Last weekend, my wife and I drove along the George Washington Parkway (such a beautiful highway along the Potomac river) to reach the waterfront of the old town Alexandria. We saw a different view of the national mall, which I guess a lot of people might have missed when visiting DC.

Old town Alexandria is a tourist attraction. With several blocks of specialty shops, restaurants, historical buildings and a wonderful waterfront, this area is a great place for a weekend travel. A walk along the waterfront in a nice weather, some causal shopping in the crafts stores, browsing around the studios and galleries in the Torpedo Factory, and finally satisfying your taste buds in one of the many restaurant or bars. If you want none of the above, driving along the scenic George Washington Memorial Parkway in a sunny day is a pleasure by itself.

We choose this Thai food restaurant/bar called Mai Thai at the end of the day, after half a day of walking. The restaurant is located near the waterfront, very near the Torpedo Factory. At first we chose to eat outside; but finally we moved inside (when it got chilly). We should have moved to upstairs, where we could see the river. But we did not know at that time.

What we liked about Thai food, is it sour sweet and sometimes spicy taste. The use of a variety of herbs makes the food quite interesting. This time we ordered a soup, an appetizer, and two entrees.

The soup was Tom Yum Soup with chicken. Tom Yum is a very popular spicy Thai soup with a strong lemongrass taste. Different from the Tom Kha Kai Soup, it does not have coconut milk (some recipes do add coconut milk, but I don't think that's authentic).

Green mango salad was for appetizer. I still remember the taste of a mexican mango recipe I saw on National Geographic magazine the month before last month: Mango with lime juice and hot pepper powder. The taste is fresh, intense and stimulating. This green mango salad is even better. The mango was processed into very thin and long strips, flavored with spicy lime vinaigrette dressing, fresh cilantro, and coconut powder. If you would imagine the combine taste of fresh sweet mango, sour but fragrant lime, the distinct cilantro, the chili pepper, and the roasted coconut powder, you would understand why I called it an ultimate summer appetizer.

The two entrees were not bad, too. My wife had the Ka Pow Beef, a spicy and sweet stir-fry dish with Thai basil. I had the Pad Poh Tack, a seafood dish (shrimp, squid, scallop and mussels) cooked with chili paste, lemongrass, galangal, peppercorn, krachai, and kaffir-lime leave. Both dishes were rather mild, we were expecting much spicier. They might be tamed to the American taste.

前段时候看这相关的贴子，就猜到美国媒体会报道。没想到会这么快。（记得上个月Washington Post的地铁子报Express还回收利用了成都某小狗自己买香肠的“新闻”）。有时候真是佩服美国新闻工作者的敬业精神，几十年一边倒的反华报道，不容易。建议记者们多上上猫扑、文学城，那里的小道消息多，标题更是触目惊心。

BTW，发现ＮＹＴ主页的一个小功能：在新闻内容页（主页上不行，要点入新闻链接），双击某一单词，会自动弹出一个页面，解释该词的意思。非常方便。

希望某些浮燥，无知，自以为是的网民们以此为戒，不要因为恐惧而疯狂的反扑。记得我的小学教师经常提醒我们，离了谁，地球也照样转。

爱因斯坦说过：“ With fame, I become more and more stupid, which of course is a very common phenomenon”。Common Phenomenon! 可怜的是很多名人却意识不到这一点。

今天去看了300。觉得还不错。超现实主义的影像效果很好，有表现力。中间有一点枯燥，虽然是叙事的需要，的确是可以做得更好。情节上来讲，也不是太夸张，几百人（300＋途中加入的一小撮手工业界的工匹们）小胜了几场后，最后是被全军覆灭了。当然，除了一个独眼。这位战士负伤后被派回去传信，同时也是此人把这个故事流传下来的。影片中的旁白应该就是这个人的声音。你可以理解为他就是在讲这个故事，不过我觉得是他在对法老会讲述这个故事。这样看来，影片的结构是倒叙的，一直到尾声，从时间上交结回来。这个结构，在叙事上和逻辑上都是讲得通的。

