Tag: advice

Need a book to read? A gift to give? Let the New York Times and I help you

The New York Times recently published a helpful list of 100 books to read (gift link, here). One thing great about that list is that it is broken down into subcategories. Need a book you can read in a day? Perhaps you need something to make you laugh. Or how about a really good memoir or biography? Whatever type of book you need, the Times has guidance for you in one of the subcategories. So instead of staring down a long list of 100 books, you can narrow in on just what suits your reading desires right now.

Books also make great gifts, for those of you looking to get some for the Holidays or some special event. Go check out the list, either for yourself or others. You’ll be glad you did.

Let gen AI and the Internet be your travel guide in this day and age

In the old days of travel (the 1980s), travellers would depend on printed guides from Fodor’s or Lonely Planet to be your travel guide. They were good, but very general.

Now with tools like ChatGPT and CoPilot, you can make your own highly specific guides just by asking them for it. For example, if you were travelling to Paris, you can ask it for walking tours of neighbourhoods like the Marais and prompt it to give you cafes to see or places to shop or museums to visit along your walk.  (Sure you can also Google that information, but by starting with gen AI, you can get it in a format you want.)

Likewise, you may think: what do I say to people once I get there? For that, I asked CoPilot:

Hello. You are a French to English translator. Please provide me with some common French phrases for that are useful for 1) when you arrive at the airport 2) when you come to your hotel 3) at a cafe 4) at a restaurant 5) at a museum 6) in a cab or uber

and it came back with such phrases as:

1. At the Airport

Bonjour, où est la sortie ? — Hello, where is the exit?
Où sont les taxis ? — Where are the taxis?
Où est la station de métro ? — Where is the subway station?
Je cherche la porte d’embarquement. — I’m looking for the boarding gate.
Où est la récupération des bagages ? — Where is baggage claim?
…
3. At a Café

Un café, s’il vous plaît. — A coffee, please.
Je voudrais un croissant. — I’d like a croissant.
Est-ce que je peux avoir l’addition ? — Can I have the bill?
C’est délicieux ! — It’s delicious!
Est-ce que vous avez du lait végétal ? — Do you have plant-based milk?

….

These were good, so I followed up with

Can you expand each list from 5 items to 10? Merci!

and it replied with this and more.

Parfait, Bernie ! Here’s an expanded list of 10 useful French phrases for each of the six travel situations, with their English translations:
…
4. At a Restaurant

Une table pour deux, s’il vous plaît. — A table for two, please.
La carte, s’il vous plaît. — The menu, please.
Je suis allergique à… — I’m allergic to…
Quel est le plat du jour ? — What is the dish of the day?
L’addition, s’il vous plaît. — The bill, please.
Je voudrais réserver une table. — I’d like to book a table.
Puis-je voir la carte des vins ? — May I see the wine list?
Est-ce que le service est compris ? — Is the tip included?
Je prends ce plat. — I’ll have this dish.
C’était excellent, merci ! — It was excellent, thank you!

Those are just two examples of how you can gen AI to help you with your travel plans. But really, the sky is the limit on what advice you can get from them.

N.B. Do I recommend you double check these guides outside of gen AI to make sure they are correct? Bien sûr! I found the answers we got back were good, but you’d be wise to use Google/Bing/Duck Duck Go  directly to confirm the advice you got.

My guide on how to use Michelin Guides to causally dine

You may think of Michelin guides in terms of deciding the best places to dine in a particular city or place. That is one way to think of them. If you aim to eat in the finest of establishments, their guides to 2 and 3 star restaurants can help you there.

On the other hand, if you want have a relaxing meal that doesn’t cost too much, you can still use their guides. Here’s two ways to do that:

  1. Go to restaurants with Bib Gourmand awards. As Michelin says, these are places with good quality, good value cooking. That’s how I ended up eating recently at Bao in London. It was delicious and super inexpensive. Same goes for Brutto, which I stopped at on my previous visit. If you were visiting Toronto, you would do well to eat at such places as Sunny’s Chinese or Bar Raval, all places with Bib Gourmands. Same goes for Russ and Daughters and Katz’s in New York, to name just a few more places.
  2. Go with restaurants with a price point rating of $ or $$. You likely won’t get fancy tablecloths or candlelight, but you will get really good food. Two examples of that in Toronto are PAI and CÀ PHÊ RANG, while in New York you get great meals at place like Via Carota and Momofuku Noodle Bar. Are you in London? Check out Barrafina or the Pig and Butcher.

Now, you can still causally dine in places that don’t meet the criteria above. I had a fantastic meal at Parcelles in Paris, but it is €€€, even though it feels casual there. Likewise I love St. JOHN in London, and it too feels like a casual place, but again, it is £££. But over all my guide holds, especially if you have no idea how to proceed and you don’t want to spend too much while still eating well.

Michelin is not the be all and end of all of where to dine in a city. Anyone who knows a city well can tell you that they pass over places that should be included, and underrate places you should check out. But you would do well to lean into their guides if you are aiming to eat well and eat causally in a city.

Three good lists to help you dine well in Paris (plus some other good sources)


It can be overwhelming trying to decide where to eat in Paris. You need a guide. Here’s some I recently used for a trip to Paris that I found were very helpful.

First up, I highly recommend David Lebovitz’s list of favorite Paris restaurants, not just for the list itself, but for the many tips to dining out in Paris at the end of the list. (He also has this older link, but it’s very old.)

