agxo3

Would the Ravenswood zin pair well with the kesong puti? There are not many good pinots here but I'll try looking for one at Santi's. Conversely, if you're bringing a Rubicon, what cheese would go well with that? Kami na bahala sa cheese.

I'll go check what Ravenswood it is. I doubt if we have Caymus or Mt Veeder here.

Speaking of premium, I once bought a Mt Langi Ghiran Cliff Edge Shiraz. No great shakes. Too green - that's a 2013 vintage. I nearly fell off a cliff.

Cabs go well with a mild blue cheese. Or. A good (real French) Brie or a Crottin de chavignol. Or maybe even an aged Gouda.

 

Don't know much about Aussie wines. With all the local wines here no reason to go far afield excep for some premium Old World wines.

Will the Rubicon pair well with the mild garrotxa?

 

My favorite nowadays is wine with kesong puti, the one that's made in Laguna or Davao. I eat it actually with any kind of wine - shiraz, cab, or pinotage lol! I like its texture and the flavor is not too complicated.

 

I saw a Ravenswood Zin in rustans again. 2012 vintage. Would it still be good? I remember having Ravenswood years ago and I was not impressed. Stag's Leap is also now available at rustans at an astronomical price. Its 2012 vintage I guess is still too green.

 

Rubicon would overpower the garroxta - its a bit on the mild side. A good rioja would do well, or a GSM (grenache-syrah-mourvedre). Or a really good pinot noir.

 

With kesong puti I'd go even lighter - a light pinot, like a David Bruce 2005 or a young, light, bright zin from around the Lodi area.

 

The Ravenswood 2012 should still be good - I'm just now drinking my 2009 Edizione Pennino zins from Inglenook and they are wonderful. I also have some 2010 Noah;'s zins that are drinking really well right now. The questions is - which of the Ravenswoods? they make a number of different levels of the zins you really need to specify which one. If you can find Ridge, give it a try. The 2011s are very nice. Seghesio with the blue foil is quite good. But my favorite from the Dry Creek area is the Zichichi Estate zin from 2009.

 

Stags leap - again, which one? 2012 is one I would hold for another 2 years, at least. If you can find Caymus, or Mt. Veeder, go for it!

The 12th would work best for you, I should guess. It's been years ha!

 

Dala ka din nung garroxta cheese. I am intrigued. I love cheese! Is that some kind of a Basque cheese? Pangalan kasi eh lol!

Lets go for the 12th for now....you never know, things can change again!

 

Garroxta is similar to a P'tit Basque, but a bit softer and less sharp. I'll bring a wedge if I can still find it at that time. Sa Costco kasi - you find it now, next time wala na naman.

Successful Thanksgiving dinner with brother and his family.

 

We brought the appetizers - tapas inspired. Butternut squash soup shooters with créme fraiche and chives, pork belly (with crispy skin!!) in Brazilian cheese bread with my very own apple cider vinegar BBQ sauce, deviled eggs with caviar and truffle oil, a very Spanish Ibericó meat platter - jamón , lomo, chorizo and salami - with garroxta cheese, roasted chanterelle mushrooms on truffle butter toasted baguette, and (you've been wondering where the wine was!) a very nice Lustau Peninsula Palo Cortado and a magnum of 2008 J Vineyards brut sparkling wine.

 

Almost anti-climactic - Inglenook Rubicon 2004 to go with the turkey dinner.

 

Bods/Masi - dates for next year are pretty well set. Arriving Manila April 6, drive to Baguio next day. Return to Manila April 11 or 12, return to SF April 14. Wine EB! What date works best for you guys? I'll bring a real nice bottle or three.

IB - not funded yet. Finishing the demo so we can get in front of the VCs before Thanksgiving. If not, it will be early next year.

 

Lost Republic - gotta try that! How's the Balcones?

 

Bods/Masi - school reunion got punted to April - just before tax day!!! So I won't be there in late jan as originally planned. I still plan to be there at least 2 weeks, with at least 3-4 days in MAnila, so we have time for an EB. Still planning to bring a really nice Rubicon. 2004?

 

Picked up a bottle of Cirq Treehouse Pinot Noir. Cirq is the new winery by Michael Brown of Costa-Brown fame. Wow! And I think I'll be on the list for their next releae. Now THAT's what a California pinot should be like. Smooth, just a hint of the funk (mushrooms, cedar bark) that marks a true pinot, lots of bright red berries and cherries, and a slight hit of smoke and tobacco. And that "what the hell is that?" hint of almonds way in the back.

i prefer red wine after dinner

 

Unless it's a really top-end red (maybe a 1975 Chateau Gruaud-Larose? Or a 1995 Rubicon?) red wine is best paired with a good meal. Or a good cigar. Or even better, both.

 

After dinner I prefer a good brandy (lately I've been drinking a Hennessey white brandy), whisky (18 year Talker, Hibiki, or Yamasaki), or when I want something light, a good sherry (Lustau Palo Cortado!).

 

Not much for a white unless it's an un-oaked chard.