我不知道编剧的本意如何，也不知道我是否是太敏感了，我认为影片的内容在政治上和军事上影射很多。甚至可以细化到方方面面。不过这些事情多说无益。

我认为300不是一部展现血腥、暴力的纯娱乐片。影片中真正暴力和血腥的场片并不突出。没有令我感到十分恶心的场面。我记得我以前写过，我们已经进入了“男色时代”。这部影片中展现的肌肉男优美健壮的身材，在不少地方都有点过，看上去极不真实与和谐，虽然大多数时候都拍得很美。

谁还记得有一种叫“三句半”的曲艺节目？我小时候表演过。很搞笑的节目。表演者是四个人，拿鼓锣，轮流说话。前三个人是说一整句，最后一个人是说半句，所以叫“三句半”。一般来讲都是说的比较搞笑的段子，前三个人说完，最后一个说半句，通常是二字或者三字，是点睛之笔。然后四人一起敲锣打鼓，原地转一圈，然后再说下一轮。非常好玩。

我的记性从小就不太好，背不下大段文字，所以表演的时候自然是说半句的那位。记得我们在台上时，正敲锣转圈，突然，不知道谁的鼓捶上的布团掉了，于是锣声一变，听上去就是锵锵，鞭鞭鞭。笑死人了。可惜在台上不能笑，只到憋着，到转身的时候狂笑。不知道现在这种曲艺节目还流不流行，小孩子们还会不会被组织起来排演。

Wild Hogs [film]

I know, I know. And he knows, he knows. Film critics will never agree with me on this, because they may have higher taste (or they think they have), let alone the academy. That's why they awarded Martin a Oscar for his, what, "the 6th greatest movie". Anyway, I am going to say it: Wild Hogs is a good one. At least I laughed through out the whole film and did not feel empty when I walked out of the theatre. People love the movie too -- please look at the box office.

I tell you , if you want to have fun, go to this movie, because this is actually one of the comedies that are more hilarious than its trailer. How good can this be? The story is simple, four middle-aged guy formed an motorcycle gang called wild hogs and when on an road trip. All of the four actors, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, John Travolta, and William Macy were fun, I mean, tremendous fun. I laughed when they were off the road, and I laughed when they were on the road. What's more, the scenery was beautiful, reminding me of my thoughts of driving cross the United States.

Hehe, maybe, I am just as hollow as this blog entry.

第一次听说Sweetbread是在查询有关痛风的信息时，是痛风患者禁食的食品之一。具体是什么，说起来，看起来都不太爽心：是羊或者牛（通常是小羊或小牛）的胰脏和胸腺。也许是我孤陋寡闻，我在国内的时候从来没有听说胰脏和胸腺是可以食用的，也没有看到菜市上有卖的。所以我一直在想象 Sweetbread成菜后会是什么味道。

今天到一家朋友推荐的西班牙酒吧吃午饭，看到有sweetbread，立即就点了。西班牙人到真是什么都吃，兔，鸭，blood Sausage，而且也很对我的口味。这一家在华盛顿第7街中国城附近的Jaleo Tapas bar （Tapas是餐前小吃的意思，西班牙人的说法是Eat when you drink，drink when you eat）。所以在酒吧提供的tapas，份量很小，就象下酒的小菜，通常一个人要两到三份。象我们这样只吃菜不喝酒的到是不多见。

点了五样小吃外加一个汤。我们两个胃口小，吃下来有一点多。其中两种是老婆原来吃过的，一是Spanish cured ham，一种火腿肉；二是Roasted pepper，下面要讲到：

1. Pan con tomate y jamón serrano* （Spanish imported cured ham with traditional tomato bread）：Spanish cured ham，是（在较低的温度）下经过盐渍，风干后的猪坐臀肉（或者前腿肉），可以做在菜里。这里是直接切成非常薄的片放在烤脆放凉的面包片上，加橄榄油，肉的味道很鲜，盐也不重，面包里透着蕃茄味，非常好吃。可惜是生肉，不习惯多吃。