We also took advantage Alison Roman’s list of places she hit up in Paris, although you may need to be a subscriber to see it. She is a big fan of the many great wine bars in Paris, as well as places like Les Enfants du Marché.

If you have to choose one source, then of course you want to go with Michelin, which obviously is a great guide for dining in Paris.  There are literally hundreds of restaurants you can choose from at all price points. There’s really no excuse to dine poorly with so many options.

To all those I would add Laura Calder, who is living in Paris now. Check out her substack to see where she has been in Paris. Years ago I asked her for advice on dining in that city and she pointed me to David Lebovitz. Now I do the same for you.

Before I forget, consider checking out the New York Times: do a search for “Paris”. I heard about Parcelles through this piece on Paris bistros and I knew I had to go.

As for the places we ate on our last trip, here’s my list of places we had good dinners:

The first three were three different sort of bistros, which I love. And the last two were bars with more casual fare.

For lunch we had lovely avocado toast sandwich with egg and watercress at Used Book Cafe in the Marais: highly recommend that spot. Another day we grabbed a jambon beurre from Caractère de Cochon and ate in while sitting in a park. Lovely.

How to think about being happy and how to be happier

If you are like many people, you might wonder: am I happy? How can I be happy? Why am I not happy? What does it mean to be happy? It is a problematic term, happiness.

Perhaps we have problems with the idea of happiness because it varies from one person to the next. One person might be happy travelling the world, while another is happiest staying at home.  I could be happy being alone on a porch in a rainstorm: you could be happy at a big noisy party. It truly depends on the individual.

That said, if you are struggling with the uncertainty of knowing how to be happy, consider pursuing feelings associated with happiness. I find it is easier to be certain when it comes to feeling content, satisfied, pleased, delighted, joyful, amused, relaxed, calm or cheerful. Happiness is a rainbow of feelings, are all those positive feelings are a part of that rainbow.

Likewise, you may not know how you are feeling at the moment, but you may be able to firmly say you do not feel sad, angry, hungry, tired, or stressed. The absence of those unhappy feelings means you are closer to happiness than when you are experiencing them.

If your days are filled with hours of  contentment and calm and occasional moments of excitement and euphoria, it’s safe to say your days are also filled with happiness. If that does not describe your life, aim to do things and think thoughts that lead to more of those feelings. You’ll be glad you did. Dare I say, you’ll be happy.

 

 

No one is safe from eviction, not even the rich and famous

Nothing is permanent in life. Ask Prince Andrew (now Andrew Mountbatten Windsor). Not only has he been stripped of his titles, but he has also been evicted from his residence, Royal Lodge. At least he has a place to go: who knows what will happen to his former wife, Sarah Ferguson, who also lived at the Lodge.

This reminds me of a recent story I read about other rich and famous people living at the grand Pierre Hotel in New York City. They too could soon be forced to move out due to the machinations of Howard Lutnick, no less.

There’s a cautionary tale for us all in these stories of the rich and famous: no matter how long or how settled you are in where you reside, you too could be forced to move under the right or wrong conditions. Not even wealth or fame can prevent it. Best to choose to live lightly. (Easier said than done, I know.)

P.S. For more on Andrew, see this. For a long and detailed story of the shenanigans happening at the Pierre, read this.

A simple trick to keep up with pop music culture as you get older

A simple trick to keep up with pop music culture as you get older is to use Spotify Stats. Simply go to Spotify’s Top 100 artists and look for this: their monthly listener stats equals their peak listener stats. If you see that and you don’t recognize who they are, chances are they are an upcoming band/performer. Go learn about them: you are now cool again! 🙂

There is a chance that you will see a well known artist will also have their monthly listener stats equal to their peak listener stats. For example I recently saw Michael Jackson and Lana del Rey do this. I googled them both and found out that Lana del Rey has lots going on (new record, maybe doing James Bond), so it’s not surprising that her numbers are spiking. As for Michael Jackson? Think Halloween.

P.S. This is not serious advice, but it is not totally wrong either. 🙂

McRib lovers! Here’s how you can have a McRib any time

If you are a McRib lover like me, you know how hard it is to get the McRib. Really really hard. Heck, people have built websites just to track them worldwide! And even when they do show up — finally! —  it’s for a limited time. What’s a person to do if you want to eat them more frequently?

I have a simple suggestion. First, get yourself some pickles, some chopped raw onions, and a sub bun like the one for the McRib (pictures are everywhere on the Internet if you need a reference). Then go to your national grocer (e.g., Loblaws, or my choice Walmart) and look for a box of BBQ pork back ribs. Cook the ribs as recommended on the box. Then take them out of the oven and while it is cooling a bit, assemble your sandwich. For the ribs, chop the meat off the bone and add it to the rest of the sandwich. Voila! You have a very good McRib like sandwich! You might be skeptical, but honestly you’ll feel like you’re sitting in your local McDonald’s eating one of their  McRib sandwiches.

I have not tried it with various boxed BBQ ribs, but Walmart’s Great Value Barbecue Pork Back Ribs resemble the saucy pork meat in the McRib to a very high degree. I say this as someone who has been eating McRibs for years and years. And even if it doesn’t quite match your expectations, you get a good tradeoff in that you can have these every day if you want.

Give it a try. Anytime you want. You’ll be glad you did.

P.S. For more on my McRib writing — hey, I love them! — check these out.

