30.12.06

tonight's travel-inspired dinner

Once again, I'm in a South Africa mood. On another site where I hang out, we're doing a Secret Santa, and a few days ago, I got my gift - South Africa-themed random items. Among these items, a CD filled with interesting South African music, including The Click Song...

Anyway, RoF doesn't care about music. Only food. So on to the recipe...

A few things first. A little warning - this is meant to be made a day ahead of serving time. I didn't do this (didn't read the recipe carefully enough before making it :). The dish was still quite delicious...

Also, the recipe says serve with pasta. I made pan-fried potatoes and salad to go with the dish and it worked out nicely.

Braised chicken thighs with red wine, sun-dried tomatoes and balsamic vinegar

(Serves 8)

16-18 chicken thigh portions (ca 2 kg)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, thinly sliced
salt and milled black pepper
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup shredded basil leaves, or 2 tsp dried oregano
125 g sun-dried tomatoes
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Trim excess fat from the chicken. Heat oil in a heavy, ovenproof casserole and brown the chicken on both sides over a medium-high heat, in 3-4 batches. When finished with each batch, remove chicken and set aside.

Reduce the heat and add the onions, some salt and pepper. Cook gently for 5-10 minutes or until very soft but not browned. Add small amounts of water to avoid browning, if necessary. Stir in garlic, herbs, and sun-dried tomatoes. Add chicken pieces to casserole. Add stock and wine, and bake in oven at 160 C for about an hour or until chicken is done. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Refrigerate overnight.

Before reheating the chicken, remove any congealed fat from the surface. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove. Check seasonings. Stir in the balsamic vinegar, and continue reheating on stovetop (or in oven at 160 C) until chicken is heated, about 20-30 minutes.

Serve with hot small pasta sprinkled with shredded basil or chopped parsley.

Recipe source: Cape Town Food

We drank Groot Constantia's 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon with our meal and it was a lovely match.

RoF is very stuffed and happy...

29.12.06

field to feast

I love this blog. It's very interesting and RoF-friendly...

Tonight's dinner came from this blog - the spaghetti with beetroot pesto. With a side salad. (I was in the mood for something vegetarian.)

Well, I had too many beets in it (or too little of the other ingredients) but it was still quite good. I will definitely make it again...

25.12.06

so far so good...

God jul from the penguinette in Oslo!



First things first... my stash :-) We opened presents yesterday, according to Norwegian tradition, though a bit earlier than what is traditional as we had to get to our shift at Alternativ Jul. Anyway, I got the following:
  • from boyfriend of feitpingvin's mother: a necklace (black band) with a purple heart-shaped pendant (will try to show a pic of it some day, as I really don't know how to describe it better

  • from my parents: money (for travel... uh, saving for a bigger shoebox :)

  • from boyfriend of feitpingvin: a Polar F4 Fitness Heart Rate Monitor and a Nikon Sportstar 10X25 DCF (binoculars)

The binoculars are something that I really wish I had when we were in South Africa, to look at the birdies. I'm glad I have them now though. They're nice and compact; perfect for travel. The heart rate monitor will also be nice for doing more effective training... I'll probably test it out within the next week (before all the New Yesr's resolutioners infiltrate the gym)...

boyfriend of feitpingvin got from me:
  • Twins leather shin guards (SGL-3)

  • Essence of a Land. When we were in Stellenbosch, we learned about this book while listening to the news. We wanted to get it while we were over there, but at that time the book had just come out and not all the bookstores had it. Most of the bookstore staff we asked hadn't even heard of it. It was eventually "forgotten", until I peeked through my written travel notes again. And then I thought "Aha! I know how to really surprise him!" My biggest fear was that he would suddenly remember the book hehe...

He also got some cool cufflinks from his mom. And we both got a hand-made glass penguin from some friends of ours...

As for Alternativ Jul... I was doing cleanup/dishes stuff, taking dirty dishes, cups, and cutlery from the dining area to the kitchen this time around; I had done kitchen duty for the past 2 years (at least) and it was time for something new...

I don't mind doing the physical work; it's actually quite "nice" to do when you have a sit-on-your-fat-ass IT job otherwise. I'm in shape for it because of all the exercise I do, and it's not a problem for me. However, some of the male volunteers (and even one woman) seemed to think that the crate-like thing (not sure what they're called) with dirty dishes was too heavy for me to carry. I found that extremely offensive, and it left me annoyed for a good part of the evening. There were a few other girls doing the dishes run, and they weren't having any problems either, so I don't know where these twats got this idea that we can't lift things... but whatever...

The only real disaster on our watch was one of the guests kicking over a bucket we used to empty the contents of glasses and coffee cups into (we had to do this before setting them up on the plastic whateveritscalled to take to the dishwasher). But we managed to get the mops quickly enough and things were OK in the end...

It was pretty calm and quiet this year. Perhaps it's because of the mild weather; the guests don't feel they need to stay indoors all the time. We also had more volunteers this year and perhaps it was easier to "keep control" because of that. I don't know. But tons of food was eaten and loads of gifts were given out, as usual, and there's a lot food and other stuff left...

We have another shift tomorrow. We'll see how that goes...

20.12.06

On the first day of Christmas...

...my true love gave to me
A penguin in a baobab tree...

On the second day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Two Cape turtle doves
And a penguin in a baobab tree...

On the third day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Three Guinea fowl
Two Cape turtle doves
And a penguin in a baobab tree...

Uh... OK, I'll stop now...

(Who, me? Still obsessed? ;)

14.12.06

three times the harm...

boyfriend of tuxette and I graded to practitioner 3 in Krav Maga tonight...

I have a nice little lump on my cheekbone from where an elbow hit the frame of my sports goggles, bruised up shins and at least one huge bump that will be noticable when wearing nylons, a nasty cut on my thumb, bashed-up forearms... I can't wait to go to work tomorrow and show everything off... :-/

btw - how many lives do penguinettes have anyway?

1.12.06

knife fighting...

