Photography Podcasts

I've been looking for some podcasts to fill up my new iPod Nano and since Ctrl+Alt+Chicken isn't out yet to satisfy my cooking fetish, I had to resort to looking for some photography podcasts. I know a few photographers out there and I thought I would share a couple of the better ones I've found. Both of these are pretty good. Not too upity-up, but not so stupidly beginner level that I get bored. I would encourage you to download a couple of them and give them a try. I've found them informative and hope you do as well.
I'm also looking for any other places to gather photography information, so please share if you have anything.
Martin Baily Photography
Radiant Vista Podcast

New Recipe Site?

Could it be?

Just playing with Google Pages.

We'll see what happens.

Lens Test

Well, I didn't get to do as much photography as I wanted to this weekend due to too many chores on my "honey do list", but I was able to test out a couple of telephoto lenses that I borrowed. Dave loaned me his 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM and Mike let me use his 70-200mm f/4 L USM. Thanks to you both, it was quite enjoyable. I wanted to test these two out as I think the next lens I get will be a telephoto. Now having my flash, the need to have a faster wide angle lens is less important as the flash seems to be covering my indoor work very nicely. I posted some pics that I took with both lenses to Flickr for your enjoyment.
I think at the end of the day, the 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM won out in our household due to it's extra length. I'd like both very much and the images were very nice.
I hope I can find the funding soon as I think I would really enjoy having this.

General Tso's Chicken

This has become one of our favorite recipes here at home in the last few weeks. I started with a recipe Mike found on the net and made some modifications to it to help make it more to my liking. A friend said he was making it this weekend and wanted the modifications, so here you go.
For further information regarding General Tso's Chicken, visit here.

1 lb chicken thighs or breasts, boned and cubed
3 eggs, beaten
½ cup cornstarch

½ - 1 tsp red pepper flakes
4 green onions cut into 2in pieces
½ red bell pepper, sliced thin

Sauce
5 tsp cornstarch
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup rice wine or sweet vermouth
½ cup soy sauce

Vegetable oil for frying


Mix eggs and ½ cup cornstarch in a medium sized bowl. Add chicken and coat well.
In a small bowl mix all of the sauce ingredients and stir well. This can be done ahead of time.
Heat 1-2 inches of oil in a wok until it reaches 350-360 degrees. Add chicken in small batches and cook until chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove chicken and place on a large plate covered in paper towels to drain. Cook the remaining chicken. This can be done in advance and kept in the refrigerator.
Leave 1-2 tablespoons of oil in the wok and return to med-high heat. Add red pepper flakes and cook for 15 seconds, just to extract some of the flavor, but not burn. Add onions and bell peppers. Cook for 30 seconds and add the chicken. Toss and cook until chicken is crispy, 2-3 minutes. Add sauce and allow it to come to a boil. Stir until the sauce coats the chicken. Serve immediately. Best served with white sticky rice
Servings: 4 Total Time: 1 hour

If you're thinking of getting one...

...don't bother.

I saw this come across one of my many RSS feeds today and I had to read it to see if was true. Sad thing was, it is. If you're a parent or thinking of becoming one and you saw this and thought it sounded cool, STOP. Don't have kids, possibly find a better home for the ones you have. If you need this to "remember" your kids in the car while you go into the local mega-mart to get your case of Bud Light then you shouldn't be having kids. I can't imagine anyone that can actually "forget" to take their kids out of their cars. No one "forgets" a kid. You don't care and you leave them. That's not forgetting. Come on. Let's just call it like we see it. The world is a sad place when someone can market something like this because there is demand.
So, if you're reading this and saying it sounds like a good idea, get some help. For your child's sake.

This Date in History

Well, today is my birthday. Happy Birthday Me. Oh, OK, not what I wanted to talk about. I was curious about everything that happend on ths date in history. I went to my trusty knowledge source, Wikipedia, and found some things to note. Here's my summary of this date in history.

1809 Abraham Lincon and Charles Darwin were born. Both great men in their own right.
2000 Death of one of the most influential people in American history, Charles Schultz. Oh how I think about his work every time I sit down and watch Charlie Brown's Christmas.
1870 Women in Utah gain the right to vote
2004 Matel Inc. announces that Barbie is fet up with Ken and wants to move on. Sad day for all you little girls out there.
1938 German troops invade Austria
1909 The NAACP was founded
1733 Georgia becomes the 13th and final colony
2001 A federal appeals court shut down Napster
1999 The Senate voted to aquite President Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice


So, what will happen this year that's noteworthy? We'll have to wait and see.

M*A*S*H Still on Top

M*A*S*H still holds the top spot in the number of households to watch a single TV event with 50.15 million households. Superbowl XL tried to knock off the best show of all time with 45.85 million households to place second in all time views. I'm amazed that after 23 years no other show or event has drawn such a crowd, but then I think about it some and realize that there are so few great shows anymore that capture so many peoples attention the way that "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" did. Long live the 4077.

P.S. If you can't see the link it's because I'm using a new service called Newsvine. I still have some invites if you want access. E-Mail me if you want it.