Food Art: Taglioni Violi, food photography by Alessandro Boscolo Agostini

Published by Thursday, May 23, 2013 Permalink 0

 Food Art: Taglioni Violi, food photography by Alessandro Boscolo Agostini

 

Bio of Alessandro Boscolo Agostini

Bilingual English/Italiano

My first love for photography started with a little theft: as a little boy I stole my father’s Vöiglander and I started taking pictures on my own, just using my instinct. At that time my father’s camera seemed to me the best camera possible in the whole world, until I reached junior high school and I gave it up for a Bencini all my own. But my little theft came all back to me; my girlfriend to whom I had lent my camera never gave it back to me: that can be considered petty theft, no?

Growing up, I robbed again: in high school I stole time I might have devoted to photography and dedicated myself to my other passion, music. I studied drums and played jazz music. But it was just an infatuation, because I went back to my first love and never left it again. And as a pledge of love, I gave up my history studies in college, causing great distress to many people, but not to myself.

Today, I rob with no qualms, and I confess it with no shame. My spoils are my sensations, emotions, lines, colours, compositions: I catch everything that stops in front of my camera, I catch it with a click to close it in a graphic cage. It doesn’t matter if its a catalogue or a magazine. What I’m really interested in is the look, my view of the world. In the millions of images that pass in front of my eyes every day, that go on around me, that chase me in my silence. For this reason I  photograph subjects of any kind and still do it every day without specializing in anything in particular. From a luxury hotel suite, to the sexy transparencies of Murano glass. From art exhibitions to a ballet. From a golf course to actors on a stage. The list can go on and on, while this bio must finish here. I hope that I haven’t once more been a thief, that I haven’t taken up to much of your time. If this was the case, please don’t report me to the police, because I will give myself immediately up: I’m Alessandro Boscolo Agostini!

Il mio amore per la fotografia ha inizio con un furto: da piccolo rubai la Vöiglander di mio padre e cominciai a scattare così, d’istinto. All’epoca quella mi sembrava la macchina fotografica più bella del mondo, almeno fino a quando, in prima media, non la tradii per una Bencini tutta mia. Ma il contrappasso per il piccolo delinquente che ero arrivò molto presto, perché una fidanzatina a cui la prestai, non me la restituì mai: di fatto, anche quello fu un piccolo furto! Crescendo, ho rubato ancora: ai tempi del Liceo ho sottratto tempo alla passione per la fotografia dedicandomi per alcuni anni al jazz e allo studio della batteria, altro mio grande amore. Ma è stata solo una gran bella bionda di passaggio, perché alla fine sono tornato dalla mia “vecchia” per non lasciarla più. Anzi, come pegno d’amore, per lei ho mandato a quel paese gli studi storici con sommo dolore di parecchie persone, ma non certo il mio. Oggi, lo confesso, rubo senza più sensi di colpa. Il mio bottino sono sensazioni, emozioni, linee, colori, composizioni: ciò che si ferma davanti al mio obiettivo lo faccio mio, lo catturo con un click, magari per rinchiuderlo in una gabbia grafica. Non importa se è la gabbia di un catalogo oppure quella di una rivista. A me interessa lo sguardo, il mio sguardo sul mondo. Sui miliardi di immagini che ogni giorno attraversano la mia vita, le scorrono intorno, mi seguono in silenzio. Per questo ho fotografato di tutto e continuo a farlo, senza scegliere di dedicarmi a un settore soltanto. Perché tutto può essere immagine, una buona immagine. Da una suite di un hotel di lusso, alle trasparenze seducenti di un vetro di Murano. Da una mostra d’arte a uno spettacolo di danza. Da un campo da golf, agli attori su un set di un film. L’elenco potrebbe continuare, mentre questo scritto si chiude qui. Spero di non aver compiuto l’ultimo furto di questa storia, ossia di avervi rubato troppo tempo. Se fosse così, non denunciatemi, perché mi costituisco subito: sono Alessandro Boscolo Agostini!

 

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Geneva and Lausanne: Sustainable Living Resources in Switzerland

Published by Tuesday, May 21, 2013 Permalink 0

Geneva and Lausanne: Sustainable Living Resources in Switzerland

This is a new list for sustainable living in Geneva and Lausanne and we’ll be adding to it and updating it on a regular basis. We will extend it to other French-speaking cities as we add to the list.

Free WiFi in Geneva and Lausanne

 

 

 

GENEVA

The city of Geneva is in the process of setting up free WiFi hotspots in and around Geneva, referred to as “GeSpots”. The project is a long-term project, but terminals are already available at the locations marked in green. Click here to see the map.