On knife fights, from one of my favorite self-defense information sites:

Not to put too fine of a point on it, but fighting is stupid. And the very idea of "knife fighting" goes beyond stupid and lands in macho, moronic fantasy. And don't even get me started on what I think about successfully "fighting" empty handed against a knifer. It is simple common sense that a knife is dangerous. Yet, every year thousands upon thousand of people go to seminars and schools and are taught both knife "fighting" and how to fight barehanded against a knife! And they *believe* this BS!

During the last part of Krav Maga training last night, we all paired up and did some knife fighting. No fancy techniques (or techniques at all), no flashy moves (unless we were lucky enough to get them in) - just good old fashioned, down and dirty "just go after your opponent and get her/him" attack-mode fighting. First knife vs. knife, and then knife vs. empty handed. We were instructed to "maneuver to cut" every time we touched our opponent with the knife. During the knife vs. knife fighting, we were also instructed at one point to use our other hand to hold our neck area, as if we had been struck with the knife and bleeding, as well as using our other hand to hold the thigh area to hinder severe bleeding. It's amazing how something like that can limit your ability to move and maneuver. Imagine how it would be like if you were in pain and blood was gushing out...

Let's just say there's a lot of merit in the above quote and what is stated in the rest of what Marc MacYoung writes about knife fighting. My partner was another woman, slightly bigger than me but not that much bigger, so it's fair to say we were evenly matched. I managed to get a lot of "hits" on her, she managed to get a lot of "hits" on me. Sure, we can giggle and say "dammit, you got me" and "if this were for real I'd be dead" and stuff in class. Which is kind of the point I guess. It's so much "easier" when you're using training knives instead of real knives that can actually cut you, and even with the training knives it's not all that easy... How far would any of us gone had this been a real knife fight and we had gotten slashed for real? (Or worse yet, if the fight was with someone bigger and stronger than us?) The right slash in the right place with the right amount of force and...

Fortunately, I'm not the kind of penguinette that has this overly macho need to go around picking fights, with knives or otherwise. I can defend myself against knife attacks to a certain degree, with blocks and counter-attacks and distancing myself and the such, but if ever confronted I'll gladly take MacYoung's first recommendation... RUN LIKE HELL...

28.11.06

almost busted...

Where's the fucking camera when I need one?

When I was on the way to Krav Maga training, I saw this gypsy carrying a table over his shoulders. Now this is a guy who is out on the streets with a cane, pretending to be somewhat crippled (though without the Parkinsons-shaking like some of his cohorts), in order to get people to feel sorry for him and toss coins in his paper cup, the one he loves to shake and shove in people's faces. He even had his cane nicely tucked into the table, so that he could carry both...

Damn. That would have made a nice blog entry, if the press couldn't be bothered to publish the photos. You know, one of those side-by-side is he cripple-is he strong and healthy deals. Better yet, make huge posters and hang them up all over town.

*sigh*...

When am I ever going to get such an opportunity to bust one of those filthy bastards again?

24.11.06

way to go, South Africa! (once again)

from the BBC: SA court boosts gay inheritance

South Africa's highest court has ruled that gay people can inherit the property of their partners who die without a will.

The Constitutional Court said existing succession laws discriminated against same-sex couples.

The court said that whenever the word "spouse" was mentioned in the laws, the words "or partner in a same-sex life partnership" should be added.

South Africa's parliament last week legalised gay weddings.

The law is expected to come into effect on 1 December, making South Africa the first country in Africa to legalise same-sex unions.

Gay rights groups have welcomed the ruling on property rights.

The parliamentary vote on gay weddings followed a Constitutional Court ruling last year that same-sex couples should be allowed to get married.

The change was strongly opposed by some religious groups and traditional leaders.

South Africa has one of the world's most liberal constitutions - it was the first to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation.

23.11.06

champagne's delicious bubbles...

...though not always.

Boyfriend of feitpingvin and I were at a champagne tasting last night. We were hoping that maybe we would taste something that would be good enough for our New Year's Eve feast. We left the place unimpressed and disappointed...

We tasted the champagnes of Heidsieck & Co and Pommery. We tasted three different champagnes from Heidsieck & Co., and two of them were actually quite nice, espcially the third one (Diamant Bleu from 1999). The first one wasn't bad either but not something I would put high on my list. But not something I would say no to either...

The five Pommery champagnes, on the other hand, were a huge disappointment, and as they were the last ones to be tasted, it kind of ruined the mood for the rest of the evening. They all smelled the same, despite different grape blends, and they all pretty much tasted the same - boooooooring. There was nothing about any of the indifidual champagnes that made them stand out. *yaaaaaawn* There was one that would maybe be OK with some food, but I won't rush out to buy it just to test that theory...

Let's just say I spat more than I swallowed... urgh :-/

My general experience with champagne is that it is a bit overrated and definitely overpriced - you rarely get what you pay for. As opposed to cava (from Spain), one of my personal favorites when it comes to sparkling wine. If you want to stick to French bubblies, try a Crémant de Bourgogne from Burgundy. I've found these are often tastier than champagne and you get more for what you pay for.

Now if only I could get some of the Haute Cabrière sparkling wines here... *sigh* ;-)

22.11.06

torture for two...

Try this one out sometime:

You lie on the mat, your partner straddles over you. Hold each other by the wrists. Alternate doing the following: your partner (still holding your wrists) lifts you up from the ground (sort of like a deadlift). You (still holding your partner's wrists) do a pull-up. Five times each. Immediately after do 10 push-ups. And 25 squats right after that. Then switch roles - your partner lies on the mat and you are straddled over your partner. Do that thing with the lifts/pull-ups again. And the push-ups again. And the squats again. Switch again. Continue doing this for 20 minutes. Try to get as may rounds in as possible.

Good fun :-)

15.11.06

congrats South Africa!

South Africa's parliament has voted to legalise same-sex weddings - the first African country to approve such unions...

"In breaking with our past... we need to fight and resist all forms of discrimination and prejudice, including homophobia."


