Bowls of Super and Mushrooms.

My gosh.. it’s almost a week since the Super Bowl.  I really do have work on finding out where that time goes..  Anyway, some updates.

I was pleased at the outcome of the Superbowl.  I hope it is Peyton’s last hurrah.  Even though his defense played out of their skull again, it will go down as his victory.  I was also kind of disappointed in Cam’s reaction to a loss.  I think I kind of understand, but it was a good chance to cement his position as the new face of the league.  He could have been a little more gracious I think.  He can dish it out, but….???

And of course I have to comment on the half time show.  Somebody I was talking to said you either loved it or hated it.  Have to admit I was in the latter category.  But, however, comma, I am: a) not up on the current music trends, and b) maybe too old to move into the “a” category.  Apparently I was dumb not to know who “Coldplay” is and familiar with their lead singer Chris Martin.   What I saw was some guy in a T shirt hopping up and down, jabbing fingers at ?, and shouting lyrics (which I couldn’t understand) with a range of oh, maybe half an octave.  I suspect that a football field is not exactly conducive to your best performance.  And as for Beyonce, well, her subject matter was a bit surprising, and her dancing (more of an exhibition) didn’t excite me either.  Hey you kids!  Get out of my yard!!

Commercials were not startling, and unless I missed it, the only Budwiser that I was aware of was Helen Mirren. 

And continuing in the Super Bowl vein, as I reported before the game we didn’t go whole hog, just easy snacks.   Well, MFO’s stuffed mushroom caps did require a little work, but they’re worth it (oh, remind me to tell you a comment this garnered when put on Facebook)

We also had some boiled shrimp

And a KauKauna cheese log. Yes indeed!  Processed to the max, artificial color, formed into a "log" coated with "almonds" and just sleazy good.  (love it)

For libation we enjoyed a sparkling Anderson Valley California Rosé from the Goldeneye winery.  Which was fitting because we usually have a few of them floating out back (the ducks, not the wine).

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A lovely time and as I said, I was pleased with the outcome of the game.

(Interesting?) Technical Stuff

I don’t know if I have mentioned this before, but not long ago, I purchased a new camera body, another Canon Rebel, this time a T6s, which has more bells and whistles, including a wireless capability which I have yet to explore.  It does however, contain a series of special settings, under “Special Scene Mode” which takes over and sets the camera for you, enabling: Shooting Children (an accurate description photographically speaking, but perhaps not the best choice); Shooting Candlelight Portraits; Shooting Night Portraits with a Tripod; Night Scenes handheld, and Backlit scenes.  And as a sign of the times, there is also a setting for “Shooting Food”.  It is supposed to enhance the color and vividness of the food.  So, all of the above shots were taken that way.  I guess they're okay.  Well, one has to wonder what the difference really is.  SO, being an engineer, I decided to take some data.

I set up a “cheese board” and took some images as close to exact duplicate that I could.  

Here is the first:

And here is the second:

Can you tell the difference?  Probably not here in the blog, but in full screen you can see some (subtle) differences

The first was taken in the Aperture Priority mode, ISO 400, f4.5; 32mm; 200^th of a second

The second was taken in the “food” mode, which changed the ISO to 100 and the shutter speed to a 50^th.  Both had the same white balance corrections.  More experimentation is necessary, and I’m sure the readership is intensely interested…. Not.

ORDER IN!

And in closing, let’s lighten up a bit with a humorous little situation which occurred at Thai Inter in San Souci Plaza   I am on the “Oyster Board” for our Rotary Club, and we meet regularly to plan the Oyster Festival.   Lately we have taken to meeting around supper time there. Some people order food, some don’t, some get take away to bring home.  

The servers are all very friendly and earnest, eager to please, and can pronounce the dishes on the menu correctly (which we can’t).  Anyway, one of the members usually gets spring rolls from the appetizer menu, but has found that the normal order brings four or five, more than he wishes to eat.  So, this time he said to the server, “I would like just three spring rolls”.  Now, I failed to mention that while friendly and helpful sometimes staff's (English) language skills are stressed.  When the server heard that the gentlemen wanted three spring rolls, she kind of furrowed her brow, cocked her head, and said “Three Spring Rolls?”.  Yes three spring rolls please. "OK" And off she went.

Eventually the food began to come out and when that server came to the table she had three big plates of four spring rolls each (full orders), and began to set them in front of our friend.  Well, that had to be sorted out.  Fun with food!

Quick “project” update.  Progress being made..

Okay, more to come, remember to

DFD