EVOO

The other day, I received my free sample of Swanson’s items to review. I mostly got vitamins, so they will have to be tested over the longer run, but I also got a bottle of Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil to try. I got it out during dinner at my parents house and made both of my parents try it as well as me trying it on spinach (drizzled over, not cooked in). We all tried a spoonful of it and decided it was quite (funnily enough) olive flavored. We didn’t remember our olive oil always being so heavy on the olive flavor, so we tried a different one we had laying around and it definitely did not taste as heavily of olive. In fact, the Swanson’s oil was much lighter and tastier, compared to the brand we had at home, which was heavier, less flavorful and more “buttery”. We all voted for the Swanson’s as the better oil, and I am not just saying this because I got a free sample. I still have not used it for cooking, but am looking forward to seeing how and if it brings out the flavor of the oil.

NOTE: I received these products for free from Swansons in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own.

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Corruption, Election, Changes - Scandal Hits FIFA

Corruption Scandal: Eyebrows over alleged buying of the WC

Lets admit it, the past week has been a turbulent one. We have seen Bin Hammam, the Qatari President of the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) and also FIFA-Presidential hopeful , drop out of the race amidst a corruption scandal surrounding his (ironic) anti-corruption campaign.

During this time, several allegations and revelations had emerged (particularly, it had started to kick in, last month). A UK parliamentary inquiry into why England failed to secure the 2018 finals is told by member of parliament Damian Collins that there was evidence from the Sunday Times newspaper that Issa Hayatou of Cameroon and Jacques Anouma of the Ivory Coast were paid by Qatar. An ethics investigation was then opened into confederation presidents Mohamed Bin Hammam  and Jack Warner of CONCACAF concerning a meeting of the Caribbean Football Union.

Hmm.. I wonder who I should vote for..(from Daily Mail)

Prior to the committee hearing, Bin Hammam shocked the Football world by announcing his withdrawal from the race. In his latest fightback , Jack Warner had claimed that , in an email, Qatar's Bin Hammam had bought the 2022 World Cup, accusations which the FIFA general secretary denied.

In the run-up to the vote, the FA and SFA of Britain had called upon FIFA to postpone the election, citing that FIFA's reputation was tarnished and in rocky waters. Both Associations also abstained from the voting. Also worth noting during this time, several sponsors of FIFA, including Coca Cola , Adidas, Emirates and Visa, "expressed" their concern over FIFA's situation.

Blatter; successfully reelected.

To say that Blatter had a little scuffle with the Media at the FIFA summit is an understatement. He had a tantrum! His speech included a lash-out at reporters over their manners! (Sounds like a movie but bear with me).

However, during his speech , he also announced new reforms for FIFA including a new revamp of the voting system for future World Cups. Indeed, the 24-man executive committee would be stripped of their voting powers and "power would be given to all its 203 members".

In the end, Blatter was re-elected.

But now, with the FA's efforts to postpone the election at vain, they look to be on their own. At odds with FIFA and in a state of self-imposed isolation with their fellow members.

Perhaps, better articles would describe it, the Economist published an article (appropriately) titled " The British and Corruption: England ponders its isolation in the football world".

Update: Sepp Blatter himself had said that he would not "seek any revenge against the FA" who had earlier wanted to oust him (via calling on him to quit/resign/postpone the election).
He said:

There's no bad feeling with the associations that didn't vote for me. I'm the president of all the associations and will work with all of them - and with 186 votes I'm proud. Don't worry about the English.

The number one national association in Fifa - the FA founded the game in 1863 - have the right to be called the FA, Football Association. They should be an example, so that was a surprise.

I had heard about it, and Uefa made a special meeting trying to convince them. I thought this problem would be solved so was surprised when they tried to change the agenda of the Congress and not make elections.

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The Met: Alexander McQueen

If you are anywhere near the NYC vicinity or find yourself there, do yourself a favor and visit the Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibit at the Met.  I expected a few rooms of his designs hung on mannequins to be the extent of the exhibit, which I would have been happy to see but was met with an entirely different experience.

Image via Travelmoon

Each installation in the many rooms that comprised the exhibit provided a unique cacophony of sights and sounds.  Revealing that not only were his display of his designs deeply thought out but so were the surrounding feel of the rooms, music, visuals, and mood.  

