Garden Update

It has been only 10 days since I planted seeds in my starter kit and already today I am transplanting the Swiss Chard to larger pots. To my amazement, the seeds started sprouting after only a couple days in the "mini greenhouse." Now, 10 days later the seedling are large enough to transfer to individual pots.

As you can see in the photo above, the four pellets on the right have surpassed all others in growth. These are the Swiss Chard seedlings which I will remove from the starter tray for continued growth in individual pots.

Here we see that four seedlings have sprouted in this particular pellet. In order to ensure the best chance at success, only the strongest seedling will be moved to the pot, the others will be cut away and discarded. Seems a bit harsh but such is the way of survival of the fittest.

I took four small pots of various sizes from the greenhouse outside and washed them out and filled with potting soil. I am using the various sized pots as a sort of experiment to determine how much of a difference pot size makes in the growth of these seedlings.

One by one, I trimmed each of the four Swiss Chard pellets so that only the one healthiest seedling remained. I then carefully cut away the protecting netting from the pellet and placed it in the middle of the pot and then gently covered it with soil.

After removing the four Swiss Chard seedlings, I placed the lid back on the starter tray and covered the other pellets. 

As you can see, the seedlings in the other pellets are definitely sprouting but are nowhere near ready to be transferred and so will remain in the starter tray a bit longer. Meanwhile, the Spinach and Swiss Chard seeds I planted in the individual mini pots have also started sprouting.

 

 

 

Spinach 

Swiss Chard 

Starting My Garden

Unlike LA, where sun is plentiful, and seasons are all but non existent, starting a garden will be a bit trickier here in rainy Astoria. Fall is in full swing and the weather continues to get wetter and colder. Despite the weather obstacles, I am intent on getting started on my garden.  I figured I would start small and indoors so I went to my local hardware store and purchased a Jiffy Greenhouse seed starter kit. 

This is basically like a mini green house where you can start your seeds. The best part is that you can pretty much use this anywhere and don't need direct sunlight (which is lacking here in Astoria)

I have never used a starter kit before as I've always just sewn the seeds directly into pots and put them outside. That's something that will definitely not work with the rain, wind and chilly nights here in Astoria. I took the kit apart and read the instructions to get started, as it turns out, you don't even need soil. There are 24 small flat pellets in the tray each containing peat which will be used to cover and grow the seeds. First, the instructions call for 3.5 cups of water to be gradually added to the tray.

After I added the full amount of water I waited a few minutes as the pellets began to expand. As you can see in the picture below, the pellets pop out and create a small dome that is covered in a very thin netting that holds the peat together.

While I waited for the pellets to fully expand, I selected my seeds. With 24 pellets in the tray, I decided to use 6 types of seeds (4 pellets per type of seed). I chose Basil, Parsley, Thyme, Oregano, Lavender and Swiss Chard.

 Per the instructions, once all the water had been soaked up by the pellets I carefully pulled back the top of the netting and inserted 2-3 seeds in each pellet.

Once I inserted seeds into all 24 pellets I carefully fluffed each of the pellets and made sure that all the seeds were covered with peat.

The initial water I used will be all the seeds need at the moment, so no additional water or soil need to be added. The last thing to do is place the lid back on the tray and place the seeds in a warm place away from direct sunlight.

I addition to the seed try I thought it would be a good idea to sew some seeds the good old fashioned way and use mini pots and soil.

For these, I only used 4 types of seeds: Basil, Parsley, Swiss Chard and Spinach. In LA I tried growing Swiss Chard and Spinach on multiple occasions but it's simply too warm and the seedlings always withered and died as soon as we had consecutive days in the 80s. I'm hoping the cool weather here in Astoria will provide me with a different result.

I am obviously also starting these seeds indoors. Once they begin to sprout and harden, I plan on transferring them to bigger pots and placing them in the greenhouse.

What to do with Halloween Pumpkins

With Halloween a few weeks past and Thanksgiving quickly approaching it's probably time to get rid of those decorative pumpkins sitting on the doorstep. This year, instead sticking to tradition by carving Jack o' Lanterns, Ryan suggested we paint our pumpkins.

