioned floor.

I also wonder, had Obama suspended his campaign, would he even still be in the running? How would everyone react? Would it be proof of claims that he is not ready to lead? But, case and point, it is not Barack Obama debating the debate. It is McCain. I don't know. In the day of globilization, our next President must be able to multi-task, must be able to think decisively and fairly quickly about issues of large gravity. He cannot postpone discussions until he has the bearings to address them. Jong-Il might actually decide to toast some caviar and cognac and have a missile launching party while the President is twiddling his fingers, and suspending issues.

Breath, Melanie. Breath.

These parched and cracked fields of mine shimmer in the heat like a taunting curse from the Sun Gods. The monsoon has failed now for a long time; I've lost track of the days. Gone is the time when the cracked land reminded me of crusted bread, gone too are the days when I looked at the land and felt a noose around my neck. Now all I see is land, useless barren land. Too useless and hard to bury my wife.

The old man went first, then the kids and now the wife. This land is obstinate, but so am I. Foolishness! Such foolishness! Who has ever won a battle against the gods. There was a time when I could have left with the rest of the village. It's too late now.

I wish I could close my eyes so I can see better; but, they are too dry. Instead, the steady unmoving lands fill my eyes like darkness. The darkness lifts occasionally. I hear voices. Then darkness resumes.

II

A van approaches. A camera crew climbs out.

'That's perfect', says the director lining up the shot.

'Leave everything exactly as it is, don't spoil perfection', he continues.

The first scene assistant polishes the huge silver tray one last time. The second begins heaping out the Beluga caviar into a perfect mound on the tray. The cameraman comes over to take a light reading against the backdrop of the black caviar. A little nudge here, a little nudge there, meticulous attention to detail.

'I wish he'd wake up instead of being sprawled there on the ground, the shot would be perfect if he held up the tray.'

'Maybe I should give him some water, that might wake him up.'

'Absolutely not, those cracked lips look realistic, any water passing over them will ruin the shot. I want that tray right there, next to him. It has to look like he's reaching out for it with desire. Seeing how he's got a fixed expression on his face with those vacant eyes, it'll be hard.' 

'Hmm, but we should be able to tweak the color levels for mood in post processing.'

Bleached out sky, shining caviar, quietly glowing silver and baking skin. It's so hard to get everything right. Sometimes it just comes together, like today.

Frenetic activity, then 'It's a wrap!', comes the cry. More activity, dismantling, packing.

'Should we get him to a hospital?'

'He's nearly dead, getting him to a hospital will only make him a burden on the tax payer.'

'Call me practical, but, it'll add a human interest angle to the shot if he dies.'

'Let's get moving gentlemen, no time to waste, this goes to print next week.'

The van leaves.

Caviars Now Available at Tiffany

We are proud to announce our caviar selection has grown! We are now carrying the best of Caviar available in Kalamazoo. Tiffany's wine and spirtits now carries beluga caviar, salmon caviar, and sturgeon caviar. We carry Russian caviar, and Iranian caviar.

Stop at the deli or ask one of our staff to see our caviar selection.

P.S. Da' până la urmă de ce ne dăm aşa scârbiţi de chestiile astea? Hă? Poate o fi artă şi nu pricepem. Alo, ICR-ul... o iniţiativă, ceva ?

I'm sure we all remember the 'Balloon Lumpfish'...

In fact I know you all do, thats the main reason you are reading this, because I am one of the first results on google when you search the the phrase.

However... I have come across what seems to be quite a largely believed mistake.

There is no such thing as a Balloon Lumpfish. Never Has been. So, who said there was?

MSN news.

Thats who. You'll all be familiar with this pic:

The photo of course being of what the article said to be: Balloon Lumpfish. I believe this has been misconstrued as meaning that was their name when in fact its a reference to what they are up to in the photo. I'll admit it, I thought that was their name too.

They are actually called Lumpfish or Lumpsuckers, which are mainly scorpaeniform marine fish of the family Cyclopteridae. They are also used in Danish cuisine as a budget caviar!!

Well, I hope thats cleared that up for you all, and myself. It has to be said thought; Balloon Lumpfish is far more cool!!

Um senador está andando tranqüilamente quando é atropelado e morre.