The ruling was based on the constitution, which was the first in the world specifically to outlaw discrimination on the grounds of sexual preference.

9.11.06

and they wonder why kids are getting so damn fat...

regulations kill playgrounds

Fucking bureaucrats, politicians, and lawyers. And helicopter parents... don't think you're getting away with anything. Because it's your fault for suing in the first place when your little urchin scrapes his precious knee on the playground...

Neverfuckingmind that kids have been climbing and falling and getting scraped knees and stuff for generations with no problems for the most part... noooooooo, now we have to produce future generations of fat, uncoordinated, useless deadbeats with all those lovely health problems that only old people used to get... good going! Congratufuckinglations!

2.11.06

utterly impossible...

We learn lots of different defenses in Krav Maga. However, there is something you can never defend yourself against...


The guy who works in the reception area where we train has a puppy quite similar to the one shown in the link. It's not possible to walk past it without giving it a cuddle. It's not possible at all...

31.10.06

beak job

I was a bit careless during training, and got bopped in the beak. The impact hit my sports goggles at the right (wrong?) place, and now I have a nice cut and a purple bump where I should't have any of these...

Considering others have broken their beaks or noses or whatnot, I got off pretty easy ;-)

27.10.06

dropping a bit of weight...

Well, let me tell you about today's gym dumbass. Let's call him Too Close For Comfort, or TCFC for short...

I was doing shoulder presses when I noticed this guy suddenly stand next to my bench to do barbell curls, very close to me, at the same time I was doing my set of shoulder presses, even though there was more than enough floorspace within safe distances. Worse of all, he was so close that the end of the barbell could have crashed with my elbow had the timing been off...

However, timing was the least of anyone's problem. I have really screwey shoulders, and sometimes they (or more accurately, my left shoulder) cooperate when I do shoulder presses, sometimes they don't. Today was one of those non-cooperation days. Not fun when you have 14 kg dumbbells in each hand. So I ended up having to suddenly drop the left dumbbell...

I'll bet TCFC will be more careful the next time he finds a spot to do his barbell curls or whatever the fuck he decides to do in the gym. Though you'd think one would have more sense to avoid having to learn hard lessons in the first place...

Oh, and the fucktards who work at the gym fucked up royally this morning regarding who was going to work there and open up and stuff... so I was there at 6-ish as usual (opening time is 6:15) and gave up waiting for them to open up at 6:35... so no cardio this morning (my equivalent of a cup of coffee), which led to a bad mood most of the day... I found out they didn't open until 7... *sigh*

26.10.06

speak penguinese, and carry a big stick...

Tonight's training involved defenses against attacks with sticks (think things like baseball bat, umbrella, etc. in a real-life situation), and using a stick to defend against knife attacks, along with doing counterattacks with the stick. I was happy about this, as it had been ages since we've done anything with the sticks, and I was in the mood to play with knives...

We also did this lovely drill at the end of training. Tronds Helvete. You and your partner do three rounds each of the following: 15 pushups where your partner holds you by the ankles and pushes you around on the mat as you do each pushup, 25 situps where your partner stands over you with a large pillow that you have to punch twice after each situp, and 15 vertical leaps where you have to kick your partner with your knee. Twice. Did you catch the part where each person has to do three rounds of this? Good ;-)

24.10.06

not exactly samba...

Tonight's Krav Maga training was...not Krav Maga, but Brasilian Jiu-Jitsu. A BJJ instructor was invited to train our class, so we did a lot of cool groundwork stuff that could be useful for Krav, and some that are perhaps not so useful, as it leaves certain body parts that Krav Maga practitioners like to go after exposed... :-P There are lots of good escape moves in BJJ though; I hope I remember these...

I really enjoyed this session. I hope we do something like this at least once a "semester"...

And I'm going to be really sore tomorrow :-)

23.10.06

a helping igloo for the SA penguins - plus trip stuff

Here's a nifty article about helping African penguins with fiberglass igloos (perhaps burrow is more correct) - manmade habitats to provide suitable nesting conditions, in order to bring their population up...

According to the article, the penguin colony at Dyer Island is off-limits to anyone other than researchers. The colony at Robben Island is also off-limits from what I understand. That's OK - there are two other penguin colonies that are accessible to the public, for those interested in seeing these wonderful birds in the wild. So boyfriend of feitpingvin and I visited both of them while we were in the area (of course I had to see my relatives when I was in town! :)

One of the colonies is at Boulder's Beach near Simon's Town. The other one is at Betty's Bay. Boulder's Beach seems to be the more "popular" of the two, the one you read about in all the guidebooks and the such, the one all the tour busses go to. I thought the colony at Betty's Bay was nicer in general and more interesting. We were there late in the evening (as opposed to being at Boulder's in the middle of the day), which was a shame as I would have liked to stay there longer...

These penguins are great - totally to-die-for cute, especially the baby penguins. At both places, you walk along a boardwalk... Sometimes the penguins are on the boardwalk and start running away when you approach them; you hear their big webbed feet clomping on the boardwalk, and since they're oh-so-graceful on land, they're constantly stumbling, as if piss-ass drunk, over their feet, quickly picking themselves up and running away again... if you approach them slowly enough, they'll look at you, look down at the sand, wondering if they should stay put or hop down...

Other penguins are on the sand but near the boardwalk, staring at you... some are sleeping... some are preening... lots of action...

Some of them were moulting and looked kind of scruffy... Others liked to show off their fine fatty plumage... and others just liked to make noise... there's a reason why they're also called jackass penguins... they sound like a braying jackass... other interesting noises we heard were the squirting sounds of the penguins shitting :-P

And speaking of shit, a lot of penguins had shit all over their feathers... I think that if not careful enough, a tourist could easily get caught in the line of fire...

Cool penguin pictures coming when we're done going through them, fixing them up for uploading on some site or other, and actually uploading them on a site :-)

21.10.06

South African recipe - spiced pumpkin and tomato soup

This is a recipe from the cookbook Cape Town Food by Phillippa Cheifitz, ISBN 1 86872 716 5. It's very flavorful and hearty. Good stuff for a chilly autumn evening!