LAUSANNE

Free WiFi hotspots are available in the following locations in Lausanne: Saint-François, Riponne, Flon, Palud, Montbenon, Navigation, Port d’Ouchy and at the Service des Automobiles automobile registration and inspection office and the Blécherette aerodrome.

Farmers and Open-air Markets

Sandrine Chapuis’ own mesclun, mixed greens from hills of Geneva

 

 

 

 

 

GENEVA

This site lists all the markets by day. A handy map is included with each listing so you can see where it is located in Geneva.

LAUSANNE

The Marchés Lausannois site lists the weekly markets:

Downtown/Center of Town Markets

Wednesday and Saturday, 8 a.m. to 2:30 a.m.
In downtown pedestrian streets: agricultural produce and products
On Place de la Riponne: bakery, butcher, fowl, mushrooms and non-food products

Nettles

 
 
 
 

Marché de Chauderon / Chauderon Market

Thursday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Flea market

Marché du boulevard de Grancy / Boulevard de Grancy Market

Monday and Thursday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Marché des Chômeurs

Thursday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Place de la Riponne: flea market and miscellaneous other goods

 

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Food Art: Tiramisù, food photography by Alessandro Boscolo Agostini

Published by Tuesday, May 14, 2013 Permalink 0

 

Food Art: Tiramisù, food photography by Alessandro Boscolo Agostini

Bio of Alessandro Boscolo Agostini

Bilingual English/Italiano

My first love for photography started with a little theft: as a little boy I stole my father’s Vöiglander and I started taking pictures on my own, just using my instinct. At that time my father’s camera seemed to me the best camera possible in the whole world, until I reached junior high school and I gave it up for a Bencini all my own. But my little theft came all back to me; my girlfriend to whom I had lent my camera never gave it back to me: that can be considered petty theft, no?

Growing up, I robbed again: in high school I stole time I might have devoted to photography and dedicated myself to my other passion, music. I studied drums and played jazz music. But it was just an infatuation, because I went back to my first love and never left it again. And as a pledge of love, I gave up my history studies in college, causing great distress to many people, but not to myself.

Today, I rob with no qualms, and I confess it with no shame. My spoils are my sensations, emotions, lines, colours, compositions: I catch everything that stops in front of my camera, I catch it with a click to close it in a graphic cage. It doesn’t matter if its a catalogue or a magazine. What I’m really interested in is the look, my view of the world. In the millions of images that pass in front of my eyes every day, that go on around me, that chase me in my silence. For this reason I  photograph subjects of any kind and still do it every day without specializing in anything in particular. From a luxury hotel suite, to the sexy transparencies of Murano glass. From art exhibitions to a ballet. From a golf course to actors on a stage. The list can go on and on, while this bio must finish here. I hope that I haven’t once more been a thief, that I haven’t taken up to much of your time. If this was the case, please don’t report me to the police, because I will give myself immediately up: I’m Alessandro Boscolo Agostini!

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Ethical Coffee: How far can one go to suit customers and remain ethical?

Published by Tuesday, May 14, 2013 Permalink 0

When Ethics and Business Meet

When you choose a coffee shop, do you think about ethics? How far are you willing to go to remain ethical and natural? Should it be natural pure cane sugar, recyclable cups and napkins, and ethical coffee beans, or can you throw in a little artificial sugar and refined sugar so that everybody is happy? What are your thoughts?

These are just some of the questions raised by Chris MacDonald on Canadian Business.

 

Roasted coffee beans Español: Granos de café tostado (natural). Bahasa Indonesia: Biji kopi alami yang telah disangrai. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Roasted coffee beans Español: Granos de café t...

 

 

 

 

 

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Food Vocabulary: What’s a Femivore?

Published by Monday, May 13, 2013 Permalink 0

by The Femivore’s Dilemma

Are you a Grist? This word was recently added to the Urban Dictionary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Origin of the Term “Femivore”

The word was coined by Peggy Orenstein in her essay “The Femivore’s Dilemma” for today’s New York Times Magazine, says Natural News, and is obviously inspired by the term “locavore.”

Educated career women, or “femivores”, all over the U.S. are choosing to give up their careers and go back to the farm (sometimes an urban farm) and back to the kitchen — often the same women who refused to take anything even vaguely similar to a Home Economics class, much less a class in agriculture. DIY, raising chickens and gardening are back, and there is an abundance resources available on the Internet for those who are new at it offering detailed how-to’s and recipes for all of it, with popular DIY sites such as Mother Earth News, Middleground Farm, and Mother Earth News. Femivores often reach out from their newly chosen isolation through blogs and social networks, and share their discoveries, successes and failures with other femivores, such as writer Esmaa Self on Middleground Farm or “backyard eggs”.