A alma dele chega ao Paraíso e dá de cara com São Pedro na entrada.

-'Bem-vindo ao Paraíso!'; diz São Pedro

-'Antes que você entre, há um probleminha.

Raramente vemos parlamentares por aqui, sabe, então não sabemos bem o que  fazer com você.

-'Não vejo problema, é só me deixar entrar', diz o antigo  senador.

-'Eu bem que gostaria, mas tenho ordens superiores. Vamos fazer o seguinte:

Você passa um dia no Inferno e um dia no Paraíso. Aí, pode escolher onde quer passar a eternidade.

-'Não precisa, já resolvi. Qu ero ficar no Paraíso diz o senador.

-'Desculpe, mas temos as nossas regras. '

Assim, São Pedro o acompanha até o elevador e ele desce, desce, desce até o  Inferno.

A porta se abre e ele se vê no meio de um lindo campo de golfe.

Ao fundo o clube onde estão todos os seus amigos e outros políticos com os  quais havia trabalhado.

Todos muito felizes em traje social.

Ele é cumprimentado, abraçado e eles começam a falar sobre os bons tempos em  que ficaram ricos às custas do povo.

Jogam uma partida descontraída e depois comem lagosta e caviar.

Quem também está presente é o diabo, um cara muito amigável que passa o tempo todo dançando e contando piadas.

Eles se divertem tanto que, antes que ele perceba, já é hora de ir embora.

Todos se despedem dele com abraços e acenam enquanto o elevador sobe.

Ele sobe, sobe, sobe e porta se abre outra vez. São Pedro está esperando por  ele.

Agora é a vez de visitar o Paraíso.

Ele passa 24 horas junto a um grupo de almas contentes que  andam de nuvem em  nuvem, tocando harpas e cantando.

Tudo vai muito bem e, antes que ele perceba, o dia se acaba e São Pedro retorna.

-' E aí ? Você passou um dia no Inferno e um dia no Paraíso.

Agora escolha a sua casa eterna.' Ele pensa um minuto e responde:

-'Olha, eu nunca pensei .. O Paraíso é muito bom, mas eu acho que vou ficar  melhor no Inferno.'

Então São Pedro o leva de volta ao elevador e ele desce, desce, desce até o  Inferno.

A porta abre e ele se vê no meio de um enorme terreno baldio cheio de lixo.

Ele vê todos os amigos com as roupas rasgadas e sujas catando o entulho e colocando em sacos pretos.

O diabo vai ao seu encontro e passa o braço pelo ombro do senador.

-' Não estou entendendo', - gagueja o senador - 'Ontem mesmo eu estive aqui  e havia um campo de golfe, um clube, lagosta, caviar, e nós dançamos e nos divertimos o tempo todo. Agora só vejo esse fim de mundo cheio de lixo e meus amigos arrasados!!!'

O diabo olha pra ele, sorri ironicamente e diz:

-'Ontem estávamos em campanha.
Agora, já conseguimos o seu voto...'

I didn't like this rice bowl as much as I thought it would ($6). It was topped off with some fish flakes, caviar and pieces of salmon. It lacked any sustaining flavor and after finishing this rice bowl I realize that I just don't like bitterness of bonito. Oh well, we live and learn.

As far as the Pocari Sweat ($2.49) goes, which is basically Japanese Gatorade.....I think I'll just stick to Gatorade.

Katagiri and Company Japanese Grocery- 224 E 59st, New York, New York, 212-755-3566

Sumiko Tan's column about money and frugality was part of yesterday's Sunday Times (Aug 10) splash on "Cheap n Good".

Her grouse abt her mother trying to squeeze every last blob out of a tooth-paste tube echoed my own efforts in a column years ago and which prompted a colleague Irene Hoe to present me with a tooth-paste squeezer which promised to enable me to get out every last blob of paste, but didn't deliver!

Like Irene Hoe's tooth-paste squeezer, Suntimes "good and cheap" effort failed to deliver. It's generally a compilation of middle to upper middle income earners twittering abt getting better value for money for "good to have stuff" like going to a spa but didn't really deal with what one could do if one was really and truly broke and had to stretch $330per month to cover rent, utilities and food.  

So it was another Marie Antoinette moment: no bread? Why not eat a smaller piece of cake to save money? 