^i've actually figured out that the problem is that my images are using too much color. Most of my images were post processed on my mac which gives vibrance to the colors (monitor is calibrated as default RGB) so that's why it uses too much when printed. If I used my windows machine to process my photos, the colors comes washed out.

 

Never got around to it anymore as most of my shots are old so I just decided to keep them as digital.

 

I make it point to ALWAYS calibrate my monitor. The Mac has a simple calibration function built into the Display tab of System Preferences. If nothing else, do that. But best find someone who has a Spyder or a Colormunki. Set your screen to D65. Alternatively, you would set gamma to no more than 2.2. I've used 1.8 in the past because I found it gave me truer colors. That way you completely avoid the problem.

eto worth $400 na,nakita ko sa garahe hehe

http://oi58.tinypic.com/2jg3wao.jpg

Well, if it wasn't stored properly, it's not worth $400. It would be vinegar.

got a very nice topic which one do you like using printer with a actual count of limit to be printed or the one that they called continuous ink?

I don't print enough to justify the continuous feed inks. Also, I get better consistency with the Epson inks.

 

I still check the profile with every new batch of inks and papers, but so far the differences have been negligible.

 

At the cost of even more spending, I highly recommend a fully managed color workflow, starting with a calibrated monitor all the way to a profiled printer. I use a Colormunki and it seems to do a reasonably good job of profiling the printer. Still a bit off and I need to make adjustments going from screen to print, but it's a very small adjustment.

 

GF - it sounds like you are laying down way too much ink. Is there a setting in the printer driver to regulate the amount of ink? My wife's printer has been out of commission for a several weeks now and I need to get a MacOSX driver for it so I can profile it. She uses a Windoze machine.

 

I just printed on glossy paper using both my Epson and my Canon. No issues with print drying. There is some drying time but it's related more to letting the inks settle and the color to stabilize, not smearing. When profiling my printers I wait 10 minutes before measuring the Color on the paper to make sure the colors stop changing.

@agxo3 Sorry late reply. I go to the one in 22nd and 3rd. Sutton Cellars. It's behind mr and mrs miscellaneous the ice cream place. The area is awesome for foodies. Really good ice cream. Nice new restaurants and magnolia brewing company is close by also.

 

For xmas I stick to tradition, callos, paella, and lengua con seta. Based on your earlier reply are you doing product management? Any hints on the stealth startup? hehehe The company I work for now is no longer flying under the radar. Oracle, SAP, and Microsoft already took notice. We're in for a fight.

22nd and 3rd....I can take Muni down 3rd. I think there's a stop right there! Not this week..... I have camping trip planned this weekend. Me off by myself. Wifey stays home and gets to sleep in.....

 

I'm doing pretty much everything for that startup - product management, pushing the architecture, driving product development, recruiting the core engineering team, getting the (very small) network and IT admin set up.........we're driving to Porto to demo to VCs in about 2 weeks. If we get traction and money then we kick off full development. Sorry, no hints. We're playing it real close to the vest.

 

Sounds like life will get exciting for you very soon! Good luck!

 

Only got one printer at home, a standard HP (2640 series) but I don't think the model has anything to do with it. And I have already tried printing on draft and best quality - same thing, the ink just won't thoroughly dry up. I even used expensive and cheap photo papers also the same. I don't have a problem with the quality of my images regardless if I do a full page or cropped (RGB or CMYK). It's just that the ink don't stick well or maybe that's just the way it is especially since photo papers are kind of glossy in the first place.

Are you using HP inks or some 3rd party brand? Sometimes that's the problem.

 

I am using Epson inks right now (and Canon inks in my small Canon printer) and I have no problem with inks drying.

 

My wife has an older HP and the HP inks on that seem to dry quickly enough as well regardless of the paper used.

^i only got HP printer at home, I also tried printing on matte but the ink doesn't thoroughly dries up. Looks like I'm gonna have to try printing on those specialty papers for business cards - those materials appears to hold the ink much better.

It sounds like you're laying down too much in. What model HP printer are you using and what paper?

 

Have you matched the ink to the paper? Matte paper should dry very quickly. Have you profiled your printer and paper?

 

Business card paper is NOT right for good images. You should be looking at photo printing papers. bit more expensive, I know, but if you want good to excellent image quality that's what you should use.

 

Printing graphics is different from printing images. Images require less ink in oder to get the subtle tones. Papers meant for graphic printing will NOT produce good images unless you half-tone the images first. But then you lose resolution and the images don't look good.

Cable television didn't exist in the 1970s in the Philippines. We were limited to Channels 2, 4, 7, 9, and 13. All VHF channels were accessed off the air through aerial antennas. Most programming came from the United States. The largest television one could buy at that time was 19 to 20 inches. One had to actually go to the television and change channels by turning a knob. Volume control was similarly controlled by a knob.

 

Remote controls for the most part didn't exist in the Philippines in the 1970s. There were crude remotes that didn't work with infra-red but rather through inaudible sound which controlled the volume, channel, and on/off switch.