P.S.S. Obviously you need the Barbecue Pork Back Ribs, and not other kinds like the Honey Garlic Ribs if you want to make a sandwich like the McRib. But you could make some pretty amazing sandwiches by playing around with the ingredients and the flavoring of the ribs. Honey Garlic ribs on a bun with cilantro, pickled veg and hot sauce could make something like a bahn mi sandwich. Or the BBQ ribs with ham and pickles and swiss cheese and mustard could make something like a Cuban. Really so many ways to make a great sandwich with these ribs on a bun.

If your playlists are getting stale and your listening habits are diminishing….


If your playlists are getting stale and your listening habits are diminishing, it’s time for some new things to listen to. Perhaps listening to the best independent and community radio stations in the US could help. If you agree, check out LDial.

Besides being a great source of independent listening pleasure, it’s also a really good web site. Check it out.

P.S. The author of the site writes about the design, here. Smart stuff.

How to get started with High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) by building your own customized workout courtesy of me and the New York Times

You can find lots of evidence of how HIIT is good for you. Here, for example, which is where the diagram comes from. Or you can search on “HIIT benefits” and find countless examples of how it works and how it helps.

Even if you are convinced (or even curious) about achieving those benefits by doing HIIT, you may be put off by some of the training routines you find online. (I know I was….too difficult, I thought.)

Well, be put off no more. Instead, go to this gift link for the New York Times and learn how you can build your own achievable HIIT routine.

Some of the benefits of building your own routine are:

  • you can pick exercises that focus on certain areas (e.g. your core)
  • you can avoid exercises that might not be suitable for you or that you might hate (e.g. burpees)
  • there are enough different exercises that you should have no problem in putting together your own HIIT routine.
  • You can pick different ways of going hard and taking a break.

Sounds good? I think so. Next step: go to the gift link and find out more.

On reducing the idea of wellness down to 3 or 4 principles

On Bluesky someone asked the question:

If you had to reduce your own idea of wellness down to just 3 or 4 principles, what would they be?

One person answered:

1. Stretch 2. Drink Water 3. Squats

A good list.

I had a meta list:

1. Make a list of things that make you feel unwell. 2.List the opposite of those things. 3.Do more of 2 and less of 1.

I think wellness is not necessarily the equivalent of fitness. So you may exercise a lot, but if you may find that not sleeping enough, not resting enough, and too much work is making you feel unwell. If so, I think your wellness list should be: sleep more, get more rest, cut back on work. I’d still recommend you stay fit, but to move from being fit to being well, you need to do more than exercise.

 

Every thing — everything — is a gift


It’s not true, of course: everything is not a gift.

But if you take a moment and think: what if this were a gift? How would I think of it differently? How can I benefit from this?

Some people believe every day you are living is a gift. You can expand upon that. Think: every day is a gift, and every thing in that day is a gift, too.

Try taking that perspective when difficult things come your way today. Take out a pencil and a pad and for a few minutes write down the things you gain from whatever you’re dealing with. If nothing else, adversity gives you the chance to get stronger and wiser. Strength and wisdom are certainly gifts. No doubt you can glean out more.

Seven questions to ask yourself this week

Over at Austin Kleon’s blog he had a post called 7 questions I ask myself. The questions are:

1. What was the best thing that happened yesterday?

2. Will this enlarge or diminish me?

3. What would it look like to be done for the day?

4. What did you really want to say?

5. What’s the matter?

6. Would I do it tomorrow?

7. And then what?

I don’t think you have to ask yourself these questions every day or in every situation. Instead, use them in the right context. For example, whenever I am faced with doing something difficult, I ask myself #2. Whenever I am blogging, I keep question #4 in mind. If you are aiming for a goal, it’s good to keep #7 in mind before you achieve it.

If those questions appeal to you, go check out his post. He provides more insight into each of the questions that you’ll benefit from if you ask them of yourself this week.

(Image via a link to his post)

 

On the mad, bad egg and wine diet

As diets go, the egg and wine diet — which has an entry in wikipedia, no less — is one of the crazier ones out there. I have always been fascinated by it, but I was curious if it actually worked. Well according to this and also this but not this, it does, kinda. One person lost 7.5 pounds, one lost 5, and one lost only one. No one felt good about it. No one recommends it. I can’t recommend it either, and I love eggs, steak, coffee and Chablis! But if you were ever inclined to do it, read those articles first.

P.S. If you feel you have to lose weight, talk to a medical professional about how to do it in a healthy manner.

 

Whenever you read a historical book, you owe it to yourself to find good critics of the book

Whenever you read a historical book, you owe it to yourself to find good critics of the book. Those critics could be other historians writing other books on the topic. Or they could be book reviewers.

Case in point, the book Plantation Goods: A Material History of American Slavery by Seth Rockman. Rockman writes about “the rise of wage work and factory labor, the relationship between slavery and capitalism, the emergence of a market society, the varieties of coercion under capitalism”. Reading it, you might be inclined to come to the same sweeping conclusion that the author does. I did when I read about the book. Which is why I was glad to read this review of the book, The Hazards of Slavery by Scott Spillman, in the LA Review of Books. In his review, Spillman notes the following:

Following plantation goods allows Rockman to provide an effective tour of how both capitalism and slavery operated in the early United States. He also shows that the Northern and Southern economies were knit together more tightly than our typical caricature of the free North versus the slave South might suggest. All this is welcome and generally well done…

Yet Rockman falls short in his larger ambition to prompt “a rethinking of the sectional geography of a United States where the division between slavery and freedom would eventually start a Civil War.” Like many scholars of slavery and capitalism, he focuses so intently on establishing ties between North and South that he excludes the internal development of the Northern economy from his story. His book is notably light on numbers, but one gets the impression that plantation provisioning predominated only in fringe areas of the industrializing Northeast, while larger manufacturing centers saw the South as just one of many markets. As Rockman himself admits, the production of plantation goods did not power the Northern economy as a whole.