Some of the advice given appears sound on the surface, and some suggests that those at the receiving end might be IQ-challenged to need to be given such no-brainer info.

Let me deal with just the bits which appear sound: eating in rather than eating out, healthier and cheaper etc.

I can't comment on the "healthier" claim since one man/woman's home cooking could be another's one-way ticket to a hospital. But cheaper?

Well yes, if you compare ingredient with ingredient, tho I'm not sure whether that's even true when it comes to caviar, foie gras etc. I'm sure when Gunther goes to Indo Guna or wherever to get the high-end stuff, he'll be able to get it more cost effectively than if Auntie here goes to Jasons and tries to buy a smidgeon, enough for the family.

And don't let's talk high-end stuff. Just low to mid end. Those who opt to eat in have to buy or stock up ingredients for meals, besides having to also stock up on condiments, oil, herbs and so on. Then there's the gas or electricity bill as well as the water and washing liquid bills to take care of, because eating at home means cleaning the raw ingredients be4hand and washing up afterwards. 

And if you don't buy the raw stuff for every meal as it is about to be cooked, then there's the cleaning and tidying up to be done be4 putting the goods away in the fridge till cooking time. (I've never known anyone who goes to wet maket or even supermarket and puts what he/she buys straight into the fridge!)

So, those who propose eating at home to save money are simplistic to say the least, as I don't think they have factored in these "hidden" and not so hidden costs. Add to that the time that's required to organise the buying, cooking, storing and cleaning up, and what savings are there to speak of?

Unless one takes the view that with the time taken up fussing over one's daily meals, one won't have too much time left to hanker after the cinema, the pub, shopping, holidays etc and so won't miss not having the money to do those things, or even if there's money, one won't have the spare time and the money that would otherwise have been frittered away is saved!

One last word on that famous Mediacorp actress who advised on saving money by cutting out waste: her method is to instruct her maid to cook meals that are just enough for the family.

She should patent her method because I think she would find many takers. Myself, I've not known of one meal that's cooked at home that's exactly enough: more often than not, there's something left over or someone eats slightly less of this or that dish.

My solution for such inexactness is to store the leftover for another meal or force/coax everyone to eat a little bit more to clear the table. When the food is a little short, we make up with fruit, biscuits or a hot milo or horlick.

Our trip to Peru, and labor day, are quickly approaching, and that means the beginning of fall weather and comfort foods in my book. Knowing that tonight's dinner party may be my last chance to cook something summery, I've decided on throwing an Urban Clam Bake. The menu includes all my favorite summer dishes, and with the temperature up over 90 degrees, icebox pie for dessert should really hit the spot.

The meal

Mom's Corn Relish

Deviled Eggs
—————

12 eggs, hard boiled
4 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp yellow mustard
1 tsp celery seed
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
Optional: Red lumpfish caviar for garnish (or hey, go for the real stuff if you have the cash)

Hard boil eggs, peel and slice in half top to bottom.
Remove yolks and mash in a mixing bowl with all ingredients except caviar.

Fill a pastry bag, or medium ziploc with yolk mixture and pipe back into divot in egg whites (where yolk was originally)

Garnish with caviar or a sprinkle of paprika if desired.

Country Terrine
—————
courtesy Brad

Sadly I do not have the recipe for this, but I believe the terrine contained both pork and beef, a healthy helping of cognac, and was wrapped generously in bacon. Brad served the terrine with Dijon mustard and toast.

Clam bake
—————

8-10 lbs clams and small cockles
1 large onion
2 lbs small new potatoes
4 ears corn
1 chorizo, diced
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp old bay seasoning
2 bottles beer

Drawn butter (1 stick, 8 tbsp)
Sourdough rolls for dipping

Scrub shellfish well and soak in a large bowl of cold water and 4 tbsp corn meal for at least one hour to dispel sand. Rinse shellfish repeatedly until water does not appear sandy. Place shellfish in new cold water, in the fridge until ready to cook.

Slice onion and line the bottom of a large stock pot or clam boiler. Arrange cleaned new potatoes on top of onion and pour in enough water to cover. Boil 10 minutes.

Drain off half the water from the pot. Add corn, husked and cut into pieces, and chorizo sliced into large chucks. Pour in beer, add bay leaves and old bay seasoning, cover pot and let cook 5 minutes until water begins to boil.

