In the Hills

In the Hills originally uploaded by Samer Farha.

We admit -- we've been very remiss. Maybe we were wrong to outsource our newsroom to Bangalore but with the extra coin we were able to rent this clown BoBo and really underestimated the creepiness.

Samer's excellent adventure was noted if not well recorded, an oversight we hope to rectify somewhat by advising our readers to check out, at the very least, his China collection.

Once you visit, of course, we predict you won't want to leave.

Nicole @ 30

hello originally uploaded by nicspir.

The peepsNet team wishes you well on this marvelous day.

Wilderness Nicole

We have it good authority that Nicole is goin' camping for a few days next week. We sure hope you know what you're is doing; even under the best of circumstances spending days in the wild requires careful planning because you have to carry all your own food. Forget about the edible plants manual -- one sticky page and you'll end up like that "Into the Wild" guy.

Listen -- you are going to get tired of dehydrated macaroni and cheese in about 15 minutes. And you will also need to figure out some way to pass the time in what will otherwise be a repetitive slog through natural beauty, star-studded night skies and the kind of silence you cannot even imagine and are unable to adequately describe.

Here's a thought -- how about some wilderness gourmet cooking! Your welcome!

We know you are too busy so we've done some research on your behalf (we flatter ourselves that you are reading this. Maybe Samer will tell you about it) and found this incredibly thorough, perfectly-time article on NPR.

In it some chick in SF writes all about the things you will need to know. We are sure your comfort level will increase just by reading this:

Escaping into the wilderness doesn't have to mean leaving good food behind. A little preparation before hitting the trail makes dishes like penne pasta with vegetables a cinch.

Boy, this girl really does know her trailmix. Witness:

Years of backpacking in various parts of the United States have taught me that while a box of organic macaroni and cheese is easy to prepare after a long day of lugging a heavy pack up and down mountains, it's not nearly as satisfying as quinoa chowder or fresh vegetables roasted over a fire.

These days my pack is filled with a small container of olive oil, dried herbs, salt and pepper and fresh fruit rather than packets of dehydrated beans and rice or bags of quick-cooking oatmeal flavored with desiccated strawberries.

Our pack would contain 3 GPS units, a sat phone and Glock 19 -- you can get lots of food and even have it prepared and served to you with a Glock - but that's just us.

We have to admit we really didn't read the article too closely or bother to Google the author, whose name escapes me, but it's on the internet and must be true. Anyway there's a nifty companion podcast where the incredibly well-prepared author lays it all out in a way even we can understand. We were captivated.

So, Nicole, do your homework (your welcome!) -- and be safe! No Lord of the Flies stuff, OK!

Samer's Adventure Begins in Mere Minutes

Samer tweets that he is through IAD security and has had a hearty breakfast "but I'll probably regret the mountain of cheese and bacon once airborne." So might you seat mates, mate.

The Boy Wonder will arrive in Tokyo tomorrow afternoon after a flight scheduled to take about 14 hours. His big regret seems to be that he won't be able to drink a caipirinha "for a good long time. My guess is I won't even be at a bar that has cachaça until at least Germany."

We'll be tracking his flight in real time at flightstats.com.

We're happy for the lad to have this dream assignment (engineer at the Bejing Olympics) and for his dexterity in creating a travel itinerary around it. But I have a dilemma. Who am I going to ask random questions at strange hours about astronomy, mechanical engineering, Apple shortcuts, unix programming and cookery? Well, as least I have a reliable source for that last one a much more manageable three time zones away.

Feeling lucky, punk?

Feeling lucky, punk? originally uploaded by John C Abell.

Yes, sir, Mr. Farha sir.

Occasionally, very accurate. Wonder who he was thinking of during those shots ...

Our Prayers Have Been Answered

23,501 originally uploaded by Samer Farha.

That meat blog thing was sort of OK, I guess, but we asked for it (two years ago) and now we have it:

Samer is blogging for real again.

The reason? Boy Wonder is about to embark on a trip of 23,501 miles that begins with one step. Work beckons him to the Beijing Olympic Games and he's making about 47 pre-, post and side trips.

The itinerary:

• Tokyo
• Hong Kong
• Beijing
• Dubai
• Beirut
• Frankfurt
• Berlin
• Brussels
• London
• Reykjavik

And Samer has procured exactly what a young, single man passing through so many port of call needs ....

