Phelps, Theatre

I have obviously got to take up serious swimming. not just putzing around in the pool, but laps. Michael Phelps eats 12,000 calories a day. GMA showed what his food for the day consists of, including a pound of pasta twice a day. The pictures really brought it home to you just how much food he consumes. Obviously he has to, but to someone constantly watching their weight, it is staggering. I wish I could find the pictures to show you. Now where did I put that lettuce leaf? I watched Phelps romp home in the Medley last night capturing another world record. That man is incredible. That's 6 gold medals in Beijing so far and he is anticipating two more. Did you know his armsspan from fingertip to fingertip is more than his height which is 6 ft. something? Ru, you were so right, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change was not a farce. It was a series of vignettes about relationships all set to music and was extremely funny. There were just four characters, two men, two women, who did a lot of pretty quick costume changes for each scene. There were scenes on dating, marriage, having a baby in the house, empty nests and finally a couple of oldsters meeting up in a funeral home. It was brilliant and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. That said, the performance was staged in the Huron Playouse II which was not a great venue. There were ordinary chairs, not uncomfortable, but they were all on the same level and the stage wasn't very high either. I was then unfortunate enough to sit behind a woman who was very tall and I spent my whole afternoon dodging to one side or the other in order to see what was happening on one part of the stage. It must have driven the people behind me bats. Nevertheless, we really enjoyed the performance and we were really lucky with the weather and so also enjoyed our picnic lunch outside the theatre. Whilst I was out, Matt did the shopping and could only find the greenest of green tomatoes, so this morning we have to go to the farm and see if they have some. Due to a hail storm a week or two back, a lot of their tomatoes got ruined. I will probably pick up some fresh corn if they have any. But I can't live without my daily tomato. At this time of year, when tomatoes are so plentiful, we like to broil our tomatoes along with our chops or whatever else we are having. We cut them in half, drizzle them with olive oil, seasoning and some chopped Basil. They are delicious as a side dish. Matt also likes to do something similar with plum tomatoes which he roasts in a cool oven for a long time. He cuts the tomatoes in half and does the same thing, oil, seasoning, Basil and roasts them for about 45 minutes or a bit longer, in a 275 F oven. They come out beautifully and make a wonderful hors d'oeuvres served on toast, or with crusty bread to dip in the juices. Have a great day.

Theatre, Books, Nova Science Now

Today I am off to Grand Bend again to the Huron County Playhouse. We (friend and I) are going to see 'I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change', which is, presumably a farce. We are hoping to have a picnic lunch outside the theatre, but at the moment it is threatening storms, so we may end up eating in the car. This is the same theatre I went to a few weeks ago to see My Fair Lady. I have one more theatre visit, next week, and that's it for the summer for me. We have booked for the Pantomime in December. They are endeavouring to emulate a British pantomime with some success, but I guess if you have seen London pantos with top comedians, etc. it is difficult to compete. I have been reading the Katherine Kerr Deverry series - have finished the first four and now awaiting two more from the library. The writing appears to be getting better as I read further along. The story is good, but some of the written speech at the beginning was terrible. Drove me bananas. I am presently reading an eBook which is one of the Witch World books by André Norton. I enjoy that series very much although I only discovered them in the last year or so. In fact lots of different authors have written episodes which took place in the Witch World. It's interesting to see the different aspects from another writer's point of view. I watched my favourite Nova Science NOW programme. They had an interesting segment on extinction which is worth watching at Nova Science NOW where they explained about mass extinctions which have happened on earth over the millenia and they have some new theories as to how it happened. If they are right, then it could happen again any time now. Another segment, a scientist has re-created the flu virus of 1918, which killed millions of people world wide, in order to study the possible changes to avian flu which might occur and allow it to pass from human to human which, at present, it cannot do. I see the point, but I worry about such viruses being in existence when they had been disposed of. The third section was to do with reading ancient papyrus remnants which had been stained or damaged. They showed a load of papyrii which came from a city dump in ancient Greece. One section turned out to have been from the New Testament and is therefore one of the earliest known copies. If you want to watch interesting video, you really should check these out. Once again, in keeping with the Olympics in Beijing, I am giving you a Chinese recipe. This one comes from The Joy of Wokking by Martin Yan. Matt has made this recipe many times as it is a prime favourite of ours. Moo Goo Gai Pan 3/4 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast 1 Cup button mushrooms 4-6 dry black mushrooms soaked til soft (optional) 1/4 Cup canned button mushrooms (optional) 1/3 Cup fresh snow peas (optional) 1 1/2 tsp dry sherry 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tbs dark soy sauce 1 tbs oyster sauce 1/4 Cup broth (bouillon) 3 slices ginger, slivered 2/3 tbs cornstach in 3 tbs broth 3 tbs cooking oil. Slice chicken breast to thin bite-sized strips Preheat wok or skelet for 30 seconds, add oil and heat further 30 seconds. Stir-fry chicken with ginger over high heat for 2 mins. remove and set aside. Add softened black mushrooms into wok and cook for 3 minutes with chicken broth over medium high heat, add snow peas, fresh and canned mushrooms and cook for a further 1 1/2 minutes. Return cooked chicken to wok. Put in all the seasonings and thicken to serve hot. Other than the canned mushrooms I would certainly use any optional items. For extra mushrooms use some fresh wild mushrooms, whatever you can obtain. picture from http://www.asiangardengrassvalley.com/AGOurCuisine-OurMenu.html Have a great day.