As pot comes back to a boil. Melt butter in a small sauce pan over low heat. Once melted, let stand 5 minutes and skim out milk solids.

Arrange shellfish on top of veggies in stock pot so they sit just above the liquid, cover and steam 10-15 minutes until shells open up.

Shellfish should be served with bowls of broth from the pot and drawn butter for dipping. Corn should be served with more old bay seasoning, if desired.

Desert
—————
peanut butter ice box pie

Results
—————

Kim gets honorable mention this week for her impressive corn consumption. The corn really was amazing.

The boys managed to finish every last cockle.

For example, I used to shy away from calamari.  It looked like deep fried rubber bands.  However, I took a chance and found I really liked it.  In my life, I've cautiously sampled chili and pizza, gnocchi and Chinese food that wasn't Chop Suey.  In each of these cases, I found I was wrong in my initial assessment, Sam-I-Am.

Other times, I've been right on the mark.  I don't like runny foods.  I like my eggs cooked hard.  I like my steak cooked medium.  The idea that a food item might seep from its place on the plate is really unappealing.  I don't like spinach.  My mom used to feed it to us from a can.  It looked like the algae growing on the edges of the pond behind our house.  While Meka introduced me to non-canned veggies (which are so much better than canned), I still think spinach is icky.

I have to admit I haven't always followed my own rule about trying foods before disliking them.  Fish eggs of any kind give my stomach the wigglies, such as caviar and roe.  Head cheese sounds like a condition, like toe jam (which I wouldn't want to eat either). 

I admire adventurous eaters.  I watch that guy on the Food Network who travels around the world, sampling this and that.  There has to be a really interesting story behind the first person who decided to eat a lobster.  I mean, who looks at that - all claws and shell and hairy legs and antennae and says - hmm... good eating.  Of course, maybe I'm admiring the second person who ate a lobster.  The first might have led the meal off with Nightshade salad covered in Toadstools.  There are pros and cons to everything.

For a long time, I avoided anything pickled.  I finally gave in on New Years Eve and tried pickled herring.  I assumed it would be awful and - not so surprisingly - it was awful.  Given that experience, I feel I can make some blanket assumptions about certain types of food and avoid them without denying myself the possibility of a positive experience.  Unlike Daniel, I don't have to worry about not eating enough!

Do people who think that we should pay more in taxes and that we should keep paying high prices for gasoline actually like doing so?  If you like giving your money away, I'll give you my address, and you can mail me a check.

Do people who pay lots of money for caviar and truffles acutally think that eating fish eggs and underground fungi is a refined activity?  Do they actually like the taste of those things?  I've tried caviar and think it is disgusting.  I'm too poor to eat truffles, but if they taste like mushrooms, I might actually enjoy them.

Is there actually a difference between a hot pepper and a very hot pepper?  They both make my mouth sting and make me sweat, so what's the difference?  Neither one has any actual flavor, so why do people eat them?  Do they like the pain?  Are they the same people who like paying taxes?

Why did Frank Sinatra become a bigger star than Bobby Darin, even though Darin sang much better than Sinatra? 

How did my wife and I end up defying the stereotypes so blatantly?  She is the serious, quiet, technically minded one, and I am the emotional, talkative, creatively minded one.  Every marriage seminar we have been to says that it should be the other way around.

If we took all the resources in the entire world and divided them up evenly, would that end poverty forever?  If not, then how long would it take before there were rich people and poor people again?  In the redistribution, would the world end up losing resources that it would take a long time, if ever, to recover?

If we took all the guns away from everybody, would that mean that there would never be another murder?  If people began using knives instead of guns, would confiscating the knives end violence forever?  Would taking away every sharp or heavy object and every explosive or poisonous substance end violence and killing?

Why is God's plan of salvation so hard for people to accept, when it is so simple and so breathtakingly beautiful?  Is it too simple and too beautiful for some people to believe it?  Or is it only simple and beautiful to those who have taken the chance of believing it?

What would I have been like, if I had been born rich?  Would I pretend to like caviar?  Would I pretend to like paying taxes at a higher percentage than "poor people"?  Would I be as devoted to my friends and family as I am now?  Would people like to spend time with me?  Would I hire somebody else to eat hot peppers for me?  Would I bribe the astronomers to reclassify Pluto as a planet?  Would I have ended up a Christian?