A telephoto lens. What did you think?

Decisions, Decisions ...

Wondering what the comments would be like if Samer had switched captions on these two recent shots.

Walking Past
Originally uploaded by Samer Farha

Stacked
Originally uploaded by Samer Farha

Feta Attraction

She likes feta, but it wasn't always thus.

Nicole has classed it up again for another piece at NPR in which she confesses that she was not always a fan of the cheese of her homeland. Apparently there was some kind of unfortunate childhood event which scarred her but not for life, because some years later when faced with starvation or stinky cheese the latter won out with minimal hysteria. Hey Nicole -- she likes it!

PeepsNet can relate. For us, consternation took the form of the black, wrinkly olives of our homeland. Not that we ever liked those bland California varieties one buys in -- yuck -- cans. But green was our valley, and pitted, and perhaps stuffed with garlic or bleu cheese. This, of course, reduced green olives to garlic or blue cheese delivery systems, which obscured the underlying flavor. And, it must be said, those little green guys with pimento that so perfectly augment the martini experience are an entirely different subject.

But we digress. It was not until late in life that I appreciated the Kalamata the way Nicole came to accept feta. And, as I recall, it was in circumstances somewhat beyond my control, as with Nicole, that I was confronted with the dilemma slash opportunity to re-evaluate a childhood aversion to a food so easily made friends with.

Hmmm ... this has veered twice now from the subject at hand.

Nicole's excellent tale of self discovery is here. Don't forget to listen to the podcast (WE think she was extremely well prepared).

Who Says I'm Not a Morning Person?

Who Says I'm Not a Morning Person? originally uploaded by John C Abell.

Kids: this is why you don't want a career in journalism. Stay in school, just say 'no' to drugs, skip the cigarettes or break the habit clean.

Wait, that's what I did ... OK -- you're on your own.

Katy Breezes Through DC

San Francisco Guests originally uploaded by Samer Farha.

Miss Katy was in town, and we were unable to attend, sadly. Besides the fun of seeing her and having a relaxed drink with friends we see all-too infrequently we would have wanted to ask what the story is behind those ginormous pearls. Really, are those from the Wilma Flintstone collection?

Word is that the newly-restored Reuters employee was on her way to the OBX for a little R&R, although we don't hear much of people going there for the summer. (note to self: search the interwebs to find out where I can get one of those extremely rare bumper OBX stickers).

Samer got this candid, which enabled peepsNet to have two sequential posts with Katy sitting at a table in a restaurant -- hey, that's almost enough to start a flickr group!

We don't know who that good-looking guy at Katy's elbow is, because, while Samer is a passable photographer he is a terrible reporter. This is why you haven't received dime-one in peepsNet stringer fees yet, dude.

West Coast Peeps Convention

Dinner at NOPA was fantastic. Lots of "remember when" stuff. Fortunately it was dark inside this fascist eatery best known for a $12 burger so nobody could see peepsNet cry. Even if, we'd blame the gin. Or even the memory of the absinthe.

Katy seemed remarkably unaffected by her return to the Baron's fold. Everything is better in San Francisco, I guess.

Nicole doesn't like photographers. Or at least a guy with an iPhone in her face. Funny tude from someone who was bitten by the shutter bug (niiiiiice) recently.

Live and let live, baby!

Speaking of Photography ...

Sometimes, she just loves the blur
Originally uploaded by nicspir

... And the need to balance coverage between the Twin Peeps: Nicole has a new camera which she has been prone to call the "camera of gloriousness." Yes, she's in love and she's not ashamed to admit it.

Here's a flickr slideshow from their first vacation together as a couple.

Morning in America

We've been lazy. Busy. No, lazy.

But we couldn't let this one get by us, even through we've missed about 18 other DCIst "Photo of the Day" pix by the boy wonder.

There was food, too. Really.

John originally uploaded by nicspir.

Actually lots of delicious food.

Apparently peepsNet hasn't been quite obsequious enough about Nicole, so we got the carrot-and-stick treatment. Sort of literally, come to think of it: a lovely vegan meal, and Polish absinthe which, to the best of anyone's knowledge, was 144 proof -- a fact we discovered way, way too late. Think the dental scene in Marathon Man: oil of cloves and drilling without anesthetic.