Critics of capitalism might be inclined the come to the strong conclusion that Rockman does. I was inclined to at first. However after reading Spillman, I backed off and considered the situation might be more complicated than that.

The next time you are swept up in the conclusions of a historian, do yourself a favour and seek out other historians on the topic. If nothing else, you’ll have a wider and better view of the history you are studying.

Two great hotels that reflect two things I am a fan of

Anyone who knows me and my blog will know I have always been a fan of Philippe Starck. I am especially a fan of his hotels. So of course I was delighted to hear about this new place he is working on, the Maison Heler hotel (shown above) in Metz in the north of France. It’s fantastic and fantastical, as many of his hotels are / were.  It’s worthwhile to read this here and check out the lots more great photos.

While I am a fan of Starck, I aslo a fan of the city of Charleston. Which leads me to point out another great hotel, The Nickel, that has just opened up in that city.

Just as the Maison Heler is a reflection of Starck, the Nickel hotel is a reflection of Charleston. Other than that, they are both very different hotels. To see what I mean, check out this piece here. That piece too is filed with details on the hotel, not to mention great photos.

If you liked those two hotels, I recommend you head over to the website Design-Milk for many more great hotel stories.

P.S. For even more on hotels, specifically hotels next to railways, read this.

Declutter challenge, part 2: using the pile method

Yesterday’s declutter challenge was all about getting the trash out of your home.

Today’s declutter challenge is about putting things away. To do that, you are going to use the pile method.  As this piece explains:

To use the “pile method” to declutter a room, start by gathering everything that’s not in its place into a basket. Then, dump it all in the living room, start sorting, and then put items away.

It seems counterintuitive, but it works. I’ve used it for clothes especially, but it can work for any bunch of things lying around.

Some thoughts:

  • One good thing is once you remove all the clutter, you already feel confident the place can be restored, even if you still have a pile to deal with.
  • If there are things you know have a place to go, put them to one side. If there are things to go in the trash, put them right in the trash. Hopefully at this point there is a place for everything in the pile. For those things that do not, consider donating them to someone.  Or try than the box and banish approach.

 

Declutter challenge, part 1: a 30 minute trash run

Inspired by this piece here in the Washington Post, I am going to challenge myself to do a “trash dash” and see how many of these things in my home I can get rid of in less than half an hour:

  1. Expired food, including spices.
  2. Branded freebies and promotional items like plastic cups, water bottles, koozies, insulated tumblers.
  3. Takeout detritus including plastic utensils, takeout containers, sauce and spice packets, and paper menus.
  4. Food storage containers.
  5. Reusable bags.
  6. Plastic dry cleaning bags and unused wire hangers.
  7. Clothing that is torn, stained or stretched, including items in need of repair
  8. Promotional swag like T-shirts, tote bags and bandannas.
  9. Orphaned socks.
  10. Paper bags.
  11. Receipts and product manuals.
  12. Magazines or books you’ll never reread.
  13. Calendars and newspapers.
  14. Junk mail.
  15. Expired or barely used beauty and personal care products, including makeup, sunscreen and bug spray.
  16. Hotel toiletries.
  17. Dried-up markers and pens.
  18. DVDs and board games you don’t use.
  19. Completed coloring books, puzzles with missing pieces and other kid stuff that has run its course.
  20. Decorative items.
  21. Unused hobby gear.

Give it a try. And if even that seem too overwhelming for you, set a 5, 10 or 15 minute timer and see how much you can collect. I bet you’ll be surprised by how much you get rid of, and how inspired you are to do more.

Don’t make it hard by overthinking it: just grab any old garbage bag or old box and start throwing things in it. If you aren’t sure, toss it in the bag/box and reconsider it AFTER the challenge. The need here is for speed, not contemplation. Go fast, toss things in the bag, and move on.

 

How to become a birder and improve your life in the process

A good friend of mine who is an excellent birder forwarded me this self help guide, How to become a birder: 10 easy ways to start this life-changing hobby.

What’s great about it is not only does it provide good instructions on how to become a birder, but how in the process of becoming one, you also improve your life.

Any hobby that allows you  you to “broaden your horizons” and be a part of “something bigger” is an excellent hobby indeed.

Become a birder, not just to see birds, but to become a better person.

One reason to record

Bike at Dusk

Over at my other blog, I recently asked myself, “why record at all”. I didn’t have an answer to it until I looked at some old photos like the one above.

I like that photo, taken using a Diana camera of a wooden wall I made. The wall wasn’t very good: I didn’t know enough and didn’t have enough resources to make it properly. As a result, it flopped around and was prone to getting wrecked when a high wind came along. No matter. I was proud I could make that then. And I was happy with the way this photo came out. I am still proud and happy about that.

The record — in this case a photo — reminds me of what I am capable of. It states: you could do that again.  At a time when one is plagued by negative self-talk, a record can provide a voice to drown out the negativity. A record can be a voice of encouragement.

There are many good reasons to make a record in any form. A record that can help you regain your better self is surely a good reason to make it.

