Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Ingredients that I use everyday for making oatmeal


Nothing terribly exciting here, just the ingredients that I use each morning to make oatmeal for breakfast. The Boy loves his oatmeal, so we tend to have it pretty often.

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Satay chicken with garlic spiral pasta


As you can tell from the previous post, this dinner was really a "what have I got in the cupboard" dinner. I scrounged for what was around and then cooked up something. I'm also pleased that it turned out to be very tasty (I think the seasoning might have helped).

Here's what I did ...

For the satay chicken: (note I've rounded off the quantities since I was left with bits and pieces in the fridge)

Ingredients:
  • 1 jar Kan Tong peanut sauce (or any other peanut sauce will do)
  • 1 green capsicum cut into bit size squares
  • 1 onion cut into bite size pieces and separated
  • 1 large carrot sliced in about 1.5mm pieces
  • 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
  • 4 pieces of chicken thigh cut into bite size pieces
  • Peanut or olive oil for cooking
  • Salt for seasoning
  • Chili flakes and pepper for spice (optional)

Instructions:
  • Cut up the ingredients into the appropriate size pieces
  • Warm up a frying pan or wok and add oil
  • When oil is slightly warm but not smoking, add garlic and cook slightly (do not brown)
  • Add capsicum, carrot and onion and cook gently for 3 or 4 minutes, until cooked but still crunchy. The onion should not be translucent, if it is, you have overcooked it
  • Remove vegetables from the wok
  • Add a little more oil
  • Put in chicken and cook thoroughly
  • When chicken is cooked, add vegetables back into wok
  • Pour in peanut sauce and bring to boil
  • Season to taste and serve

For the spiral pasta: (I made pasta because I did not have any rice in the pantry)

Ingredients:
  • A quantity of spiral pasta (whatever the amount you think you are going to eat)
  • 3 cloves of garlic minced
  • 3 tablespoons peanut oil (I used this to go with the peanut sauce rather than olive oil)
  • Salt to season

Instructions:
  • Boil water with some salt in it
  • Put spiral pasta into boiled water for 9 minutes (that should cook it till it's al dente)
  • When pasta is 2 minutes away from cooking, heat up a pan
  • Put oil and garlic in pan with a little salt to season and cook gently, do not brown or burn the garlic
  • When pasta is cooked, drain pasta, put into pan with garlic and oil
  • Toss pasta in pan till it's covered with the oil and garlic evenly
  • Serve with satay chicken

This turned out to be a very delicious meal and I have to say that surprised me considering I had just thrown it together from whatever was left in the pantry and fridge.


© This work is copyrighted to Invest-Ex and Destiny’s Fortunes Pty Ltd

Monday, January 30, 2012

Some of the ingredients for tonight's dinner


We were rather low on ingredients for dinner for the night after being away and not having done any serious grocery shopping in a while. We had planned grocery shopping for the next day.

Scrounging around in the pantry I found a jar of Kan Tong Peanut Sauce and some spiral pasta. In the fridge there was garlic, half an onion, some rather sad carrots and 3/4 of a green capsicum. The freezer had some frozen chicken thighs. I decided this was enough for a rather hodge podge chicken satay dinner with some spiral pasta since we did not have any rice in the pantry either.

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Nuts about breakfast


There really isn't that much one can say about peanut butter on toast besides the fact that it's yummy! I don't have it as often as I would like because The Boy has a preference for oatmeal and I usually make that for the both of us.

This one is rather simple really ... toast bread (not to brown) and apply peanut butter on bread in a nice thick layer. I generally slather it on very generously. The thicker the better.

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Saturday, January 28, 2012

Happy Chocolate Cake Day!!!

In the continuing spirit of rather odd holidays (which I adore and totally works with my sense of humor) today is Chocolate Cake Day.


It is just about one of the most perfect holidays that anyone can conceive, in my mind, especially for the chocolate lover in me.


