Chris Gagné – Page 11

Seared Shishito Peppers

I figured I’d try something a bit different tonight…

Sauteed shishito peppers are getting pretty popular in LA as an appetizer at Japanese restaurants. Here’s my shot at it:

Drop some shishito peppers in a skillet. Nonstick = bad, the reason for which is obvious in second.
Drizzle them a bit with olive or sesame seed oil (I used a dark toasted sesame seed oil).
Sear peppers with a propane torch. Rotate them as necessary to get all of the angles. (A smaller “creme brulee” torch might not produce enough heat… plumber’s torches from Home Depot are the tool for this job…)
Place on a serving plate and top with shaved bonito flakes, yuzu (or lemon) juice, and sea salt.
Serve immediately.

Why sear them with a propane torch? Apparently home stoves don’t produce enough heat to quickly sauté these little buggers, so they lose a lot of their color in the process. Searing them cooks them quickly with plenty of heat, so they retain their lovely color.

Trying just one for the taste… it’s a winner! 🙂

Chris Gagné2014-03-02T18:35:34-08:00February 7th, 2009|3 Comments

Laser-Engraved MacBook Pro

I met Ben Katz of Etchstar.com–home to engraved iPods, engraved MacBooks, and other awesome custom electronics–at a recent LA tech meetup. He handed me an awesome all-metal business card, and we struck up a quick conversation.

Ben offered me a nice deal on an etching for my MacBook Pro. I thought about for a few days and realized that the only art I’d want on my machine would be the work of Heisuke Kitazawa, A.K.A. “PCP” (which has nothing to do with the drug by the same name), an emerging contemporary Japanese artist. I have a copy of his painting “i’ll always make time to write/2005” hanging in my living room. (This same painting also adorns at least one chic hotel room.)

I went through PCP’s illustration file and tested a few images in B&W on the engraving template. His “everyday is sunday, baby” print really resonated with me, and seemed like it would look great on the MacBook Pro. I reached out to PCP who offered to give me permission to engrave and send me the B&W line art if I bought the print.

So I did! The B&W line art looked great, and with a couple of minor changes I was able to line it up on the template perfectly. A quick call to Ben got me a 6:00 appointment at Etchstar, where Bill and Denny prepped the file in CorelDraw and sent it to the laser.

I expected to be more anxious about handing over a $2,800 computer to folks wielding a Class IV laser, but the team exuded competency and confidence and I had no reservations whatsoever. The process took about 40 minutes, but, boy, am I thrilled with how it all turned out. Check it out!

Chris Gagné2017-02-13T13:09:19-08:00October 29th, 2008|4 Comments

Apparently my cats have an opinion about harmonicas

I can’t tell if they loath it or love it, but one thing is sure; they’re not indifferent.

Chris Gagné2017-02-13T13:09:34-08:00September 2nd, 2008|0 Comments

SQL Haiku

select * from views
where referrer like ‘%phoenix%’
order by time desc

(Interpreting “*” as “all”, ignoring pronunciation of “%”, and pronouncing “desc” as one syllable.)

Chris Gagné2017-02-13T13:09:43-08:00July 23rd, 2008|0 Comments

Hodge’s Cabin 2005

Between July 2nd and 6th of 2005, I took a quick trip back to the Trinity Alps. I spent most of the trip in Hodges Cabin with my good friend Laura. Here are a few photos from the trip.

Chris Gagné2012-07-27T13:26:21-08:00July 12th, 2008|0 Comments

SPIM: Yet another scourge to plague us

Oh instant message SPAM…

I’ve kinda got a bit of a crush on you XXXX.. If you wanna know who I am though you’re gonna have to Click Here and play along with my game!

Hey there! – You have been selected for a free vacation to the Bahamas! Click Here to confirm your prize before its too late!

You Have 2 New Crush Requests One of your buddies has a crush on you. Find out who

Well, I got a little frustrated about getting several of these a day and did a little digging. All of the SPIMs I have received point one of to the following domains:

pure-luv.com
fling.com
winicane.com

All of these domains are owned by Millnic Media, an affiliate CPA network. I have an suspicion that Millnic Media may sell some of their “leads” (your personal information) up to Mobile Messenger, though I haven’t been able to confirm this.

Thus, it seems that either Millnic Media or one/some of their affiliates (most likely) are in the process of culling AIM screen names and spamming the bejeezus out of them. Many of these SPIMs appear to be coming from toolazy.net, which appears to be an affiliate to Millnic Media based on the destination URL and redirects I get when clicking a link.

Even if Millnic Media or Mobile Messenger aren’t directly responsible for sending the SPIM, a responsible affiliate networks (e.g., Millnic Media) and lead aggregator (e.g., Mobile Messenger) should do a much better job about culling the bad affiliates out of their network.

Chris Gagné2008-07-12T18:03:43-08:00July 12th, 2008|2 Comments

Trinity Alps 2002

I began looking for summer internships in the spring of 2002. High finance, graphic design, nonprofit work… all appealing but typical. I stumbled across an advertisement on Monster.com placed by the USDA Forest Service. They were seeking wilderness patrol people and a docent for the historical and remote Hodge’s Cabin.

I spoke with the Weaverville Ranger District’s Jim Holmes, who is probably one of the most well-adjusted people I have ever met. After a few days of learning about the opportunity and expressing interest, I received and accepted the chance to spend a summer hiking and caring for a piece of history. My best friend Laura also chose to come along.

Over the next several weeks we prepared our supplies and dried pounds of fruit and meat. Then we loaded up the trunk of my Mazda Protege with food and gear and waved my house goodbye for three months.

We spent the next eleven weeks lounging in the cabin, hiking in one of California’s most beautiful wildernesses, and studying for the following school year. I brought my laptop and a solar cell assembly that permitted me to work on my senior comprehensives and hosting business for a few hours each day.

Jim, thank you for this truly once-in-a-lifetime experience and opportunity. May you and your wilderness always be well.

Chris Gagné2017-02-13T13:23:30-08:00July 7th, 2008|0 Comments

Southwest Road Trip 2004

Load up the ’04 Toyota Prius and head off for adventure. My best friend Laura and I visited the Grand Canyon and Carlsbad Caverns.

Chris Gagné2017-02-13T13:23:46-08:00July 7th, 2008|0 Comments

Monterey 2004

My good friend Laura and I took a weekend roadtrip to Monterey in 2004. Here are a few photos from the trip.

Chris Gagné2017-02-13T13:24:15-08:00July 7th, 2008|0 Comments

Lilo and Perl

I adopted Lilo and Perl in September of 2002 from a woman in Santa Monica. She took a mother and litter of kittens off the streets, then immunized, fixed, and cared for them. She listed their availability online and requested $45 each to cover part of the costs of caring for them. I counter-offered with a year of Internet hosting, including a yearly renewal rate of $90. She accepted and has been one of my clients ever since at http://www.lindakipsey.com.

Due to the fact that she has both a “light side” and a “dark side,” Lilo is named after LILO, an application used to select between different operating systems at boot time. It is commonly used to select between Linux and Windows.

Perl is my sleek black script-kitty, and is named after the scripting language Perl. The language Perl is arguably the duct-tape of the Internet. Perl is also Lilo’s mother. This comes as a shock to most people who have the pleasure of meeting them because Perl is roughly half the weight and volume of her daughter.