Anyway, IKEA has great affordable stuff, but also some great grocery items. They have these awesome thin crunchy cookies that are dipped in semi-sweet chocolate, that comes in a ginormous box of maybe 100 cookies, that I really know I shouldn't buy... (drool) Or that Lingenberry Juice concentrate and Lingenberry jelly. Well this time, I found something that I've actually been wanting. This was not an impulse buy, I actually have seen it in a magazine and really wanted to try it, but I could not find it any where! But now, the fabulous have-it-all IKEA had it.

"Kalles: Creamed Smoked Roe" from Switzerland.
Roe is fish eggs, fancy people call it caviar. It's those tiny little balls that are on top of a California Roll. Japanese people just love roe. It's a really fancy thing to eat. We put roe on things to make food look festive. Mentaiko is my favorite, walleye pollack roe that has been salted and spiced up with some red pepper. And one of my favorite things to do with this Mentaiko is to make Mentai Spaghetti! It is SO GOOD!!
Back to the Kalles, in a Japanese magazine, this lady who lived in the UK reported about this Kalles, to substitute the Tarako, which is the non spicy version of my favorite Mentaiko. I'm thinking, "I need this magic in a tube! Deliciouse Tarako anytime I want, whenever I want is a beautiful thing!!!" And now I have my magic in a tube, all thanks to the importing of IKEA gourmet grocery's.

After bringing home my Kalles, I have immediately opened the tube and tried a little. Not exactly what I had in mind... A little more sweet... A bit more smokey... But good! It was one of those, put on your cracker or put on your toast kind of creamy, smokey, and roe-y. I could make my pasta with this!

Here's my recipe for this Kalles Spaghettini for 2

• 1 tbsp of Kalles, Creamed Smoked Roe
• 80 grams of Spaghettini
• A knob of Butter
• 1/4 tsp Red Chili Pepper Flakes
• 1 knob of garlic minced
• 1 tsp Goma (Toasted Sesame Seeds)
• 1/2 sheet of Nori (Sea Weed) cut into paper shredder thin strips that are about 2 inches long
• 1/2 a pack of Kaiware (Radish Sprouts)
• Salt to taste

Boil the spaghettini in well salted water and drain. This is a very quick cook so the pasta shouldn't cool.

In a large pan, melt the butter with the red chili pepper flakes and garlic. When you start smelling the garlic, turn off the burner and add the Kalles. Mix swift and well, add the spaghettini and toss with the Goma and sprouts. Salt to taste and serve with the sea weed sprinkled on top. Yummmm.

Este tipo de pirataria deve ser banido. Uma fiscalização (ou operação) vai comprovar este crime. Pegam as melodias e as transformam em algo repugnante. O eleitor parece não gostar de tal prática. Na eleição anterior, rolou muita poeira de Ivete com a mesma conotação política.

Espero que esta denúncia, se não chegar aos tribunais competentes, que seja lida pelos artistas e, deste modo, surja um movimento nacional para dar um basta na situação. E a praga não me parece exclusiva aqui em Pádua. Se vasculharem, descobrirão outros candidatos em outras cidades com a mesma prática.

Publisher : Gourmet Food Store Company : GourmetFoodStore

Product Description

Originally hailing from Iceland, Black Capelin caviar is usually served as an appetizer, hors d'oeuvre, or side dish.

Customer reviews

best caviar for the dollar. Great compared to grocery store brands. by .. Reuben D. Ganaway (virginia)
This brand is not to salty, not to fishy. Great caviar taste with ample pop. The freshness is evident. I have bought this brand over and over and it's never let me down. I've introduced several friends and family members to caviar using this brand and it never fails to impress. Highly reccomended.

This is the first time I've tried caviar... by .. R. TANO-AN (Lancaster, CA)
...and it's just all right. Another review made a claim that this has a "mild" flavor - he must've gotten a different jar. Not that there were a billion ingredients in the product, but from what I read about caviar, I was expecting "capelin roe and salt"...not spices, citric acid, sodium benzoate, and other food coloring. Otherwise, you get what you paid for...fish eggs, ang plenty off it for a low(er) price. Maybe I can save enough money to try any of the big three (sevruga, beluga, or osetra).