 

A good formula for anyone who likes flowers but is terrible at buying them

I love buying flowers, and there are several good green grocers near me that sell many different types of flowers. The problem I have is, what to buy and how much should I buy? I am always disastified with what I end up as I leave the store.

So I am excited to try this formula which I found at Cup of Jo. You can too! You need to buy:

  • a seasonal flower (tulips, daffodils, whatever)
  • a filler flower (like one with little buds on it, like baby’s breath)
  • a flower that fits the color palette (spray roses look good with everything)
  • greenery (“I generally like bigger wider leaves,” she says)

Once you get home, grab a vase and fill it like so:

  1. Greenery goes first, since it’s the foundation to hold everything together.
  2. Add the filler flower.
  3. Layer in the spray roses.
  4. Lastly, add the seasonal flower, which is usually the most delicate, but everything else will hold it up.

With any luck, it will look just like the ones in the blog post (which is where the rules and instructions also come from).

Want more guidance? Head on over to Cup of Jo and read the original source of this great advice.

On wills and death binders and Swedish death cleaning

If you don’t have a will yet, read this: The consequences for loved ones if you die without a will.

Besides a will, you might also want to set up a death binder. For Toronto Star subscribers, you can read this, Death Binder 101: How to ease the lives of your survivors, but if you do a web search on “death binder”, you can find many pages devoted to the topic, such as this.

Since we are on the topic of your upcoming demise, I want to recommend to you this book:

 

Again, do a search on “swedish death cleaning” and you’ll see lots of  free material on the topic. But I recommend buying or borroing the book. Amazon has it here.

For those of you who find the process daunting, the NY Times has a good piece on how to break down the preparation.

 

 

 

How to paint with a limited palette and other art making skills you might find useful

As someone who is overwhelmed by the multitude of paint colors to use and make, the idea of a limited palette appeals to me, That’s why I liked this piece on the wonderful world of the limited palette as well as this one on the 7 benefits of painting with a limited palette. Relatedly, here’s an essential guide on the zorn pallette. More on the Zorn palette,here and here.  And here’s something on monochrome watercolour portrait.

Here’s a bunch of how to advice, including how to make diy packing tape transfers, how to do grisaille underpainting technique, plus an an unofficial guide to block printing. More on block printing here.

Want to paint using coffee? Why not. How about how to glaze with acrylics?

Here’s 5 Tips for Trois Crayons Drawing Technique. More how tos: How to draw leaves like John Ruskin, How to draw with ink, How to draw with graphite and How to draw with charcoal.

Some great trois crayons drawings here. Some great collage work here.

If you want to lay out a book, here’s  how it works. Related, here how to make a  booklet which is a half fold in the middle. Relatedly, here’s: How To Make An eBook.

Finally, here’s how to draw a portrait in pencil.

Inspiration: I found the following sites give me inspriation to make things. For example, block prints by svPhoenixStudio. More block print material  here.

Other things I found inspriring were these Italian renaissance drawings, these notable book covers and even these fonts for cookbooks. I like this guy who paints a lot of eggs, plus much more: egg painter. I like these illustrations by jason sturgill. The printing press work on display here: a man of letters. I loved these Istock photos of flowers on wallpaper. And these government prints that are free to use.

Do you like the color blue? Here’s some  blue to inspire you.

For fans of posters, take a look at this, on how give it a polish classic film posters with a twist in pictures.

Some photography help here, why i still shoot vintage kodak brownie hawkeye film camera and here,

Some inspiration from the beautiful film, perfect days.

Zines: I still love zines. If you do too, check out these quaranzines. Read  what the heck is a zine and What in the sam-heck is a zine? Then learn how to turn a google doc diary into a zine. Lots more zines here.

More art thoughts: on junk journaling benefits. Something on quantity and quality. Good advice: everything i make is a diary entry.

I really liked this book Brian Eno put out: Brian Eno Explores What Art Does in a New Book Co-Written with Artist Bette A. More Eno, here: Oblique Strategies.

Some insights onT he Highly Systematic Methodology of Dutch 17th-century Painting Techniques.

Why we need your art. Now go mess around and make something.

 

 

 

Project Esther, or how to demonize your opponents and for what purpose


When it comes to demonizing your opponents, I was really struck by how strong an example the Heritage Foundation demonstrates here: Project Esther: A National Strategy to Combat Antisemitism. Start with the first paragraph:

“America’s virulently anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, and anti-American “pro-Palestinian movement” is part of a global Hamas Support Network (HSN) that is trying to compel the U.S. government to abandon its long-standing support for Israel. Supported by activists and funders dedicated to the destruction of capitalism and democracy, the HSN benefits from the support and training of America’s overseas enemies and seeks to achieve its goals by taking advantage of our open society, corrupting our education system, leveraging the American media, coopting the federal government, and relying on the American Jewish community’s complacency. The National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism intends to enlist all willing and able partners in a coordinated effort to combat the scourge of antisemitism in the United States.”

Let’s unpack that paragraph. Do you find any room there for someone like me who opposes the actions of the Israeli government, never mind those who may be supportive of the Palestinians who are bearing the brunt of the Israeli army against the Hamas organization? I don’t. As far as Heritage is concerned,  I am “anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, and anti-American”. Furthermore, you cannot consider yourself  “pro-Palestinian”: you are considered instead part of “a global Hamas Support Network (HSN)”. Not only that, but by being part of the HSN, you and I are caught up with those “dedicated to the destruction of capitalism and democracy”.  If that’s not bad enough, Heritage states that we are hurting America by “taking advantage of our open society, corrupting our education system, leveraging the American media, coopting the federal government”.  The only way you could be any worse is if you were Jewish and adding to “the American Jewish community’s complacency”.