Then we didn't offer to do dishes. Sorry, Michael.

Nicole, Nicole, Nicole ...

PeepsNet isn't about ratting on the peeps. We aren't interested in the seamy underbelly of their lives. We'd rather not think there was a dark side. We don't want to hear about their weaknesses and foibles, or the gender confusion, addiction, gambling obsession, spiritual ambivalence, Oedipal complex, "daddy issues," and ritual cruelty to small animals.

And neither should you.

But there are limits to our restraint. We have just learned that Nicole has been unfaithful -- Nicole! Here is her unrepentant confession, on the Interwebs:

"A confession: I'm obsessed with cauliflower. And I'm not sorry."

Oh -- you're sorry all right.

We can't fathom what possessed npr.org to publish this metaphor-laden "Story of N." Of course, it is extremely well written, dammit.

"If a head of this funny-looking crucifer doesn't find its way into at least one meal a week, I'm either having a bad month or am out of town too much. A dinner without cauliflower feels off-balance, lackluster. A life without cauliflower is no life at all."

Nicole, please. Try to regain a modicum of dignity. No man is worth humiliating yourself like this. (Or likes to be called a "funny-looking crucifer." This may be your problem).

PeepsNet must find a hip urban dictionary to completely understand the disgusting acts Nicole describes below -- reprinted not for shock value but out of journalistic necessity:

"There are so many ways to adore you, cauliflower. I love you for your delicious, crumbly gratins baked for an hour in the oven on Friday evenings. I love your Monday night soups quickly whirled together and laced with mushrooms and herbes de Provence. I love your lazy Sunday afternoon curries served with coconut rice. But I think best of all I love you slow-roasted at 400 degrees for about a half hour."

I just don't know you anymore.

The entire, pathetic love letter is here. And, if you have a stomach for this, don't forget to listen to the podcast.

The World in a Grain of Rice

She taught us that quinoa could save the world and now Nicole is all about "The World in a Grain of Rice." Make up your mind? What's that? This just in: They are both grains.

Our woman in San Francisco is serving up some Chow (sorry) about what you can do with things called "polenta" and "millet" and "bulgur." Worst cocktails names ever.

But we like lists, and this is a top 10, which means we can just find #1 and go with that without a lot of reading. Cake is mentioned. That's promising.

The "about" part at the bottom is very cool, and peepsNet is going to use this boilerplate for Nicole stories from now on. Our only quibble is calling Cucina Nicolina a "cooking blog." It's about life, people.

---

Nicole Spiridakis contributes to the San Francisco Chronicle and NPR online, as well as other publications, and writes a cooking blog called Cucina Nicolina.

"Cool Photos" from Rich

A shout out from David Newman Music to Rich on some "cool photos."

The are cool. The boy's still got game, even though he is getting on in years.

Resurrecting the Resman

Let's start with the tie.

It was the sort of tie that kids get with their first suit -- a "club" style with irregular stripes of indeterminate and unmistakenly bland colors. The kind of neckwear they keep on hand at fancy restaurants, for uncouth guys who show up in shirtsleeves and baseball caps, because they are too ugly to steal.

Just the ticket for a company stooge who needs to wear a tie every day and wants you to know just how much he appreciates that.

Yes, the Res-man is management scum now, but only the "management" part is new.

He still favors a Bombay martini, dry and neat, but now with a twist of lemon. AP patrician influences, no doubt.

He carries an AP MasterCard, the easier to pay for interviews -- sorry, "travel expenses" for interviewees.

And he still has that ageless twinkle in his eye, even though age has caught up with the former 10/20 vision phenom, who now must occasionally wear reading glasses.

And his hearing is shot. Gotta repeat yourself a couple of times just to get his attention. Of course, we were in a loud bar. But I'm sure he is going deaf.

BYOB

Any peep in the neighborhood is welcome for a rare Resnick sighting, scheduled for 6 pm at the Ebbett back bar.

For those of you who have successfully wiped this man from memory, he is the guy that:

1. Woke up with a vision problem. He couldn't see coming to work today.
2. Has been married 20 years, but it seems like 20 minutes -- under water!

For food or fooling around, Peeps hatch a devoted cult

We are very confused. Is there a licensing issue here?