I have to say, this was a lot more fun and much less messy than carving Jack o' Lanterns. However, unlike Jack o' Lanterns, which wither and rot, these pumpkins are not going anywhere. Most pumpkins remain fresh and healthy for up to 8-12 weeks. So what to do with them? My first idea was to make pumpkin pie, however, as I quickly learned, this is the wrong type of pumpkins for pie. For that you need the sweet baby type. As an alternative, I decided to turn the seeds from these pumpkins into a delicious snack by toasting them in the oven.

I laid down newspaper to avoid mess and cut the top off the first pumpkin. I checked the inside to ensure it was still in good shape, which it was.

 Next came the icky part of scooping out the seeds. This was one of the reasons I avoided Jack o' Lanterns in the first place, and here I am 2 weeks after Halloween scooping out pumpkin guts. After the second pumpkin, it looked like I had more than enough seeds to toast so I didn't cut up the other two.

Now that I had my seeds, what to do with the remainder of the pumpkins. As I recently read, deer love the taste of pumpkin. Given the recent deer activity in my backyard I thought it would be a great idea to cut out the inner flesh of the pumpkins and leave them out as a treat for the deer.

 

I obviously took great care to only use the flesh from the inside of the pumpkin and not any of the outer flesh that had been painted. I chopped two of the pumpkins and put them in a small plastic bag and took it outside to an area where I've seen deer roaming. After placing the treat for the deer outside I returned to the seeds. First I made sure to rinse them thoroughly and then laid them out on a paper bag.

I sifted through the seeds and removed any pieces of pumpkin flesh stuck to the seeds. I washed them again and set them back in the bowl.

Next, I scooped out some butter and put it in the microwave for about a minute until it was almost thoroughly melted. I put the seeds in a clean bowl and mixed in the melted butter and a bit of salt.

After tossing the seeds with the melted butter and salt I laid them out in a large cookie sheet making sure to spread them into a single layer.

Next, I placed the cookie sheet in the oven, which had been preheated to 300 degrees and set the timer for 25 minutes. After the initial 25 minutes I took the cookie sheet out and tossed the seeds and added some more salt.

I set the timer another 15 minutes at which point I repeated the step above and then set the timer another 10 minutes. After a total of 50 minutes in the oven the seeds were crispy and brown which indicated they were done. I put the seeds in a plastic container, added a bit more salt and tossed. Voila a tasty treat for all to enjoy.

The Rio Cafe

Since moving to Astoria I've been rather curious about the various Mexican restaurants in town. At the suggestion of our neighbor Donna, Ryan and I decided to try The Rio Cafe last night. Prior to heading over, we did some quick skimming of their reviews on Yelp. Their average is 4 out of 5 stars, but some of the newer reviews were a bit on the negative side, nevertheless we decided to give it a try.

The outside is somewhat inconspicuous, you wouldn't necessarily know this is a Mexican Food restaurant. The inside on the other hand is a bit more traditional. The owners do a good job recreating the atmosphere of a typical Mexican restaurant. In fact, it was so cozy in there that I almost forgot it was 36 degrees outside.

Some of the reviews we read mentioned a not so pleasant waitress, so I was curious as to what the service would be like. Our server came over to greet us and take our drink order. So far, very polite. Now, before I continue, being Mexican and living in Los Angeles for the past 10 years, the bar has been set very high for my taste in Mexican food and Margaritas. I will try to be fair with my review, but I also won't sacrifice some of the standards I've grown accustomed to. Having said that, I ordered a Gold Margarita on the rocks no salt to get things started.

The size of the margarita was definitely standard size and at $6 it's right for the money. I take my first sip. Something doesn't taste quite right so I take a few other sips. It's definitely strong enough so I know it's not that. I give it a rest and turn my attention to the chips.

The chips were very tasty and I could tell they were fresh and made in-house. We went with the mild salsa, which was decent. The only problem with the chips, and this is one of my biggest pet peeves at Mexican restaurants, is that you have to pay for them. $1.50 for a small order (pictured above) and $3.00 for large. I have a real big problem with paying for tortilla chips, obviously it's not the money, but it's just the principle. You should not have to pay for chips at a Mexican restaurant ever! I knew this going in because one of the Yelp reviews really laid into the management for making him pay for the chips and salsa. Interestingly enough, while I was there our waitress and another customer who was picking up a to go order got into it about having to pay for the chips and salsa. Obviously I'm not alone in this department. By now, I turn back to my margarita and realize the problem. There is nowhere near enough ice. This makes the margarita taste as if it's been sitting there a while. It reminded me of the 2 for 1 happy hour at Fiesta Cantina (in West Hollywood) where you order one margarita and they bring you two. By the time you get to the second one, it has been sitting around with the ice melting and causing a watered down taste. That's what this margarita reminded me of, but at only $6 I didn't have too much to complain about.