To generalize, the formula Heritage seems to be using to demonize their opponents is:

  • Ignore the spectrum of opposition, from those expressing mild disapproval to other engaging in violent action.
  • Instead, collapse that opposition and lump all your opponents together.
  • Make sure you collapse the opposition so that it is associated with the most extreme end of that opposition.
  • Relabel the opposition with a name and an acronym that ensures others associate it with this negative extremity.
  • Invent a list of nefarious actions to apply to the opposition.
  • Claim the leadership of those who would naturally go against such negative extremity.

This particular example revolves around the conflict in the Gaza Strip. But it could easily apply to any situation. For example, during the October Crisis in Canada, all those wishing for more autonomy for Quebec and opposing the Canadian government in various forms could have been lumped into the FLQ Support Network (FSN) and the Canadian establishment could have said anyone in this new FSN bucket was an enemy of Canada and democracy and more. As you can see, it’s an easy formula to apply.

Of course it is not just enough to demonize your opponent. Once you do that, you need to use that demonization to justify your future goals. For Heritage, some of their goals for Project Esther are listed below:

  • DE1: HSO propaganda purged from curricula.
  • DE2: HSO-supporting faculty and/or staff removed or fired.
  • DE3: HSO access to campuses lost and/or denied.
  • DE4: Foreign members of HSOs/HSN access to campuses lost and/or denied.
  • DE5: Money from foreign HSO supporters not accepted by schools.

Basically, any thing they don’t like in schools and universities they can label as coming from HSO (Hamas Support Organizations) and work to have it removed under the guise of attacking antisemitism. Attacks on free speech by right wing organizations is not new, and that is part of the point of Project Esther. First demonize your opponent, then use the demonization to ban them or strike them in some way while claiming it’s for a good cause.

Whenever a person or group use the formula to demonize their opponent, you can assume some follow on extreme action is being lined up by them. Don’t be that person or a part of that group, and don’t participate in that form of thinking.

Some thoughts on using chatGPT to write a program to determine which foods are fresh in Ontario

It is easy to find out which foods are fresh in Ontario. There are several guides, including this one from Foodland Ontario, that can help you with this. However, I wanted a particular guide that would list for me all the fresh foods for a given month only.  And since I couldn’t find a guide like that, I decide to write a python program to make such a guide.

In the past, to write a program like that, I would go through sample code I have, pull out bits of code that were good, and cobble together something from all these bits. Lately, though, I simply ask a service like ChatGPT or others to write the code for me. I find nowadays it’s just so much faster to go that route. Call me lazy. 🙂

Since I wanted this done quickly, I pointed chatGPT at the Foodland Ontario guide and asked it to do the following:

Write a python program that strips out the text on this page https://www.ontario.ca/foodland/page/availability-guide?gad_campaignid=22412095602
and leaves just the foods and the month they are grown on. Include all food that states that is Year Round.

Did ChatGPT do that? Yes, it did. Was the program any good? No, it was not! It somehow looked at that web page and decided the values were stored in a table, even though they were not. The web page is more complex than that and so the program was a pretty failure.

After many prompts, I gave up and took an alternative approach. For this new approach, I stripped out the data manually and created a simple CSV file. I then asked ChatGPT to write a program to process the CSV file. Since it is a simpler file, ChatGPT was able to produce a workable Python program that was able to process the CSV file and output the information I needed.

Perhaps a more skilled prompt engineer could have written a better prompt to process the code. I dunno. I am finding that LLMs — not just ChatGPT — are fine with writing some straightforward code based on non-complex inputs and outputs. They are not so fine once the inputs or outputs get complex. But that’s just my experience. YMMV.

I have also concluded that even warmer months like May in Ontario do not have much in the way of fresh food. No wonder there are so many food stories on asparagus and rhubarb! 🙂 You really need to hit June or later before you get into a cornucopia of fresh produce.

If you’d like to see the end result of my coding, go here to this repo: https://github.com/blm849/ontfoods

 

A rule to apply when books are banned or removed

booksThe rule I follow when I see actions taken against books is this: book bans or book removals are about preventing kids from learning about minority and oppressed groups in their society.

I was reminded of this rule when reading this piece about Arkansas threatening to put librarians and booksellers in jail “for providing material that might be considered harmful to minors”. Key quote from the piece:

The materials they have targeted are often described in policies and legislation as sensitive, inappropriate or pornographic. But in practice, the books most frequently identified for removal have been by or about Black or L.G.B.T.Q. people, according to the American Library Association.

Next time you see a book ban list, check to see what the books have in common. If what they have in common is that they are associated with specific groups (e.g., stories about gay families, black or brown authors), then the ban has nothing to do with publications that are “sensitive, inappropriate or pornographic”. The ban has to do with preventing kids from learning about the minority and oppressed groups.

On supply and demand curves and the one thing to remember

If you are like me, you struggle with supply and demand curves. Maybe it’s because I am used to drawing curves in mathematics, which are different than these curves, which tend to show a ‘before and after’ of where the curve shifts to on the graph when the price changes or the quantity changes. That change in price or quantity causes the curve to shift.

To see what I mean, I took these two examples from wikipedia. In these examples, we have right-shifts.