Verbatim from the cookbook (I didn't follow it 100% - used less oil and more garlic and spices):

What you need:
1 large onion, chopped
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp curry powder
1 fat clove garlic, crushed
1 kg peeled and diced pumpkin
5 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 - 1 cup buttermilk or coconut milk
1 400 g can copped tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

Gently cook the onion in the oil with some salt (if desired) until softened but not browned. Stir in the curry powder and garlic, then add the diced pumpkin, cover and cook for about 10 minutes. Pour in the stock, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes or until pumpkin is tender.

Purée with an electric hand blender until smooth. If serving cold, add enough buttermilk to make a suitable consistency. Stir in the tomatoes but do not purée. Check the seasonings and refrigerate.

If serving hot, reheat gently with coconut milk, and add the tomatoes. Check seasoning.

Garnish with a sprinkle of garam masala and chopped coriander leaves. Serve with poppadums.

Serves 8

20.10.06

early morning freaks...

I loathe gym talkers. You know, those people who come to the gym to socialize, not to exercise. Well, one such freak seems to have latched himself on me...

As some of you know, I train cardio at 6-ish in the morning, five mornings a week (except for when I'm sick or on holiday or something), when the gym opens. It's a nice way to start the day; when I do a good hard cardio session first thing in the morning, I end up with lots of energy all day. It's also nice that it's usually quiet and peaceful at the gym at that hour...

Until now?

I first encountered this freak Monday morning. I was in the middle of a sprint workout on the stationary bike and he took the bike next to mine and started talking to me. I ignored him. He started talking louder, thinking I couldn't hear him above the sound of all the cardio apparatuses, the music on the loudspeakers, my heavy panting, etc... I still ignored him, but it was getting harder to ignore him because he sounded like one of those annoying insects that get into your ear. Bzzzzzzzz...

After I was done with my workout, he started going on and on about how rude I was being. Uh, O RLY? I just glared at him, kind of like this, and left.

Fast forward to this morning. I was on the treadmill and guess who shows up? Ding-ding-ding! You win! It was indeed Mr. Freakshow! And, of course, of all the empty treadmills he could have hopped on, he hopped on the one next to mine. He blabbed something about how he was willing to forgive me for what happened on Monday. He also blabbed something about how he saw me on Wednesday but was still too angry with me to talk to me...

Uh?

Again, I finished my workout without saying a word to him. I'm sure I've ruined his weekend now. I'll be sure to bring some insect spray with me on Monday...

Oh, and speaking of treadmills, this is the second time I've been on a treadmill since the last time I tried to see if my Achilles was OK. I ran on Tuesday as well... both times doing intervals of 3 minutes running and 1 minute walking (where I walked and stopped to stretch), to make sure everything was OK, and to not "overload" anything. The Achilles seems to be dong better, but it (and my calf) seems to get "tight" after about 25-30 minutes of these intervals. I'm going to have to be more vigilant when it comes to (weights) exercises for my calves, as well as stretching...

16.10.06

Baboon "Gangs" Run Wild in Suburban South Africa

From National Geographic online: Baboon "Gangs" Run Wild in Suburban South Africa

When we were in the national parks, there were warning signs all over the place, telling us not to feed the baboons, that they're attracted by food and can get very aggressive, that there's a big fine if you're caught feeding the baboons... OK. No problem. We get it. A lot of people don't, and that's how things go very wrong. I've heard that the baboons can be a big problem in the parks - climbing into open car windows, attacking people having picnics, etc. I didn't realize the "baboon problem" extended so far...

Oh, no pictures of baboons or "no feeding" signs or anything else up yet, but we're working on it ;-)

13.10.06

BEE, the SA wine industry, and a plug for Bilton ;-)

I just read a very interesting article about black economic empowerment in South Africa and its relation to the wine industry in the Western Cape.

This article mentions a young woman by the name of Moira van de Merwe who works for Bilton Wines, near Stellenbosch. Among the many wineries boyfriend of feitpingvin and I visited, Bilton was one of the wineries that impressed us most. Bilton is a relatively new winery; their first product was launched in 1998. They started with red wines and only this year started producing whites. Their wines (at least the ones we tasted - more details/tasting notes will come in a later JE) are excellent. If it's available where you are, try it. You won't be disappointed. We bought a few bottles to take back to Oslo with us. I wish we could have taken more...

Anyway, Moira van de Merwe was the young lady who set up the tasting for us. (Well, I'm quite sure it was her; I had forgotten her name. So unless they have several young black women participated in the program in France, it has to be her.) I have nothing but highly positive things to say about her. She's friendly, charming, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable. Oddly enough though, of all things, the one thing I remember most about her was our chit-chat about how boyfriend of feitpingvin and I found it strange that you can't get beer in supermarkets in South Africa (I'll save that one for another JE) and her shock and pleasant surprise to be able to buy beer in the supermarkets when she arrived in France... beer chat in a top-notch winery. WTF, right? :-P

It was quite cool reading about her on the BBC. As for the last bit... I think that she has the right personality type, attitude, and knowledge to go around the world marketing or doing some kind of PR for Bilton Wines. I truly hope it works out for her. And that she comes to Norway with her stash first ;-)

12.10.06

roll over penguinette

There weren't that many people who showed up to Krav Maga training tonight, so the instructors took advantage of all the space we had in the training room to do tumbling drills - front rolls, front and back combinations, over (hop over and roll) and under (tuck your legs dammit) barriers, rolling towards an attacker and having to do a counter attack, only to roll towards another attacker and have to counterattack... good fun, though I'm still feeling kind of dizzy and my floaters are going crazy ;-)

Looks like I'm getting my groove back, though my shoulders are going to hurt tomorrow... :-/

10.10.06

as if going back to work after a holiday wasn't bad enough...

