Rahm's Menagerie

Look at those Antlers!

Feeling a Bit Batty

How we send letters now

Public. 1 sentence. Impersonal.

Old Car

Lemon Rice

Lemon Rice is also called Chitrannam and is a South Indian recipe. Spicy and tart at the same time.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups basmati rice
3 cups water

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon husked black gram dal (urad dal)
2-3 dried chilies (optional)
1 tablespoon peanuts or cashew nuts (optional)
I sprig curry leaves (can leave out if not available)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon salt
Juice from 1 1/2 – 2 lemons
Cilantro leaf to garnish (optional)

Method:
Wash and drain the rice. Add water and bring to a boil, simmer on low for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and leave for an hour to cool or spread out on a plate to cool faster. Set aside.
Heat oil in a pan on medium-high and add the mustard seeds. When they begin to pop, add black gram dal, curry leaves, cashew nuts and dried chilies. Saute for a minute or two until the black gram dal turns light brown. Remove from heat and add salt and turmeric. Add the lemon juice. Toss in the rice and heat through. Allow to rest for 10 minutes so all the flavors blend. Garnish with cilantro leaves.

Serve with papadums and hot pickles.

Kale...bleeh!

The texture is all wrong: bubbly and rubbery. It has many health benefits but I just can't do it.

Kale is considered to be a highly nutritious vegetable with powerful antioxidant properties and is anti-inflammatory. It is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and reasonably rich in calcium. As with Broccoli and other brassicas, it contains sulforaphane, a chemical believed to have potent anti-cancer properties, particularly when chopped or minced.

The Doppler Effect

I have always loved this idea in physics. Like how a sound changes as it goes by. The Doppler effect (or Doppler shift), named after an Austrian physicist Christian Doppler who proposed it in 1842, is the change in frequency of a wave (for example, a sound wave) for an observer moving relative to the source of the waves. It is commonly heard when a vehicle with a siren approaches, passes and recedes from an observer. The received frequency is increased (compared to the emitted frequency) during the approach, it is identical at the instant of passing by, and it is decreased during the recession. The vehicle is pushing up against the medium in front (air) as it goes making it "thicker" and creating a lag behind causing the waves to elongate.

Hands

I was looking at my hands, off-handedly, this evening and realized how much is accomplished by these amazing parts of the body. I remember, many years ago, seeing a model of the human body at the Natural History Museum in London with the various parts sized proportional to the number of nerves they possessed. The hands were by far the biggest.
M.C. Escher performs the ultimate sleight-of-hand in the mystifying “Drawing Hands.” Escher (1898 – 1972), a Dutch artist who worked with lithography, woodcutting and mezzotints, created optical illusions that defied concepts of infinity by manipulating space and geometric patterns. His works all employed advanced mathematical and scientific principles, although he lacked training in either field.

Downward Facing Dog

(Original image from Cecilie's Moto Journal)

Bhangra

Lately I've been very interested in Bhangra as my kids just did a play that had a couple of Bollywood dances that they really got in to. This great image is from vickysingh.us and it looks like it was originally a black and white print that was colorised by hand. Baisaki is a dnace festival in Punjab where the men perform Bhangra, an energetic dance that is associated with the ripening of crops.

The Seven Chakras

Making a Paper Boat

Birthday Party in Beverly Hills

Balloons, bouncer, basketball and lots of amazing trees.

Crossing a Bridge

Bipasha carries Priya on a hiking trip to Switzer Falls in the Angeles National Forest.

Here and Now

Artwork by Cate.

Tandoori-Style Chicken

Ingredients
8 chicken thighs (skinned and boned)
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons tandoori masala
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon salt

1-2 tablespoons canola oil for cooking

Method
Traditionally, tandoori chicken is baked in a Tandoor oven. This is a quick cook method that results in a moister consistency. Marinate the chicken in a mixture of the ingredients for 1 hour to overnight. Heat the oil in a frying pan and carefully place the chicken pieces in one layer. Fry chicken for 5 minutes per side and then turn often so that the pieces become coated in the thick gravy (approximately another 10-15 minutes). Drain off any excess oil. Num num!

Two by Two

I like this phrase in light at an entrance to the Noah's Ark exhibit at the Skirball Center. Especially because my identical twin boys seem to have embodied this sentiment right from their inception.

Birds on a Wire

This photo, appropriately taken by my musician husband symbolically brings music into a gloomy day, the birds' bodies creating notes on an urban stave.

Doesn't look so friendly...

I know this sign is meant to welcome children to play at this park, but the high fence and strange bear look a bit creepy to me.

No Voice

This world is no place for no voice.

Mother's Day

Ladybug in Ivy

My Boys

The Triangle

Nerd Question: 1. Which geometric shape is the strongest?

Nerd Answer: The triangle has a characteristic shared by no other polygon, it is rigid. As force is applied to the vertex (or top peak) of the triangle, the force is deflected down the sides of the structure. The sizes of the angles do not change because the bottom (side opposite the vortex) holds the other two sides in place.)

Nerd Examples in Nature: It seems that they are very uncommon but here are a few examples:
- The fractal patterns on some cone shells
- There are some tetrahedron shaped crystals (fluorite)
- In the arms of starfish
- Orca fins are pretty triangular, as are some shark fins
- In the geometry of spider webs
- Carnivorous Incisors (sharks)
- Serrated leaf margins (maples form a fractal)
- Triangular stems (Yellow Nutsedge)
- Cross section of fruits (orange)
- Star fruit

Om Ganesha!

Even the miniature idols are beautifully carved. This one is made in silver.

What's for Breakfast?

Apparently the painted rocks are eclairs.

Graduation Invitation Segment

School Play Program Segment

School Play Poster Segment

Tickets for a Play

'Tis the season for the end of year school play. This year there are three performances and here are the tickets.