 

A right-shift of demand curve increases both price and quantity. Pretty straightforward: price goes up, quantity goes up. However…

A right-shift of supply curve decreases price and increases quantity. Here the price moves in the opposite direction of the quantity.

In short: with demand, price and quantity go hand in hand while with supply, they move in opposite directions.

P.S.These are supply and demand curves for most goods with elastic supply and demand. The curve changes if you have inelastic supply and demand. And they also change when you have Giffen goods or Veblen goods.

On different ways to clean your Braun coffee maker

There are a number of ways you can clean your Braun coffee maker. You can do it the official way, outlined here: How To Clean Braun Coffee Maker: Step-By-Step Instructions. You can do it with lemon juice, as explained here: How To Clean A Coffee Maker With Lemon Juice. Or you can try any of the many ways listed here: How To Clean A Coffee Maker Without Vinegar? (9 Ways).

I was successful using the lemon juice method. It took me two times using this method before the “Clean” light on my Braun coffee machine turned off, but after that it has gone about its business successfully. My coffee remains delicious. The light has stayed turned off.

Whatever way you choose, it pays to clean the innards of you coffee machine. Make sure you do it.

Self help for spring time

Bruno Ganz as Damiel in

It’s spring time. Not just a time for spring cleaning, but also a good time for self improvement. Here’s some links that you may find can help with that.

 

Can you still get a good bottle of wine for under $10 at the LCBO? (or how to find “exceptional” wines of “good value” in 2025)

It is possible to find a really good bottle of wine for under $10 at the LCBO in 2025, but it is very difficult. It’s much easier if instead of “under $10”, you try and find something “under $12” or “under $15”.

To see what I mean, try this search for Exceptional products at the LCBO. You get back 2 750ml bottles of wine under $10:

  1. Adesso Merlot D’Italia
  2. Toro Bravo Tempranillo Merlot

If you search for great value wines, you get the first two plus:

  1. Candidato Oro Tempranillo Garnacha
  2. Santa Carolina Cabernet Sauvignon

All in all, a pretty short list. (Yes, there are wines that may be great value or even exceptional that don’t show up in such searches, but let’s go with this for now.)

If you search for Exceptional wines under $12, you get to add a few more to your list of possibilities:

  1. Fuzion Shiraz Malbec $10.95
  2. Stormy Bay Cabernet Sauvignon $11.45
  3. Fantini Pinot Grigio IGP $11.50
  4. Pelee Island Pinot Grigio $11.95
  5. Caliterra Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva $11.95
  6. Robertson Winery Chenin Blanc $11.95

And if you expand that to under $15, then you have a longer list still:

  1. Misterio Malbec $12.95
  2. Peller Family Reserve Cabernet Merlot VQA $13.95
  3. Straccali Chianti DOCG $12.95
  4. Alaris Trapiche Malbec $12.95
  5. Two Oceans Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot $12.95
  6. Peller Family Vineyards Red $13.25
  7. Argento Estate Bottled Cabernet Sauvignon $13.85
  8. Piekenierskloof Six Hats Shiraz 2022 $13.95
  9. Bodega Norton Barrel Select Malbec $13.95
  10. Santa Carolina Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon $14.00
  11. Reif Estate Riesling VQA $14.75
  12. Six Hats Chenin Blanc 2024 $14.95
  13. Jackson-Triggs Reserve Chardonnay VQA $14.95

As for wines of great value, here’s everything I found under $15:

  1. Pelee Island Shiraz Cabernet $10.95
  2. Stormy Bay Cabernet Sauvignon $11.45
  3. Fantini Chardonnay $11.50
  4. Santa Rita 120 Reserva Especial Cabernet Sauvignon $12.95
  5. Piekenierskloof Six Hats Shiraz 2022 $13.95
  6. Grand Sud Chardonnay VdFrance (PET) $14.50
  7. Famille Fabre Le Cerf et le Vigneron Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 $14.95

All in all, there are 4 bottles of wine under $10 that are great value or exceptional, 10 bottles under $12, and 30 bottles under $15. (Not counting Vintages, which if there are wines there under $15 tend to be good value.)

Note, those are mostly red wines. There are no white wines listed here under $10. There are only 4 under $12. And 7 under $15. Perhaps Toro Bravo Verdejo Sauvignon Blanc should be on the list at $9.95.

Searching for wines that are great value or exceptional is one way to find a good bottle of wine for under $10/$12/$15 at the LCBO. There are other ways, such as looking for wines recommended and rated by noteworthy sources such as “Decanter” or “Wine Enthusiast”. You can also take a chance and assume that if the Santa Rita 120 Reserve Cab Sauv you picked up is good, then other wines by the same producer are also good.

However you go about it, it’s likely the days of good wine under $10 at the LCBO are coming to an end. Inflation hits everything (except this great Bordeaux). Look for exceptional wines of good value, though, and you will be fine.

 

 

Free zines and other good things from Austin Kleon


Of all the people I follow and pay attention to on the Internet, Austin Kleon may be my favorite. I look forward to his newsletter every Friday: it’s always the same format, and always good and often great.

While he does a lot of great things digitally, I admire his creation of analog material, like zines. In this post, What does a seed look like?, he’s shows us one of the handmade zines he created. In another, More light!, he provides the reader a zine to print and make. While here in this post, Love is not a gadget, he has created both a zine and a cassette tape.

Seeing all these zines of his got me making my own again. There’s something about handcrafting anything — from zines to cassette tapes to…well, whatever you prefer! — that is very satisfying. I’d encourage you to follow our lead and create your own…it’s not hard!