I perused the food menu a few times to see if anything jumped out. I was pleased to find they serve Camarones a la Diabla (Devil Prawns) and Camarones al Mojo de Ajo (Garlic Prawns). When I see these items on the menu I find that it's usually a good sign the cooking will be authentic. However, the one item I tend to favor when trying a new Mexican restaurant is always carnitas. Not only is it my favorite Mexican dish, but I strongly believe that the quality of a restaurant's carnitas is typically a reliable indicator for how good the rest of the food will be. One of the Yelp reviews mentioned a slight disagreement between the customer and waitress over the quality of the carnitas. The customer insisted they were over done and too crunchy while the waitress defended them as authentic. Surely enough when I asked for the carnitas the waitress first asked me if I"ve ever had carnitas. I laughed out loud, on the inside of course, and gave her a polite yes. She then proceeded to tell me that the carnitas are crispy and in chunks because that is the authentic style. To me this brought memories of store bought carnitas from a carniceria (Mexican butcher shop), so I didn't think much of it and proceeded with my order. Half an hour and another margarita later this was the dish that came out.

I did not have to taste them. Right away I knew this was not authentic carnitas. I ripped off a piece of tortilla (which you could tell was microwaved) and picked up a chunk of meat and put it in my mouth. Nope, definitely not carnitas. This tasted more like chicharonnes and had that type of texture. The rice and beans were fairly good and to be fair, the "carnitas" were not horible, but definitely a bit lacking in flavor. At $12.95 this dish is overpriced. It's always hard for me to judge carnitas, because my all time favorite are the ones cooked by my father, and frankly I don't know I'll ever taste carnitas as perfect as his. Regardless, this dish was sub-par in comparison to other carnitas I've previously tasted. I'm not sure if it's the fact that we're on the Oregon Coast, or just the work of an unskilled cook but I don't think I'd order this dish again. After deciding carnitas is not their thing, I turned to Ryan's dish to get another taste of what the restaurant has to offer. He ordered the Tacos de Camaronsitas (Oregon Bay Shrimp Tacos).

I'm not really a fan of the small baby shrimp in any dish, but I put aside any reservations in order to give this dish a fair try. I took a bite out of one of the tacos and my first reaction was that the shrimp tasted fresh, which is obviously a good thing. The flavor was decent, but I was again distracted by the microwaved and not fully warm tortillas. Ryan seemed to like them well enough, but like me, he wasn't fully convinced about the tacos either. The bill for the two dishes, two margaritas for me, two diet cokes for Ryan and an order of small chips and salsa came to $42. If I was still living in LA I would say that's a great deal. However, given the overall experience it felt a bit on the high side.

In general, my impression of this restaurant and food was average at best. Again, given my background with Mexican food, my bar may be set too high, but I honestly believe that's not the case in this situation. On the bright side, except for the carnitas, I believe my objections to the food and drinks at this restaurant can all be fixed with minor changes. However, this is the Oregon Coast, not exactly a mecca for Mexican cuisine, so around here this may pass as great Mexican food. Surprisingly Astoria has 3 other Mexican restaurants, so I am eager to compare the others to my experience at The Rio Cafe. I give this restaurant 2.5 out of 5 stars.

REC 3: Genesis

I failed to mention in my introduction that I am a big movie fan. Especially of horror films. So periodically I will review films on the site. Mainly horror films, but not exclusively. For my first film I am reviewing the third installment of the Spanish film series Rec. For those of you not familiar with the films, the original REC is from 2007 and centers around an apartment building where the residents are locked in and not allowed to leave after a gruesome emergency is reported to the authorities.

Some of you may be more familiar with the American remake starring the lovely and talented Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter's sister). Quarantine (2008), is an almost scene by scene remake of the original, but for those who'd seen the original, such as myself, it still feels fresh and terrifying.