Excellent buy by .. S. K Kellerman (Ft. Worth, Texas)
I am not some kind of caviar snob but I have had the very expensive down to lumpfish from the local grocery store. I was so surprised at the extremely fresh taste and mild flavor. It even had the "pop" of the expensive brands. What was so wonderful with this type is I could just get a little spoonful whenever I wanted instead of waiting for a special occasion.

In the fish market. Saratov. Russia

Originally uploaded by Tatters

I love caviar, what can I say. Caviar is important. Caviar is good for you. Caviar should be eaten all the time. With almost anything. Preferably by itself. When I was a kid, back in Russia, I'd always eat it by the tablespoonfuls. I'm the Behemoth from Master and Margarita.

I also enjoy it with bliny. Don't like the beluga caviar so much. I mean, it's all right, but I prefer the red one better. I can also consume much more red caviar than black. Hence my red hair.

My two most memorable instances of consuming caviar are from 1997 and 2007. In 1997 I remember celebrating the Day of Fishermen back when we lived in Magadan. My dad and I went with his boss and friends on this massive boat and for lunch I consumed a whole bowl of caviar. I remember just sitting there with a big spoon in my hands and taking my time with the product. Yum Yum. Later on that night I got to control the ship since everyone except me, my dad and the dog were drunk. (Someone woke up eventually ;) ) In 2007, I went home to Vancouver for Xmas holidays and my parents managed to get half a pound of red and black caviar for my visit. That was the first time I ate so much caviar since we moved to Canada.

You can buy it in bulk in Russia (and that's the way it should be!) for $50kg in Sakhalin. Sigh.

ennyway wunse the cytology is dun then i will find owt if i get to keep my tale he sed the warts cud be lots of things that i cant pronownse like an inflaymd seb .. seba ... sebayshus gland wich is commin with sebayshus addinitis or it mite be a his ... histee ... histeeositeoma or it mite be sum wurd that starts with "c" that mama and dada dont seem to want to say i think its the histeeo thing becuz it luks like the pikchers on wikipeedia but well see

the vetnameez persun also lissend to my hart with his funny luking ipod and sed that i hav a verry low grayd hart murmr on a skayl of 1 to 10 he sed my hart mumr wuz a zero he didnt say wot my hart was murmring abowt but i think i hav an ideea:

November 2007

December 2007

April 2008

ennyway it wuznt all big scarry wurds and hart murmrs the vetnameez man lukd in my eerz with his weerd and ekspensiv camra and he sed they wer verry kleen and he wuz verry impressd with how brayv i wuz he thinks i am a gud dog and of korse thats troo so i gess it wuznt so bad but maybe next time i wil bring him sum of my top notch caveear stuf so he can tayk sampels of that insted of from me ha ha ok bye

"Ketchup and Caviar" (which is a euphemism for "West and East", one would guess) has put together this wonderful guide for how the government decided we were scared enough as a people to accept them monitoring everything we say.  But hey, they only keep the parts where people say (or it sounds like they say) something about the terrorism and/or terror-related stuff (said stuff to be slowly expanded to drugs, crimes, and then finally pr0n).

Go and look at the charts.  Pay special attention to the loopholes.  The guys who worked on this stuff were pretty smart and know how to build in loopholes (like the ones they built at Guantanamo to allow for torture).

Here's the gist of it...

What New FISA does is create a special case involving our bold red line in the first chart. It provides a way for the executive branch to engage in warrantless (but “certified”) wiretapping of wire and cable (including email and phone) of any Foreign-to-U.S. communications collected inside the U.S. You’ll see the new set of criteria for certification in this special case. It does add new protections for U.S. Persons (citizens or greencard holders) by requiring the typical FISA warrant in all cases in which they are targeted.