I’d encourage you to read more Kleon too. Maybe start with this: Study something you love in depth!

 

Château Argadens: good and cheap Bordeaux after all these years

I’ve been buying Château Argadens Bordeaux Supérieur since 2008! The LCBO says it has flavours of “Floral, Chocolate, Plum” (true) and goes on to say that this Bordeaux is “a great value” (very true) and “this popular, classically framed blend of Merlot and Cabernet is a great choice for grilled lamb.” (Also true.)

What’s crazy is that it now goes for $17.60. Seventeen years ago it went for…$18.95! How many great products do that?! Practically none.

Grab yourself a bottle or a case when you can. You won’t be disappointed.

P.S. My original post from 2008 is here: Good “cheap” Bordeaux at the LCBO this month | Smart People I Know

 

Strategic Voting in 2025 – what you should know

Canada flag on brick wall

I am still a supporter of strategic voting in Canada. My thoughts on it haven’t changed much since I wrote this in 2019: Strategic Voting in Canada – some thoughts.

What has changed is the site you should go to if you  also want to vote that way. It doesn’t look like this site, strategicvoting.ca, is working any more. However this site SmartVoting.ca, seems up to date, at least for the Ontario election this week. And it looks like they are preparing to work on the soon to come Federal election.

It’s good to check out regardless of how you plan to vote.

Meat is good. Delivery is good. But meat delivery from Sanagan’s in Toronto is great. Here’s eight good reasons why you should order from them

If you love good meat, then I highly recommend you get it from Sanagan’s Meat Locker in Toronto. If you can get to one of their locations — my fav is in Kensington — you should. But if you can’t, I highly recommend their delivery.

First off, their delivery rate, which was good before, is going lower, starting at $5. That less than the cost of commuting there. Spend over $150, and delivery is free.

Second, the quality of their meats and other goods is great. When I get a steak from Sanagan’s, it tastes like something and that something is delicious. So often meats from other places taste like nothing.

Third, the prices are reasonable. For example, here is what I paid recently:

  • Sliced Roast Beef × 1 – $4.89
    Duck and Green Peppercorn Terrine × 1 – $6.99
  • Metzger: Westphalian Ham × 1 – $5.20
  • Jambon de Paris × 1 – $5.69
  • Lamb Merguez Sausage × 1 – $9.99
  • Lamb Leg Steaks × 1 – $15.79
  • Paleron × 1 – $7.99
  • Flank Steak × 1 – $11.49
  • Pork Rib Chops × 2 – $11.98
  • Flat-Iron Steak × 1 – $9.79
  • Refundable Credit Card Hold For Overweight Products – $30.00

Those are as good if not better than the prices for comparable products at places like Loblaws or Metro.

Fourth, the selection is great. I can get cuts I can’t always get at the big grocery stores. Flank, paleron, tritip, and more. I didn’t get it last time, but I love getting their hanger steak and making myself a classic steak frites with it.

Fifth, you get points for every order which you can cash in and use on your next order.

Sixth, if you are a fan of charcuterie, they have everything you need for a great platter.

Seventh, they have lots of other great products too, from superb butters to great sauces, to mustards.

Eighth, they carry Blackbird bread, arguably the finest bread in Toronto and very hard to get (it sells out fast). I love that.

Ok, you get the idea. Sanagan’s is great, and their delivery is great. Check them out. You’ll be glad you did.

 

The cold plunge, or good things don’t have to last long to provide longer term benefits

Lately I’ve been going out on my porch or on my girlfriend’s balcony to do a dry “cold plunge”: stepping out into the winter air for a brief period of time until it gets to the point I can’t bear it. It isn’t long, but like people who do cold water plunges, I feel I get some of the same benefits. (If you make snow angels, I recommend dressing appropriately. :))

It’s a good remind to me that good things don’t have to last long to provide longer term benefits.  Sometimes 10 seconds is all you need, as I wrote about, here: My 10 seconds of happiness exercise | Smart People I Know

 

If you are stuck on what action to take next, remove one thing

person frustrated at desk

If you need to work on something and you can’t get started or you are stuck, then remove one thing. It can be anything. If you need to cook a meal and you don’t know what to do, remove things from your cooking area or decide to cook one less thing. If you are going to construct something and you are blocked, then cut back on the time you are going to spend or the steps you are going to take.

If you are still stuck, keep removing things. Too often we overwhelm ourselves. Removing things helps either that. It’s a form of editing, in a sense.

Plus removing things is an activity. You are no longer stuck. You are now making some form of progress.

 

When you are stuck, you think it will last forever

Post Xmas shopping at Aroma

When you are stuck, you think it will last forever.

It’s natural to think that way, since being stuck is often a negative situation, and such situations make one pessimistic. Pessimistic thinking can make you think that the bad times are permanent and pervasive.

If that describes you, just know that we all live in a stream constantly flowing strongly downstream. Regardless how stuck we may be, the stream will push against you and eventually you will no longer be stuck.

So yes, it may seem like it will last forever, but the never ending change all around you will eventually free you. If you don’t free yourself in the meantime.

If you have a hard time searching for something, blog about it later

If you are trying to search for an answer to something and after much effort find an answer, write a blog post about it. Chances are many others are having the same difficulty, and they may not have the tenacity to keep looking the way you did. By writing about it, you increase the chances other people will get their answer via your post.

The other good reason to do this is that you might forget what you did. That’s fine unless later you want to recreate what you did. That blog post will save you.