mountain masala

sigh

a cool breeze through the window....

aahhh...

(I should have written a haiku... if I could remember the rules!)

an open window
gentle caressing breeze
sultry heat
   permeates
       sweaty flesh
poetry unfulfilling
grab cold coopers
     from fridge
contentment

bloody heat!

normal transmission will resume when the weather has cooled down enough for me to think!

aussie day salads

yesterday it was australia day, quite weird to celebrate "Sorry day" for the first time since a national apology to aboriginal people. nevertheless, being low on nationalism and high on indigenous justice in this family, australia day is a rather muted affair.

i fired up the weber and cooked my signature middle eastern roast lamb. since its been stinking hot I made some salads from the african and middle eastern cookbook. buy it! $25 in Australia and just brilliant. 

Zahlouk
I blackened an eggplant under the grill (I was supposed to have three), then peeled it and finely chopped the mushy innards...
Simmered a can of chopped tomatoes with a teaspoon of sugar until the liquid had reduced to a thick sauce.
Dry-fried 4 cloves of garlic until blackened a bit, then peeled and chopped them finely.
Toasted 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (no oil, medium heat, shake regularly and don't overcook - very quick), then crushed them in the mortar and pestle.
Mixed it together with 3 tablespoons of olive oil, the juice of one lemon, a teaspoon of harissa, some black pepper.
i would have added chopped parsley if we'd had some...

zucchini and cauliflower salad
this is easy peasy.
break half a cauliflower into florets and steam until soft. mash it a bit with a fork.
add 2 tbspns olive oil, juice of 1/2 lemon, and 2-3 garlic cloves (see above).
cut two zucchinis at an angle (to make it fancy looking) in thick chunks and saute them in olive oil (medium-high heat, cooked quickly until browned but still crunchy)
add to cauliflower with the juice of the other half of the lemon....
add salt & pepper to taste & chopped parsley if you happen to have any...

carrot salad
i have to say that indian and middle eastern cooking has redeemed the carrot for me.
Cut 3-4 carrots into short slivers and steam until softened but still crunchy. toss in a bowl with 1-2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 teaspoons sugar, 2-3 diced garlic cloves (see above), 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed, toasted cumin seeds (see above), juice of a lemon, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp paprika, some coriander (we had bottled, not fresh leaves...) and chopped mint (which we didnt have). very nice.

I mangled another salad which shall remain unmentioned.

pizza posts are forthcoming, i promise!

teenagers and online networking

here are a few links about young people and online netowrking:

Taken Out of Context: American Teen Sociality in Networked Publics (pdf)
this is a PhD thesis from dana boyd - source

Abstract: As social network sites like MySpace and Facebook emerged, American teenagers began adopting them as spaces to mark identity and socialize with peers. Teens leveraged these sites for a wide array of everyday social practices - gossiping, flirting, joking around, sharing information, and simply hanging out. While social network sites were predominantly used by teens as a peer-based social outlet, the unchartered nature of these sites generated fear among adults. This dissertation documents my 2.5-year ethnographic study of American teens' engagement with social network sites and the ways in which their participation supported and complicated three practices - self-presentation, peer sociality, and negotiating adult society.

My analysis centers on how social network sites can be understood as networked publics which are simultaneously (1) the space constructed through networked technologies and (2) the imagined community that emerges as a result of the intersection of people, technology, and practice. Networked publics support many of the same practices as unmediated publics, but their structural differences often inflect practices in unique ways. Four properties - persistence, searchability, replicability, and scalability - and three dynamics - invisible audiences, collapsed contexts, and the blurring of public and private - are examined and woven throughout the discussion.

While teenagers primarily leverage social network sites to engage in common practices, the properties of these sites configured their practices and teens were forced to contend with the resultant dynamics. Often, in doing so, they reworked the technology for their purposes. As teenagers learned to navigate social network sites, they developed potent strategies for managing the complexities of and social awkwardness incurred by these sites. Their strategies reveal how new forms of social media are incorporated into everyday life, complicating some practices and reinforcing others. New technologies reshape public life, but teens' engagement also reconfigures the technology itself.

 

Also a report on different age groups and social networking here.

I'll look forward to having a read. the four internet users in our house are all facebook friends, and I'm having the odd experience of finding out what my kids are doing, thinking and feeling in their bedrooms via facebook under the same roof!

bible study #3

for bible study #3 at ncyc we took the theme for the final day  -"diverge" or being sent. we recreated the lake galilee pool with blue cloth and stones, made a cross with the black cloth and decorated it with fairy lights, candles, pot pourri and bread rolls (hot cross buns actually - in january!). previously people had been seated in groups of four. on this occasion the seats were around the perimeter and we asked people to sit with someone they hadnt met before.

live tv software for mac

boinx have introduced "boinx tv", a live tv production software package for apple mac.

i've been interested for a while in a video-casting solution and this looks cheap, so worth a download and checking out.

russell used qlab at ncyc to cue A/V material for the main gatherings, and although i only got to peek over his shoulder for a second, it was nice to see it in action. he had a mac running qlab, another running keynote, live camera feeds, etc.

bible study #2

session 2 of the bible studies on mark took the theme of discipleship being costly and counter-cultural.

the entry experience featured a loop of the start of "powaqqatsi" of workers lugging sacks of dirt up a muddy hill, with a second pair of screens showing the "eye" loop from one small barking dog's "in motion" dvd. the music was "breath" and "float" from david bridie's "act of free choice".

we had set a black cloth with two kinds of fairy lights and candles at the front (you can see a "light" thing coming, can't you....)

the start sequence was the miniature earth animation.

i haven't blogged all year....

i'm still officially on holidays, but its been a bit quiet.

back from 10 days in melbourne, including a week at our national christian youth convention, aka ncyc, featuring a cast of thousands... (you know who you are...). we went over as a family - the twins at their third ncyc and me leading a bible study - there were nine options.

from what I heard there were about 1100 young people aged 16 to 30 and about 400 adults. an excellent week - good weather, good spirits, some great input. a large proportion of samoan and tongan people gave the event a different, lively and loud flavour - an excellent experience for we monocultural south australians.