There have been sequels to both REC and Quarantine, both of which were fairly decent.  Now a third installment in the Spanish series has been introduced, REC 3: Genesis.

As you might guess from the image above, the film revolves around a wedding....a very bloody wedding. While the second film is a logical continuation of the original, this third film goes in a completely different direction. In fact, aside from an outbreak that turns people into ravenous bloodthirsty creatures, REC 3 has very little in common with the first two films. I"m not sure if it was intentional, but aside from a few genuine scares, the film seemed a bit campy. I love camp, but if that was the intention here then I wish the director had gone all the way with it.

As is the case with so many of these "found footage" and hand held camera films, the first half is used to introduce the characters and setting. We find out that the young and beautiful couple Clara and Koldo are about to get married. With all their family and friends in attendance, this is set to be the greatest day of their lives. To add to that excitement, Clara has a little surprise she's not able to reveal to Koldo until later in the film. Just before the wedding, we also find out that good old Tio (Uncle) Victor works in some kind of profession where he deals with dogs, one of which bit his hand. After the wedding ceremony, the couple and guests are bused to a secluded estate where the reception is to be held.  This is where the fun begins.

During the reception, there is dancing (including the awesome choreographed number between bride and groom picture above), speeches, even some singing and of course lots of drinking. Later in the evening the cameramen go outside for a smoke break and notice a "drunk" person stumble up the steps and begin to vomit violently.  The camera guys realize it's Uncle Victor and don't think much of it, after all, what's a wedding without a drunk uncle blowing chunks. Unfortunately for the guests, Uncle Victor didn't have one too many martinis. As it turns out, that bite wound on his hand wasn't just from any regular dog. In next scene we are back inside the party where everyone is dancing and having a good time. All of a sudden someone notices that Uncle Victor is leaning over the second floor balcony overlooking the dance floor. Over the banister he goes, crashing down on a table and sending people scurrying in all directions. His wife runs to his aide and someone calls for an ambulance. Shockingly he is moving and doesn't appear badly hurt, but when his wife leans down to comfort him he latches on to her neck and tears out a chunk of flesh. All hell breaks loose but before anyone gets a chance to act, "infected" people come flying down on the party from all directions. I suppose we're to assume that at some point Uncle Victor infected these other people? The film is unclear as to how so many others were infected. As the zombies begin their feeding frenzy the guests make a run for their lives, which of course lead to Clara and Koldo getting separated. As Koldo and a few other guests, including the cameramen, barricade themselves in the kitchen, Koldo freaks out and demands they turn the cameras off. Actually, he rips the camera away and breaks it. This is where we get one of the few unique moments of the film as it switches from the hand-held shooting style to the traditional third-person point of view. Interestingly shortly before this happened I was thinking how I was getting sick of the hand held "found footage" films so this was somewhat refreshing.

From this point forward we see the typical zombie film formula: people trying to escape, said people getting bitten, bitten people turning into zombies, new zombies joining in the feeding frenzy and so forth. However, there are a couple bad ass moments that do make REC 3 stand apart from other zombie films and I'm not just talking about the glamorous zombie beauty pictured here. 

No, what I'm referring to is that the film, as the title implies, brings in a religious element to the equation. As we discover that Clara is alive and hiding in the control room of the compound, we see that she is accompanied by the priest who performed her wedding ceremony. As is typical with men of the cloth, the priest turns to prayer as his defense from the abominations trying to feast on his flesh. Personally, I've never noticed overt religious themes in other zombie films, so you can imagine my surprise that not only is prayer used, but that it actually works! That's right, GOD-FEARING zombies. How is that for a bad ass twist? More on the god-fearing zombies later but first on to the second reason why this movie stands out from other zombie films.

As I mentioned earlier, Clara has a surprise for Koldo but is unable to share it with him as they have not had any time alone. Well, when Clara is in the control room with the priest, she uses the intercom system to send a message to Koldo (whom she says she can sense is alive). In her impassioned  message to him, she gives him the news that she is in fact pregnant with their child. This only serves to fuel Koldo's already frantic quest to find her. As the two are seen going from room to room of the giant compound dodging zombies and trying to find each other, Clara winds up in a tunnel under the house along with another one of the guests, Rafa. As Rafa pleads with her to make a run for it she insists she will not leave without Koldo. Rafa tries to persuade her that Koldo is dead since he's not sent her any signs. Right on cue, Koldo makes it to the control room and begins playing their wedding song. This really gets Clara going, which brings us to our second bad ass moment. As Rafa continues to plead, Clara finds a discarded chainsaw in the tunnel and tells Koldo she is not turning back. Clara turns on the chainsaw and uses it to cut off her dress revealing some very sexy undergarments and then declares "Este es mi dia", THIS IS MY DAY!