It's been three weeks since I've been to Krav Maga training. I had some kind of freaky cold and couldn't train the week before going to South Africa (I wrote some JEs about it in fact), and then the two weeks in South Africa where the primary activity was wining and dining the RoF...

Let's just say I felt the effects of that long absence, the wining and dining, and the lack of intense exercise :-/ Too bad I wasn't in proper shape for tonight's training, because we did a lot of sparring (boxing/kickboxing) tonight, something which I love doing. Top it off with coming down with something or other again; I suddenly started feeling feverish and my throat was getting really scratchy towards the end. Not good...

And I'll surely feel it all tomorrow ;-)

back from South Africa...

Proper trip report coming in the future...

Otherwise, report about the actual trip home...

21.9.06

well...

I tried doing some cardio this morning. After 30 minutes at an "easy" pace, I was feeling kind of dead. Usually on Tuesday and Thursday mornings I do 40-45 minutes of steady-state cardio, at a higher intensity than I was doing today, and I always feel refreshed and energized afterwards, not tired...

*sigh*

This means I'm still sick. It also means (most likely) no Krav Maga tonight either. This really sucks. I wanted to get in both workouts this week, as I'll be on vacation for the next 2 weeks, and then only hoped for tonight's workout... but no... :-( Of course if I feel better later on, I'll go, and if I feel like crap during the training I can always stop. But I'm not going to go if I'm feeling like crap in the first place... it's not worth making myself worse...

The all-around good news is that with all the hard training I do, and especially with sticking to a somewhat strict eating regimine since the beginning of August, I've lost all the flab I wanted to lose before this trip. (My eating and drinking habits had gotten way out of hand since spring, resulting in an out-of-control Ring of Fat, despite all the exercise I get.) It really wasn't that much of an effort either. My slightly deflated RoF is, however, not amused. But it'll get revenge. Click on restaurant names and the link to the menu on the restaurant page to get an idea of what I'll be stuffing the RoF with very soon... RoF will get its revenge and become bigger and stronger than ever before!

(And of course, it's back to The Program when I get home ;)

20.9.06

I want my high dammit!

My endorphine high, that is...

I'm doing a little better today but I'm still too sick to train. Being sick combined with not having that high I get when I do my early morning cardio is making me feel rather lethargic. I don't like feeling lethargic... :-(

I should be OK for tomorrow though...

How are you all doing?

19.9.06

*urk*

Not cool: waking up at 1 am drenched in sweat, with a slight fever and a nasty sore throat. Oh, and I sneezed my retina to death. Lovely.

Less cool: waking up at around 5:55 am (usual time actually) and still feeling like crap. It's the sore throat that's especially troublesome. It's kind of hard to breathe as well. There goes my morning workout :-(

And less cool than that: I may have to skip Krav Maga tonight. It all depends on whether or not I survive a day or work (and I can't really afford to not be here)...

I always seem to get something or other when the seasons change... that something or other decided to pick the worst possible time to show up...

*crunches on Vitamin C tablets*

14.9.06

The calm after the storm...

After more or less purely physical training since Krav Maga started in August, we finally had a "relaxed" training tonight, with lots of technique work. Sure, we did "stress" stuff at the end, but it wasn't as "stressful" as usual...

The technique stuff included lots of blocking work, meaning I'll have lovely bruised forearms to show off tomorrow ;-)

7.9.06

rumble!

Tonight's training was at a local park. It had rained a bit during the day, but from mid-afternoon, the rain stopped and it got nice and warmer than in the morning... great weather for outdoors exercise...

Anyway, we did some drills and learned some cool new combination techniques. In the end, we were in groups of 3 and then groups of 5 where it was 2 against 1 and 4 against 1 with "anything goes" fighting... good stuff... I wonder what the spectators (the other people in the park) were thinking ;-)

What's really nice about training in the park, besides the fresh air, is all that open space. Lots of room to run around, roll around, etc. Though I got rather muddy tonight. Good thing we have our own washer and dryer. Washers and dryers are not luxuries. They are absolute necesities. Don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise... (or I'll beat you up ;-)

Thursday's freak

I was innocently walking home from work...

freak: Yo baby what's up?!

tuxette: *looks around, sees random dodgy-looking people (walking past seedy pubs after all), shrugs, and continues home*

freak: *suddenly walking alongside of tuxette* Hi, howyuhdoin *takes puff of cigarette and blows some nasty smoke*

tuxette: get lost! *walks away, quickly*

freak: fucking racist!

tuxette: *thinking "so ok, he's African" but where did this racist shit come in? What's his fucking problem?*

fucking smoker!

*makes coughing choking noise*

Sheeeeeeesh...

6.9.06

let's get physical - the Achilles heel of the penguinette II

My Achilles tendon seems to be doing a lot better now. I managed to do my morning cardio on the elliptical machine yesterday without any pain or discomfort... a good thing as I'm really getting sick of the stationary bike. I also did a session this morning and attempted some interval stuff on it... grrmf, I think I'll stick to the bike for the interval stuff. Until I'm able to run properly again. I'll probably attempt some running/jogging this weekend and see how it goes with the tendon... I hope it goes well... I really miss running :-(

Last night's Krav Maga training was also quite tantalizingly physical (as with the training sessions last week)... In addition to noticing how much easier such sessions are due to all the high-intensity cardio I've been doing 5 early mornings a week, I've noticed that quite a few people are in rather poor shape, at least compared to the group last semester. Maybe because it's been a long summer... maybe because I'm in so much better shape now (doubt it)... it gets kind of annoying when they're too tired too early in the session to be proper training partners when we pair up to do drills or sparring or whatever...

Anyway, we did a lot of kicking drills and my Achilles was also quite OK with things. On the other hand, I managed to get my elbow fux0r'd a little bit during one of the rounds of kickboxing we did at the end... owie... :-(

Next training will be outdoors. Regardless of weather. Rain is forecasted. Blah...

1.9.06

Darn amateurs! Get off my mat!

It's damn annoying when we do defense against chokes maneuvers and your attacker doesn't even choke you properly. When you choke someone, you put your hands around their neck, not on their shoulders. Sheeesh.

