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I may have over ordered. Goat Vindaloo Samosa's (2pc) Lamb tikka masala Lamb korma Butter chicken

Hoping for a much better 2026 than its predecessor.

I became full Vegan today. So no more dairy products as well.

... But her artistic mishap created an economic boon for Borja, a town of 5,000 inhabitants. Tourists flocked to see her efforts. Less than three years later, more than 150,000 visitors from Japan, Brazil, the United States and elsewhere had made a trip to Borja, paying one euro, about $1.20, to view her work under a protective clear cover. Local officials told The Times in 2014 that the tourism spike had stabilized the town’s restaurant industry and helped the area’s institutions. The nearby Museo de la Colegiata, which houses religious medieval art, experienced a rise in annual visits to 70,000, from 7,000. Vineyards in the region squabbled over the rights to put Mrs. Giménez’s Christ on their labels. In 2016, two Americans even staged an opera about the affair in the same church. Mrs. Giménez, once ridiculed, became a beloved figure, even handing out prizes for a competition of young artists who had painted their own “Ecce Homo” portraits. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/world/europe/spain-jesus-fresco-restoration-painter-gimenez-dead.html

Lox Scramble Ratatouille @ https://www.oceanviewonfourth.com/

This is my favorite edit. From almost 20 years ago. RIP.

michika: chill mix with Japanese grandpa at a stationery shop

Kept it simple this year. Turned out pretty good...I shorted the cooking time, but I'd pull it off a few minutes earlier for a bit more rare goodness. Wifey made some great sides. I need a sugar detox.... HS

Last night's dinner, 2 of the 4 links from this package below; delicious! Got from my semi-annual pilgrimage to a store in NH. One new thing for me to try now: Ground Yak. The proprietor said it's a recent add, but it's been pretty popular.

Todd and the Book of Pure Evil (2010)

I've been following along with it utter crap springs to mind. The amplifier is a Stax SRM-1 Mk2 with some cobbled together power supply. I have no idea what output devices are being used but they look modern so holy Cob batman... yeah... As for the headphones, I've not heard anything good about them. Going by his speakers, this is amateur hour. No dust covers, the bias supplies in the speakers are those 3$ modules from China which ring like mad and spew out trash... for what 100k$?

Fall was pretty recent, it was also an eternity ago. I went out with a variety of different lenses, captured the colors and annoyed the local fauna. In 2009 I went to the MV alpaca farm with my (sainted, then-septuagenarian) mother on her birthday. I'm sure I posted a number of those shots at the time. I used the never good 75-300mm consumer zoom, and spent ages in Photoshop, masking, denoising and sharpening. I'm much more lazy less interested in such labor intensive editing these days. We went back to the farm for her birthday this year. I used the also not very good Tamron 28-300mm. So far I've only edited a few shots (see above). Llamas serve as guard animals at the alpaca farm. Gidget the kitty doesn't know or care about "color balance." Molly being characteristically unamused at the presence of humans. This is the only shot I've ever gotten of her where she was lit properly, in-focus and looking at me. Of course, she's glowering. Changes afoot as the Hathaway house. Again with the craptastic Tamron. I haven't used it that much, but it's a bit of a "bad penny" lens. The same taken with my radioactive 1970s Super Takumar 50mm F/1.4. It's crazy how pricey this lens has become. Mine it's not the most desirable version. The very rare first iteration, which proved too expensive to produce, is a collector's bauble at this point. My version isn't that rare, but copies of it have a nasty tendency to yellow (because radioactive.) My copy is bit yellow, but for now that means it has a permanent "warming filter" installed. That makes it ideal for fall colors. Same scene at twilight, taken with my beloved Canon EF 50mm F/1.8 Mark I. Honestly, in spite of all the lenses I own, I could shoot with a 50 the vast majority of the time and be happy. In the parlance of our times *laughs in Henri Cartier-Bresson.* Morning Glory Farm, or as it is known by the younger generation, "MoGlo" had quite a display of pumpkins. Even though I live in walking distance, I only managed to get there once. In my defense, this fall got ball-freezingly cold quickly. My OCD neighbor's yard, taken with the Takumar. It excels at golden hour shots. 17-40mm at the wide end. I used to love the super wide angle look, but a decade and a half of cameraphone photos have made me reverse that stance more or less completely. Now I greatly prefer the telescopic compression that happens at focal lengths greater than 100mm. Same idea with the nifty fifty. Taken at F/5, which is a little silly. In retrospect I should have committed one way or the other and either stopped down significantly or gone full retard at F/1.8. Tune in next time for more fat squirrels, Christmas lights and even some short lived snow. Spoiler alert: The EF 100-400mm is a goddamn bazooka is tiring as all fuck to handhold for any length of time.

Santa brought me a shiny new A7V and some Batis lenses after the old D810 stopped working recently. Nice to pick up a camera again.

Browsing through the Decca catalog, including titles not on streaming services (at least outside YT and that I can find). PIOMBO – Italian Crime Soundtracks from the Years of Lead (1973-1981)

In one paragraph he bemoans how little streaming services pay artists, and in the next relishes his experience listening to bootleg Sonic Youth recordings.

Rack of lamb at the lake house tonight. Everything turned out perfect. Food coma, then pecan pie if I can fit it in.

Why is this the first time I am hearing about - Kobe Beef Bacon? Who been slacking on updating the Bacon thread!!?? Come on people - we are living a society here...

A breakfast almost worthy of a Grehaem. Venison snausage and bacon hiding in the periphery. I would also like to note that this is what happens when you give the humble potato to the French. 🫣

Mediterranean Lemon Chicken Thighs With Veggies

In case y'all don't think I'm eating (enough) (Round a friend's)

Today, one of the staff at this same IHOP was shot and killed in the kitchen while the restaurant was open. I mean the food wasn't that bad...😲

https://deadline.com/2025/12/isiah-whitlock-jr-dead-the-wire-spike-lee-movies-1236658855/

I don't know how many decades it has been since I was last in an IHOP, but I ended up without another breakfast option after dropping off my car for service. Damn the food is ridiculously lame! I should have taken a picture of the pathetic shriveled little bacon slices because Grahame would have cried. A bit of scrambled eggs and semi cooked tasteless pancakes topped with cold tasteless butter rounded out the "meal." Yeesh.