 

We've gone a long way since those times. Today, one can buy a 100" screen where you can watch high definition content on 3-D. Programming comes form different parts of the world. And there's so much more variety today.

Baguio started cable TV back in 1972. I installed a cable TV distribution system for an apartment building at the old ice plant in Trancoville. I also got I volved in planning cable TV distribution for a subdivision just outside Tagaytay. Didn't get built because the subdivision was abandoned.

The Beatles

 

The Beatles broke up in 1970......

Midnight to 6 AM curfews during martial law, providing us the perfect excuse to party the whole night.

Curfew was midnight to 4 am. I had a curfew pass so I could be out during those hours.

Finished off. '97 Retzlaff. 80% cab, 20% merlot. Tannins have receded, fruit coming forward again. Nice. Good news is I bought a half case, so 5 more bottles! The '97 cabs are coming along nicely and should be good drinking right around now. That's next on my drink list.

 

Next time we have folks over I have a 2002 Rubicon that's just begging to be opened.

Porsche 918. Or 63 Corvette with split rear window.

I only borrow money from banks. Not friends or family. And I never lend money to friends or family. Best way to poison a relationship is to lend money.

 

Credit cards - pay them off every month. You get to use their money for a month interest-free. My latest car - 0% interest - so I get to use their money interest-free for my investments. Only other debt I have is my home mortgage. Tax decuctible interest payments, and lower interest rate than what I can earn from investments, so I still come out ahead.

 

nothing wrong with debt if you manage it carefully.

^what printer and paper material do you use to print your shots? i tried printing them on conventional photo paper kaso ang tagal matuyo agad. Ayoko naman magpa-print sa labas kasi mas mahal. I was planning to do a photo book before nung nasa abroad pa ko but i never got around to it.

I've tried a couple of photo books - Artisan State and Adoramapix. I like Artisan State because it's much heavier stock. And a true lay-flat book. Both allow wrap-around hard covers and inside spreads. Print quality is better (slightly) with Adoramapix. I feel like Artisan State prints about a half-stop darker than I expect.

 

I have an Epson R2880 and for most printing I use Epson Ultra Premium Luster. I have a couple of specialty papers and some roll paper from some other suppliers for specialty printing like a heavyweight matte and roll paper for panoramas.

 

I don't like the other papers I've tried. Not a fan of the Canon, HP and Kodak papers. I have some Japanese paper that I haven't tried yet.

^i dont mean to pry but how come you dont watermark your shots? you could really make use of those and frame them up at home.

I do print and frame them up to hang at home. And I give them out as XMas presents. Those are signed.

 

I feel that watermarking the conventional way adds an element to the image that I find distracting and sometimes destructive to the image. These images I just posted are not watermarked because I'm still working on them, but there are ways to embed a hidden watermark.

Plan C looks good.

On topic: I'm on a hiatus on wine. Gluten fear haha. Tell me it's not true.

Gluteus in wine? Didn't think so - but I'll look into it. One of my friends is celiac and she's very gluten intolerant. She would know.

From the tropics to the land of the midnight sun. 2015 has been a great travel year for me.

 

Eddington Rock

 

 

Cruising the Misty Fjords

 

 

 

 

Walking on a glacier.You can't reproduce that blue in print or on the monitor. It's the purest, bluest blue I've ever seen.

 

 

"Downtown" Skagway. Quite surprisingly, we found a really good Filipino restaurant here!

 

 

Gnarly trees above Carcross, B.C.

 

 

haha...i hear you..but any shots done in cuba is something out of the ordinary, a place that so much history

 

What was surprising was that there were not as many Ché images as I would have expected. I missed a really good shot - on the road in from the airport there are two building that have neon images of José Marti and Ché. Saw them on my way into Havana but didn't get back out there to shoot before I left. Made a note of it - will definitely shoot there next time I go to Cuba.

 

Viva Cuba libre!

 

Isn't the 86 just a re-badged Subaru BRZ?

The 17th is my daughter's birthday so I can't commit on that day. Plan B? Haha

 

So you're still keen on that wine thing here. Good luck pare. I know some guy who's looking to finance ventures. Email kita.

 

Plan B is the 18th.......or when we get back from Baguio. That date is still uncertain. Definitely no later than the 29th.

 

So plan C could be the 29th.

Any tip for me kasi takot pa akong mag Lagan ng shadows sa photo ko.how do I know if it is an ok shadow?

 

Every image has light and dark. The shadows are part of the dark.

 

The questions I ask myself about a shadow are:

1) does the shadow placement and depth contribute to the content and aesthetic of the image?

2) is the shadow consistent with the image as a whole?

3) does the shadow obscure an element of the image that I want to highlight?

a. If yes, then you need to lighten it up - either by casting more light in that part of the scene, or in post-processing.

b. if not, is it too bright and distracting, so it may need to be brought down?

c. If not a or b - leave it alone!!!

 

In short - if it looks good to you, it's ok. If not, do something about it!