2. Pato con castañas （Duck confit with chesnut sauce）：烤鸭，只有一只腿，但是鸭子很肥，虽然比不上北京烤鸭肥，但是鸭皮脆而可口，鸭肉味道还行。配上的酱是加板粟熬成的，棕色，味道有点象甜面酱。

3. Panceta de cerdo con trigo con piquillo confitado（Traditional boneless rib of pork with slow cooked 'piquillo' peppers）：猪排骨附近的肉很好吃。这一块烤好的猪肉是两层瘦肉夹一层肥肉。有一面有些太干了，不过总的来说入口即化。甜甜地带一些辣味。虽然是最后上来，还是被我消灭了。

4. Escalivada Catalana（Roasted pepper, eggplant and sweet onion with olive oil and sherry vinegar ）：我知道烤茄子和甜洋葱都挺好吃，但是烤红甜椒？在我老婆强烈推荐下，我试了试。的确很好。不知道西班牙人用的是哪一种甜椒，入口是一种软软的滑滑的感觉，很细腻。

5. Pisto Manchego con mollejas（Veal sweetbreads with 'pisto Manchego' stew）：我好好奇，所以没有吃过的东西总要试试。我在网上查过，所以知道sweetbread通常要用油炸过。看上去有点象一团棉花，腺体。第一口吃，切了很小一块，味道还不错。没有脑花软，口感象嚼做得比较硬的Cheese cake，没有什么特殊的怪味。这一盘菜做得还不错。

6. Sopa de pescado 'Va por ti, Clemente!'（A traditional fishermen's soup）：这个汤才是味道比较特别。原料是两种贝类，鱼，虾等。挺鲜的，用面包沾了吃还可以。

如果不喝酒，这一家餐馆消费不太高，每个小菜5块多到7块多，Entree也才14块多到16块多。

至此，又尝到一种从没吃过的东西，而且找到一家不错的餐馆，算是有收获吧。

上班的第一个月，就定阅了当学生时一直舍不得定的Aperture，一口气定了2年，8本（季刊）66块。随刊免费赠一本Aperture Masters of Photography - Paul Strand。Aperture是很著名的摄影杂志。没有什么技术、器材上的文章。更象是一本评论，一本Catolog。我读研究生的学校图书馆里有，所以我常去看。我读书，不求甚解，看摄影作品也是。喜欢与否，凭的就是直觉。Aperture里的照片，几乎张张精彩。
07年春季这一期的评论中有Douglas Gorden。记得04年到华盛顿的时候，在Hirshhorn Museum正好看过Douglas Dorden的个人展。不少installation还记忆尤新：24 Hour Psycho, The Exorcist ...... 我和老婆映象最深的还是他的Play Dead, Real time：巨大的屏幕和小小的监示器上展示一只大象的活动和局部......不可思议的震撼组合。
翻页，介绍的是 Catherine Opie，完全不同的风格，同样的动人（如下图， Catherine Opie, Nich (Surfer), 2003)）。
物超所值。

我的相机放在包里快1个月了，07年拍过3张照片，没有时间动。

上回看到有人把奔腾CPU的时钟频率降到8MHz，用20MB内存跑Windows XP，大大感叹了一番：这世上，会浪费时间的人真不少。这一周的《新闻周刊》上介绍了一本书，有过之而无不及。话说回来。食品科学天天搞研究，一部分就是这些内容。

Ettlinger的新书"Twinkie, Deconstructed"是介绍食品的－不过不是一般的食品，因为制作的原料不含有“任何容易变质的东西，如牛奶、奶油或者黄油等等。举例如下：

Twinkie 夹心蛋糕

蛋糕：原料：Lecithin（乳化剂）, Diacetyl（增加黄油的味道）, Yellow No.5, Red No.40 （色素）, Sorbic acid（防腐剂）. ［当然还有面粉，糖，盐，苏打和水］。

夹心：原料：Shortening （替代牛油或氢化植物油），Polysorbate 60 （替代奶油和蛋），Cellulose gum （增加滑顺的口感），Artificial vanillin（人工合成香料）。

结果：保质期25天（传统Twinkie的保质期只有2－3天）。

欢迎大家品尝。