Training was otherwise pretty good, though a bit tougher than last time. We did a lot of kick drills in the end, and I still feel like I'm wearing shoes made of cement blocks. Doing that session of SIT this morning probably didn't help much ;-)

31.8.06

pwn3'd!11!!1! lol!!!111!!!1!!!1!!

BWAHAHAHA! On my way to work this morning, I saw one of those damn accordion noise polluters at one of the street corners. Suddenly, a pair of Jehovah's Witnesses approached the sorry bastard, cornering him, and I guess talking to him about Jesus and Bibles and doomsday and stuff...

30.8.06

last night's wet t-shirt contest...

Yep... it's a new semester of Krav Maga, and a new gang of mighty manboobed meat monsters. It tends to hurt the eyes when the air conditioning in the training room is busted and everyone's (uniform) white t-shirt gets soaked through with sweat. Where's the brain bleach?

Otherwise, it was a great training session last night. We did lots of cool exercises, old and new, and had lots of fun. Both boyfriend of tuxette and I are now feeling the positive effects of all the hardcore condition training we've both been doing this month. It's kind of difficult to describe - we get "pleasantly tired" as opposed to "exhausted." I'm not sure about boyfriend of tuxette, but I could have gone on for another hour or so...

29.8.06

Privacy International's 2006 Stupid Security Competition

Send in your nominations for the Privacy International 2006 Stupid Security Competition!

The competition closes on October 31st, 2006. The award categories are:
  • Most Egregiously Stupid Award
  • Most Inexplicably Stupid Award
  • Most Annoyingly Stupid Award
  • Most Flagrantly Intrusive Award
  • Most Stupidly Counter Productive Award

27.8.06

SHIT!

We were going to have a nice bacalhau dish for dinner tonight, baked in our (well, boyfriend of feitpingvin's) Schlemmer-topf. After the food had been in the oven for a little while, we smelled something burning, and boyfriend of feitpingvin went to have a look.

"OH SHIT! GET OVER HERE NOW..."

I went quickly into the kitchen and looked in the oven. There was a big crack in the clay pot. Shit, shit, shit... Boyfriend of feitpingvin managed to take the pot out of the oven and hold it together, while I scooped the food into a boring stainless steel pot.

Yeah, the food is saved, but we're both in a foul mood now. We need a new Topf, and cleaning up the mess in the oven (the liquids that seeped out) is not going to be fun :-(

25.8.06

*growl*

Last night was the first Krav Maga training of the fall semester. Around 10-15 minutes before the session ended, one of the instructors suddenly commented that he was disappointed over the lack of growling... "this is Krav Maga, not ballet!"

*grrrrrr*

24.8.06

O RLY?

Some Kenyans blieve that the screech of an owl is a bad omen, that it is a sign that death will strike soon. However, this guy rears and protects owls for profit, profit profit...

It is interesting that he does not charge locals to see the owls, yet it makes sense - he wants the locals to love and appreciate the owls, not fear them. As one local quotes:
"I did not believe at first that it was possible that someone was rearing such birds," said Patrick Njagi, a Kenyan visitor.

"I had to come and satisfy my curiosity that someone is rearing them and not fearing death. Now I have seen it is possible."


22.8.06

gym freaks galore

Here we go yet again...

Gym freak #1 - Scent of a Skank: Yep, the Perfume Troll strikes again. I didn't see her. But I could smell that she had been there, marking her territory like a bitch in heat, "I'm cheap and easy and ready for you now!" I'm glad I didn't see her. I would have choked to death in the noxious cloud that was probably surrounding her... the cloud that just lingered and lingered...

Gym freak #2 - The Vulture: What the fuck? Is there a reason why you're circling my bench, freak? What? Do you want to use the bench or something? But you're too afraid to ask the mass monsters if you could share a bench with them? So you think you can intimidate me by circling around me like some kind of demented vulture? Do I look like a cadaver or something? If you want to use the bench...or was it the set of dumbells you wanted to use...JUST ASK! Or else get the fuck away from me... I might catch your freak cooties...

Gym freak #3 - Homeboy in a Hoodie: Excuse me, freak. Do you think wearing that hoodie (with the hood up of course), thick gold chain, and baggy sweatpants makes you look cool? Especially in the overheated (or was it under-air conditioned) gym? Think again. You look like a royal dumbass. Especially when your lifting technique sucks... and again, the intimidation body language shit doesn't work on me...

19.8.06

w00t! new running shoes!

Nice, shiny, clean-smelling running shoes! I can't wait to use them. Especially now that my Achilles heel has gotten better. I'll wait until Monday though...

Speaking of running, Marion Jones busted?

18.8.06

Friday freakshow

It's been a while since I've been accosted by so many freaks at once...

Gym freak #1: I was at the squat rack, doing some squats to see how my Achilles tendon was feeling. So I did a set of 6 "conservative" reps, and decided that it would be unwise to go heavier, but that I could do a few more sets just to stimulate my quads. As I was resting for my next set, some teenage boy (at least that's what he looked like) suddenly came up to the squat rack and started taking one of the plates off the bar.

"What do you think you're doing? I'm not finished!" I snapped at him.

"Oh, I didn't know you were using..."

Riiiiiight. You didn't know. As if it wasn't obvious that I was standing close enough to the bar to be able to get into squat position within a second or less...and I thought I was the blind one...

I gave him the Evil Death Glare. And then rolled my eyes and said "you can do sets between mine, but please put the weights back on because I'm ready for my next set."

He sulked, put the plate back on, and then skulked away. Whatever...

Gym freaks #2: there was this gang of guys there having some sort of "who can lift more" contest. And they were doing everything they could to draw attention upon themselves, especially when women were watching (one of them started doing lots of dumbell barbell curls really really fast when he caught me looking at him), but more so when they saw other guys lifting. If some other guy was doing something with say 30 kg dumbells, this freak gang had to do more... 32...or 35...always more... and grunt and brag and whatnot so that the whole fucking gym knew that they were lifting more than 30... "come on, it's only 32 kilos, you can do it!" And, of course, the rest of them had to surpass him and scream and shout about it... "look here, 35!"