This became the subject of a heated debate a few weeks ago when Michael Pollan’s book came out. On Is Michael Pollan a sexist pig? Emily Matchar questioned whether Pollan was a “sexist pig” in saying “we need to get back in the kitchen,” since “American women cook 78 percent of dinners, make 93 percent of the food purchases, and spend three times as many hours in the kitchen as men.”

 

 

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Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, May 10, 2013

Published by Friday, May 10, 2013 Permalink 0

Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, May 10, 2013

by Simón de Swaan

A good cook is the peculiar gift of the gods. He must be a perfect creature from the brain to the palate, from the palate to the finger’s end.–Walter Savage Landor

Walter Savage Landor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walter Savage Landor was an English writer and poet who lived from 1775–1864. He wrote in both English and Latin, but much preferred Latin, which put him at a disadvantage in terms of readership. His best known works were the prose Imaginary Conversations, “five volumes of imaginary conversations between personalities of classical Greece and Rome: poets and authors; statesmen and women; and fortunate and unfortunate individuals” (Wikipedia), and the poem “Rose Aylmer,” but the critical acclaim he received from poets and reviewers such as John Milton, T.S. Eliot, and John Butler Yeats was not matched by public popularity.

 

 

 

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Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, May 9, 2013

Published by Thursday, May 9, 2013 Permalink 0

Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, May 9, 2013

by Simón de Swaan

It is true that I live almost entirely on bivalves.  I prefer them as they are – and I think that oysters au naturel are as much a mental as a material enjoyment: you are eating the whole ocean.–Isak Dinesen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Karen von Blixen-Fineck was a Danish writer who wrote principally under the pseudo name Isak Dinesen — but also under the names Osceola and Pierre Andrézel — in Danish, French and English. She was married to her Swedish second cousin, the . She is best known for her book Out of Africa about her time living on her coffee plantation in the hills of Kenya, and for her short story “Out of Africa,” both of which were adapted into Academy Award-winning films.

 

 

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Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, May 8, 2013

Published by Wednesday, May 8, 2013 Permalink 0

Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, May 8, 2013

by Simón de Swaan

What a flavor (oysters) have – mellow, coppery, with almost a creaminess when you chew and analyze. I drank some good beer with them and floated on a gastronomically sensual cloud.–James Beard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

James Andrew Beard was an American chef, cookbook writer, cooking teacher and television celebrity. Beard became active in the culinary community in New York soon after World War II, going on to become a true culinary reference in the United States. He helped Americans discover, identify and define their culinary heritage through his travels, teaching, and work, and through some 20 cookbooks, about half of which are still in print. His lively and sometimes eccentric personality made him somewhat of a celebrity, but his true measure lies in “his vast culinary knowledge; they are the measure of the times, too. The James Beard collection is a slice of American history. Written between 1940 and 1983, the books tell us through the language of food what we had and what we longed for, who we were and whom we hoped to become,” said Alexandra Zohn and Peggy Grodinsky in James Beard (1903–1985): The Complete Works.

His work lives on through the Beard Foundation which continues to provide culinary education and encourage excellence in American cuisine.

 

  • Snapshots with Chefs at the 2013 James Beard Foundation Awards
  • Blue Hill Tops James Beard Food Awards, Chef Title Split – Bloomberg
  • And the 2013 James Beard winners are …
  • Dan Barber’s Blue Hill wins top James Beard Foundation award
  • Beards name ChopChop top food publication of 2013
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Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, May 7, 2013

Published by Tuesday, May 7, 2013 Permalink 0

Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, May 7, 2013

by Simón de Swaan

Almost every person has something secret he likes to eat.— M.F.K. Fisher

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher was a preeminent American food writer. She was also a founder of the Napa Valley Wine Library. She wrote some 27 books, including a translation of The Physiology of Taste by Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, an authoritative classic about eating as a sensory experience. Two volumes of her journals and correspondence came out shortly before her death in 1992, Stay Me, Oh Comfort Me: Journals and Stories, 1933-1941.

 

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Simon de Swaan of Simon Says is Back! Daily Food Quote, May 6, 2013

Published by Monday, May 6, 2013 Permalink 0

Simon de Swaan of Simon Says is Back! Daily Food Quote, May 6, 2013

by Simón de Swaan

Bad French cuisine is perhaps the most unfortunate on earth.–Craig Claiborne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Craig Claiborne was an American restaurant critic, food journalist and book author. A long-time food editor and restaurant critic for The New York Times, he was also the author of numerous cookbooks, including New York Times Cookbook, a great American classic.  Click here to listen to an audio interview with him.

 

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