The first room was stark, with mannequins on wood floors showing his early designs.  Placards told of human hair hidden within the designs, this gave way to even more unique and artistic creations as you weaved your way through the exhibit.

Despite your familiarity with Alexander McQueen (vast or non-existent), it is instantly clear that his designs were not mere pieces of fashion but thought provoking, at times disturbing, always making a statement about something much deeper than what initially meets the eye.  So many pieces were so off the wall, that it was hard to imagine that one could even espouse the immense vision and go to such a dark place to dream them up.

Many of the pieces were inspired by periods of history and rooted in Scottish and English tradition.  

While in others, inspiration were found in far flung places spanning the globe.

Whether it was a dress flowing from some unseen blast of air, a 3-D hologram of Kate Moss twirling in one of Alexander McQueen's creations, or the re-creation of one of his fashion shows that included the use of a two way mirror to reveal a shocking image, each room evoked a visceral sensation of other worldliness.

Images via The Met Museum

At times sinister, macabre, inspiring, and utterly beautiful, this truly is a sight one must behold in person if only to grasp a tiny granule of the intense artistic visionary that was Alexander McQueen.

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Zippity Do Dah

My oh my, what a wonderful day. As I mentioned, I went to the city of San Francisco this weekend for another round of my favorite thing, SnackaPalooza! Now, you may wonder, what is SnackaPalooza? Well, let me tell you. Basically, it is a pub crawl for food. A food fiasco. An eat yourself silly-a-thon. We generally choose 4 or 5 places to go, and we usually only make it to three. And by the third we are stuffed. At each restaurant, we choose a few "snacks" and everyone shares. This way everyone can try everything, and lots of it.

Here are a few previous SnackaPalooza places.

#1: Berkeley, CA
- Imperial Tea Court (Chinese)
- Cheese Board Cheese & Bakery
- Cheese Board Pizza Shop
- Bay View Cafe (brunch)
- Love at First Bite Bakery (cupcakes)

#2: San Francisco, CA (you can read more about this one HERE)
- A La Turca (Turkish)
- Marni Thai

And now, onto number THREE! Like I said, we chose 5 restaurants, but only made it to three. All of them were in the Mission, so we could walk to each one and pretend we were getting exercise. So here they are:

- Andalu 
- Pakwan
- Limon

The first stop was at Andalu, a Spanish tapas place with more than just tapas. However, we absolutely LOVE the cambozola cheese fondue. It comes with apples, pears and toasties and I could eat about a gallon of it. With or without the dippers. We also had the polenta fries, which come with a spicy creamy tomato sauce. Yum. To top it off, we had a mimosa.

Mimosa!

Next up, and just down the road on 16th St was a taste of India, Pakwan. For cheap good eats, this place is great. We got a paneer tikki masala (cheese with spicy tomato sauce) and a palak paneer (spinach and cheese). And of course, a nan, except this time we tried the potato nan, which is pretty good, although I think I will stick to the plain or garlic next time.

Pakwan -- forgot to take the photo until food was almost gone

Last but definitely not least was Limon, a Peruvian place that I used to go to when it was just 8 tables crammed into a tiny space. They have since moved into a bigger space and gotten really popular, which I have to say, I don't like. The food is still great, but they got rid of my favorite dish, the calamari. It was so great, with just a little bit of breading for crunch, but not to overpower. However, they did have a similar thing, the jalea, which was a mixed seafood fried in the same manner. It too was delicious, but I miss the straight up calamari. We also ordered tuna tartar and truffle mac 'n' cheese, which were both also good.

Jalea

So, after "only" three places, we called it a day and dragged ourselves home.


If I was to go to YOUR city for a SnackaPalooza, where would you recommend I eat?

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Bartok & Janacek Violin Sonatas, Messiaen Theme and Variations by Gidon Kremer,Argerich

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Think Pink!

Did you know I love PINK? I have a feeling you have you might guessed that.

Is this not the prettiest pattern envelope? So 50s. It reminds me of a song from "Funny Face" (starring Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire) very aptly named Think Pink.