On the face of it, this new loophole might not seem to be such a big problem, barring the facts of a) retroactive telecom immunity and b) the implication that Bush will never be held accountable for numerous felonies. Unfortunately, it also really is, as far as I can tell, a back door to greatly expanded wiretapping powers. Beyond the obvious fact that it requires only certification and loose judicial review rather than a warrant, it does so in the following way:

1. It Eliminates the requirement that there be probable cause that a foreign target is a suspect of any kind — terrorist, criminal, ore “foreign agent.” They merely need be your French grandmother, as long as they are outside the United States and not a U.S. person, and if the government says wiretapping them is for the purpose of collecting “foreign intelligence information” (e.g., her Pommes Frites recipe)
2. It requires the cooperation of telecoms in these efforts
3. It eliminates of the need to specify a particular email address or phone number to be wiretapped
4. 1-3 together imply that certifications of wiretapping on individuals is not the issue. The point is to use telecom cooperation to target large collections of data on communications between U.S. Persons and foreigners. This implies data mining — where, for instance, because a foreign target has communications passing through a given domestic switch, any communications (domestic or international) passing through that switch are subject to collection, analysis, and storage.  There are “minimization requirements” meant to ameliorate this, but it is unclear if they really help.
5. The compromise of domestic communications in (4) is exacerbated by the fact that targets need only be “reasonably believed” to be outside the U.S.
6. It includes only minimal court oversight — who it is that is subject to warrantless wiretapping will not be know to the FISA court; the government can wiretap before it court order is sought and continue to do so even if it is denied — during a lengthy appeal process.

I have to say I'm really unhappy about this one.

There's been some other good news recently and hopefully I can get to post some of that today, but this one sucks.  And I'm very unhappy with Obama for supporting it....especially because he said this...

The FISA court works. The separation of power works. We can trace, track down and take out terrorists while ensuring that our actions are subject to vigorous oversight, and do not undermine the very laws and freedom that we are fighting to defend.

No one should get a free pass to violate the basic civil liberties of the American people - not the President of the United States, and not the telecommunications companies that fell in line with his warrantless surveillance program. We have to make clear the lines that cannot be crossed.

...back on January 28, 2008.

And then did this last month.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) today announced his support for a sweeping intelligence surveillance law that has been heavily denounced by the liberal activists who have fueled the financial engines of his presidential campaign.

In his most substantive break with the Democratic Party's base since becoming the presumptive nominee, Obama declared he will support the bill when it comes to a Senate vote, likely next week, despite misgivings about legal provisions for telecommunications corporations that cooperated with the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program of suspected terrorists.

In so doing, Obama sought to walk the fine political line between GOP accusations that he is weak on foreign policy -- Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called passing the legislation a "vital national security matter" -- and alienating his base.

"Given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay. So I support the compromise, but do so with a firm pledge that as president, I will carefully monitor the program," Obama said in a statement hours after the House approved the legislation 293-129.

[full post]

And so the virgin-fan portion of my Obama love passes into the past.  I ahte to see him reverse so plainly on this topic, yet I can understand why he felt the need to.  I hope he got bad advice on giving in to this and didn't make the decision himself.  This was exactly the kind of change we needed, Mr. Obama.

The national security thing is bullshit.  People are not that scared.  it's not the trump card it was in 2004.  Be honest, dammit.

Irrational preferences for rare products are likely to drive the few remaining caviar sturgeon in the Caspian Sea to extinction, warn biologists in France.

Even before tasting, 57% of people at the luxury receptions expressed a preference for the "rare" caviar, while none preferred the "common" alternative, Courchamp told a meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on 14 July.

After they had tasted the two identical samples, 70% of the experienced consumers said the preferred the "rare" sample.
Elitist tastes

It was the same story in the supermarkets, with 52% preferring the "rare" caviar before tasting it, and 74% expressing the same preference after they had done so.

"It's very scary," says fisheries scientist Ellen Pikitch of the Pew Institute for Ocean Science in New York.

The fact that people who are not yet in the champagne-and-caviar set have the same predilection as established consumers means that threats to sturgeon will only grow with rising prosperity. "The expanding economy of China is going to put hundreds of thousands of people in reach of these kinds of luxury products," Courchamp notes.

He argues that similar preferences for the rare can drive an "extinction vortex" in many circumstances – for example, when trophy hunters selectively target endangered animals.

Last chance

In the case of caviar, it means that the availability of farmed products may do little to protect sturgeon from extinction in the absence of a total ban on trading wild-caught caviar.

So cause people have a preference for things deemed "luxury" endangered species may go extinct.

Source: Sturgeon swimming towards 'extinction vortex'