Eeeeehh...

They seemed unfazed by all the "give me a fucking break" looks, eye rolls, head shaking, etc. they were getting...

Grocery store freak: It's been ages since some freak has commented on the food in my shopping basket. This time it was some frumpy middle-aged woman who seemed to be offended by my avocadoes.

"You know, avocadoes have a lot of fat in them! You shouldn't eat avocadoes!"

I glared at her. She didn't look like someone who should be lecturing me on what to eat and what not to eat. I looked into her shopping cart, full of Cola Light and cookies and diet ice cream and frozen pizza and lots of other shit, raised my eyebrow, and glared back at her...

"Right. And you're the expert on what to eat and what not to eat, are you?"

"I'm only trying to help! Most people don't realize how much fat is in avocadoes! You don't need to get snappy with me..."

"Uh, yeah. Trying to help. Sorry, but I'll stick to my avocadoes and get my healthy fats which, you know, are a part of a total healthy eating plan, if the alternative is to eat that crap you're buying and look like...you!"

That shut her up...

15.8.06

R.I.P. Blåmann

This was depressing... another one of the seals at Polaria, Blåmann, passed away this past Friday.

Makes me feel like crap for not going to see him at Polaria when I was up there in July... :-(

I hope they find out what happened to him and to Sassen... I hope that the rest of the seals live long, healthy, happy lives...

14.8.06

touched by His Noodly Appendage

The Flying Spaghetti Monster has touched Italian actress Sophia Loren with His Noodly Appendage, as she was voted the world's most naturally beautiful person. The Oscar-winning star says her secret is down to love of life and spaghetti.

She who eats spaghetti, shall be rewarded... always...

13.8.06

teenage mutant ninja zucchini

We did our annual cherry-picking trip at Ringvold Gård today and picked around 16,5 kg. cherries. These will be turned to liqueur and jam and maybe some baked goodies or something...

We also went to this farm and bought some lovely vegetables, including some killer mutant zucchini squash. These babies are bigger than my calves. Here's the proof... (OK, maybe not the world's best picture and lighting and stuff, but you get the idea)



Anyway, one of them was around 2,2 kg, and the other was around 2,4 kg. We had some of it tonight in a pasta dish, and I'll probably make some kind of moussaka-like thing (zucchini instead of aubergines) tomorrow. I'd also like to make some zucchini bread since it's been ages since I've had that...

Hope you all have had a lovely Sunday :-)

11.8.06

the Achilles heel of the penguinette

Yes, penguinettes have them, at least Achilles tendons... and this penguinette's Achilles tendon is starting to get a little bit sore from all that running and sprinting... bah...

I wouldn't say it's injured - just a little bit sore, the way muscles get sore - but I need to stop running for a little while and do a course of ice, anti-inflammatories, stretching, and alternative exercise, so that it doesn't turn into a nasty injury. Bah.

I also need new running shoes... I've pretty much run the ones I have out (I've had them for over a year and a half) and I'm not getting the proper support for my feet/legs that I need anymore... by the time it's payday, I should be ready to go shoe shopping...

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, the Little Toe of Doom has never had it better ;-)

Soooo... how are your feet doing today? Are they happy?

9.8.06

Oh my FSM! I've been doing it all wrong!

I've been wasting my time with all my fancy killer sprint workouts. I should have been doing the Vacunaut! After all, with the Vacunaut treatment, that area around my belly button will finally disappear! w00t!

Picture for posterity hehe...

8.8.06

Darn Kids! Get off my track!

46-year old Merlene Ottey has qualified for the women's 100m semifinal in the ongoing European Championships in athletics. She also broke her own over-45 class world record with a time of 11.41 during the qualification.

Does anyone else find it really weird she's running for Slovenia now?

7.8.06

I wanna freak I need to freak I am a freak

It's some kind of weird techno song that blasted over the loudspeakers at the gym both yesterday and today... though today it started playing right in the middle of an SIT sprint, and it caused me to snicker for some odd reason, ultimately fucking up completion of the sprint... blah ;-)

I did 7 bouts today. I'll go for 8 next time. Though I haven't really found any information as to the absolute maximum times, bouts, etc. I should be training. I don't want to overtrain; sprints are rather taxing on the body and even though I feel fine now, who knows how I'll feel in a few weeks. I'll probably max at 8 bouts and eventually up the speed (or lower the number of bouts) until I find out more information...

6.8.06

mmm... food...

Tonight's dinner - grilled skate wings with some grilled zucchini slices and a lovely salad...

The skate wings were interesting... quite different from the normal fare but rather tasty. They have a mild and pleasant flavor. And I found several interesting recipes online for the next time our fish monger has skate wings for sale...

I made the salad with shredded cabbage as a base and added sliced red bell pepper, diced mango, roughly chopped water chestnuts, and some salad onion. I made a dressing of olive oil (with a drop of sesame seed oil for extra taste), lime juice, garlic, and white pepper.

I made the same salad last night as well, to go with the whale steaks we grilled...

*burp*

4.8.06

what. the. fuck.

I hope that the one (or ones) who did this chokes to death on their next meal...

3.8.06

*groan*

Q: Why are you drinking that cocktail with a straw?

A: It's a sucker punch.

2.8.06

short sprint interval training

Also known as SIT...

I was playing around on the exrx site last night and found this (I usually don't look at the cardio section) and decided to try it this morning. It gives a good workout. It's nice to have this option to go along with the HIIT...

Here is an interesting study about the effects of SIT...

1.8.06

now this is one badass geezer...

fucking hell... no way I'm going to step on his lawn.. :-)

"...I took the bus home and washed the blood off me. Later I called the police and said that if a man came to the hospital that had been beaten up, I was the one who had done it. I told the police it wasn't nice, but I didn't regret it. I think it's appalling that you can't walk the streets in safety"


I wanna be like that when I get old hehe...