That's right, a pregnant, chainsaw wielding bride ready to kick some zombie ass! Gives the term bridezilla a whole new meaning. You really can't get much more bad ass than that. As they make their way back to try and find Koldo they encounter a group of zombies and this is where Clara's inner bridezilla really shines through. As she chops and dices her way through the horde of undead, one of them manages to bite Rafa. By now, nothing is getting in the way of our heroine....and so of course, this is what becomes of poor Rafa

Ouch. Eventually, Clara and Koldo are reunited leading to a very gory and bloody ending that has a few shocking moments of its own. Aside form that however,  I won't give any additional details so as to not ruin the ending for anyone who wishes to watch this film. Overall, this is an entertaining film.  It took me a bit to get past the initial confusion over the change in setting, in all honesty, this could have been a stand alone movie as it doesn't really follow the firs two. The original REC is still my favorite but REC 3 certainly provides fans of gory horror with the thrills and splatters they seek. As I mentioned there is a lot of religious themes which I won't even bother to get into because frankly, I'm not so sure I understand all of them.  All you need to know is that there are god fearing zombies in this movie! And when you combine that with a chainsaw carrying pregnant bride you're bound to be entertained. I give this 3 out of 5 stars.

Goodbye Blackberry

I was never a fan of the Blackberry, not even when they were new and "cool." Like much of America, my first "cool" phone was the Motorola Razr. That fad only lasted a few months as there were all sorts of problems with the phone. Shortly after that, I decided to experiment with several of the Helio phones. Remember Helio? No, I'm sure most of you never heard of it when it was around and those of you that did have probably totally erased it from your minds by now. Here, let me refresh our memory 

Ha, I love the shout out to Myspace mobile (yes, this was 2006). Pretty gimmicky and funny, but the company must have spent all their money on a marketing blitz with ads like this. One minute Helio was everywhere (no, really, it was literally about a minute). And the next. Poof! Out of business. Luckily for me, after the company failed, the iPhone was already in full swing. Naturally, I followed Helio with an iPhone and I loved it! Unfortunately for me, not long after getting my first iPhone I lost it :( By the way, I forgot to mention that I'm not one of those persons who drops $600 plus dollars on a new phone, I'm all about upgrades. So after I lost my iPhone I decided to go back to the basics and go with the $30 dollar flip phone until I was eligible for another  upgrade. Yes, you can mock me, everyone else did.

A very long year or so later, I was finally able to get my hands on another iPhone (i think it was the 3G) at the discounted upgrade price. Score! That lasted almost a full year (a near record for me) before, well, you guessed it, another lost phone! Doh! This time however I was only a few months away from an upgrade. While I waited for my upgrade, rather than going back to a $30 flip phone, I decided to give the Blackberry a try. After all, by then almost everyone I knew had old Blackberrys they were all too eager to give me. Yes, they had all switched to the iPhone. After a few months (and several broken hand me down Blackberrys) I was eligible for an upgrade! I almost ran out to buy a new iPhone until I realized two things. One, the iPhone 5 was out soon! And two, I was moving to Oregon. Why does moving to Oregon matter? For those of you who don't know. No sales tax! That's right, the grand state of Oregon does not impose sales tax.....on anything! That meant a few more months of waiting. I ordered my phone the day after I moved to Astoria and after almost 3 weeks of waiting, ta-dah it arrived this morning! It's a beautiful phone full of neat features and gadgets, most of which I will never use or understand.

If you're still reading, you might be wondering why such a long drawn out story about a phone! Well, it just so happens that my phone, and primarily the camera, will be the method by which I will  capture the beauty of Astoria, its landmarks, restaurants and shops. I am very excited to go out and take pictures. Lots of pictures of the beauty that is everywhere and share it with all of you here on my blog, so please forgive me for this rather dull post about phones and I promise that the next few stories will be filled with interesting photos and stories from my new home.