I love the smell of sweat in the morning...

My gym has finally gone back to regular opening hours (as opposed to summer hours) and I am able to go and do a cardio workout at 6 am-ish :-)

I have this love-hate relationship with cardio training. I generally hate it beyond belief, unless it's part of an intense Krav Maga session or through playing water polo or something. Something that distracts me from the fact that it's cardio. But I love doing plain, good old fashioned cardio first thing in the morning. It's pretty much the only time of day I can be bothered doing a long (45+ min) cardio workout, something I need more of considering my condition has gone way downhill since spring...

My dodgy knee has a lot to do with this, as it limited my ability to do as much and train as hard as I would have liked. The knee has gotten a lot better though, just one of those things that flares up every now and then, and it survived quite a bit of HIIT while I was up in Tromsø. If it can survive the hard sprints it can surely survive a leisurely 45 minute light run (10-11 km/h). Right? :-)

Otherwise, I've just been too damn lazy. But not anymore. The plan is to do 45+ minutes of cardio 5 mornings a week until Krav Maga starts up again, and then I'll go down to 3 mornings a week. Now I just have to figure out where I'll throw in the weights workouts ;-)

31.7.06

police sketches

Here's another picture of a wanted rapist (different one than the one I posted before). Imagine going into a dark alley or something and meeting an ugly-ass mug like that...

He also looks like he has the IQ of a used piece of toilet paper. And someone needs to give him a nose job... *warms up Little Toe of Doom*..

30.7.06

gourmet orgy

We had boyfriend of feitpingvin's gourmet orgy birthday celebration at Oslo Spiseforretning.

Aperitif: Bellavista Cuvée Brut (Italia)

First course: roulade of cod and salmon served with salad and a so-good-you-want-to-lick-the-plate creamy herb dressing.

First course wine: Chablis Cuvée LC 2002 La Chablisienne (Burgund, France)

Second course: baked halibut served with cauliflower puree, sugar peas and turnips.

Second course wine: Pazode Senorans Albariño 2004 (Rias Baixas, Spania)

Main course: Hmm... not sure about the English name of the cut of beef - sirloin I think (ytrefilet in Norwegain). Oven-roasted and served rare, nice and tender. It was served with baked mushrooms, green beans, tiny new potatoes, and a nice sauce made from the reduced juices of the meat and roesmary.

Main course wine: Valpolicella Classico Superiore Cipasso 2004, (Veneto, Italia)

Cheese: Three kinds of local cheeses - a lovely tilseter, a mild and creamy brie, and a bleu (which boyfriend of feitpingvin got since I'm allergic to blue cheese unless it's been cooked). All served with apple compote and a nut bread.

Wine for cheese: Dönnhoff Riesling 2004 (Nahe, Germany)

Dessert: Anise-marinated strawberries (yum) and a lemon fromage. With a big thin cookie shaped in a ring. To symbolize the Ring of Fat, of course...

Dessert wine: Saracco Moscati d'Asti 2005 (Piemonte, Italia)

29.7.06

jammin'

I made loads of strawberry jam and raspberry jam last night. Yum yum...

28.7.06

wtf - spray your troubles away?

According to tonight's news report on NRK, an average of 1 rape per day has been reported in Oslo this summer. Most committed by strangers, apparently. I'd like to speculate as to who the perps are, lest I piss off the PC crowd...

Anyway...

As a result, sales of self-defense sprays has skyrocketed.

Bloody hell.

I'll bet the majority of those carrying these sprays will have no idea what to do (i.e. what to really do) if confronted with a situation. Especially when they're drunk and confronted with a situation...

Are they willing to use it, and do they have it readily available? Do they know the risk factors involved, especially the risks to themselves? Have they modified their behavior as to avoid a situation in the first place?

I doubt it.

Thinking that they can continue with high-risk behaviors because they now have the magic spray that will keep them safe, they will discover the hard way that it takes more than magic spray to make self-defense work...

27.7.06

heh... so much for that last post ;-)

Well, it looks like Landis did test positive. I guess everyone got what they wished for. We'll see what happens with the B-sample...

and so it begins...again...

This bit of news, combined with this bit of news, makes for great gossip material. Did Landis dope himself to Tour de France victory?

This whole thing with accusing anyone who wins any event (not just in cycling) is somewhat disturbing, and rather annoying. Why is cheating automatically assumed, each and every time?

boyfriend's birthday today :-)

Happy birthday, boyfriend of feitpingvin!

26.7.06

angry rant time

Well, to follow up on an old post from Slashdot... again all this talk about how women should be careful, criticisms against the Minister of Justice telling women to carry on as usual, and even a pic and description of one of the suspects (is it me or does he look like he has an IQ of 12?)...

My reaction to all of this is extreme anger. My blood is boiling. How dare these asshats ruin things for the good people of Oslo. And why should I have to be the one adjusting my habits and such for the sake of a bunch of waste-of-space twatballs?

Don't mess with penguinettes when they're angry. As in "deadly green laser beams shooting out of the evil eye" angry.

I for one will not change my habits. For starters, I already take all the "necessary precations" so I really don't need to. And if someone decides to try anything on me anyway, then they are going to have the face the consequences of their dumbass actions. I am ready and willing to cause permanent damage. In ways they could never imagine. So they better fucking watch out. I'm not putting up with their shit...

Though in case this were to happen though, I'm sure the pathetic bastards will probably be going to boo-hoo-hooey-hoo to everyone, saying how I was too violent against them (even though their own MO is equally violent), that it's a racist attack because they're Eastern European or Dumfukistani or whatever, and so on... I'm sure Cuntface Krekar's sleazeball lawyer would be helping them right away... blah...

25.7.06

back from Tromsø

I'll try to get better about mirroring my slashdot stuff here.

It's bloody hot in Oslo. Blah ;-)

14.6.06

The plump penguinette returns...

Looks like I'm back on this site. I deleted my old stuff and am getting a nice fresh start...