Here is what the Internet has to say about it:

When : Always January 27th
Chocolate Cake Day is a a chocolate lovers delight, and a day to eat cake. Why this a day to "bake your chocolate cake....and eat it, too!"
On this day, a white or yellow cake will not do. Nor, will part chocolate, part white suffice. It must be chocolate, all chocolate. You can make milk chocolate, dark chocolate, fudge, or any other type of chocolate cake.
The only reference to Chocolate Day on the Internet is from Ecard and calendar websites. This might lead you to conclude that this as a day for(and by) the Ecard companies. But, we know better. This day is for you, and all chocolate lovers.
There are three objectives of Chocolate Cake Day: To bake a chocolate cake. To decorate a chocolate cake. And, to eat a chocolate cake. Of course, if you are to busy to bake or decorate a cake, then just eating a chocolate cake will certainly do!  

And I certainly cannot leave you without a recipe to a lovely chocolate cake just in case you feel inspired to bake on this most appropriate of days. :-)

Here's a RECIPE for a lovely, rich, chocolate cake:

Ingredients (serves 8):
  • 200g good-quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped
  • 250g unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups (330g) caster sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cups (300g) plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1/2 cup almond meal
  • 1/3 cup good-quality cocoa powder, sifted

Instructions:
  • Preheat the oven to 160°C. Grease and line the base and sides of a 23cm springform cake pan.
  • Place chocolate and 60g of the butter in a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water (don't let the bowl touch the water). Stir occasionally until melted, then set aside to cool.
  • Place the sugar and remaining butter in an electric mixer and beat until pale and fluffy, then beat in the vanilla extract. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition, until just combined. Beat in the cooled chocolate mixture.
  • In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate, then add the almond meal. In a third bowl, combine the cocoa powder and 2/3 cup (160ml) of boiling water. Gradually fold the dry ingredients into the chocolate mixture, alternating with the cocoa mixture, until all the ingredients are combined.
  • Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake in the oven for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly, then remove the collar of the pan and cool completely.
  • If you wish to fill the cake, carefully cut it into 3 layers horizontally. Place the bottom layer on a serving plate, then use a spatula to spread with half the whipped chocolate filling. Place the middle layer on top, and spread with remaining filling. Place the top slice onto the cake and carefully pour over the glaze, letting it drip down the sides. Allow half an hour for the glaze to set before cutting.


I never do anything different when it comes to baking because I find it always helps (me) to follow the instructions exactly. The few times I've messed around with the recipe things have not turned out so well.

Yum ... chocolate ....


© This work is copyrighted to Invest-Ex and Destiny’s Fortunes Pty Ltd

Friday, January 27, 2012

Happy Australia Day!!!


To all the Aussies that I know - friends, family and colleagues - a very Happy Australia Day to you.


I hope you have a wonderful day celebrating - a shrimp on the barbee, perhaps? Some fun in the sun, spent on the beach? (Assuming there is sun where you are - we have been having rain all day!).


I've been an Australian for about 12 years now and I'm grateful that this country has accepted me into it's fold. For the most part, I do think of myself as an Australian and I'm making the transition to supporting the Aussie sports teams when they play (although I confess to a fondness for a certain Swiss tennis player!)

For those of you who do now know what Australia Day is all about, here's what Wikipedia says about it: (I've just copied this directly from Wikipedia, so I've left the links intact).

Australia Day (previously known as Anniversary Day, Foundation Day, and ANA Day)[1] is the official national day of Australia. Celebrated annually on 26 January, the date commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788 and the proclamation at that time of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of New Holland.[2]
Although it was not known as Australia Day until over a century later, records of celebrations on 26 January date back to 1808, with the first official celebration of the formation of New South Wales held in 1818. It is presently an official public holiday in every state and territory of Australia and is marked by the presentation of the Australian of the Year Awards on Australia Day Eve, announcement of the Honours List for the Order of Australia and addresses from the Governor-General and Prime Minister. With community festivals, concerts and citizenship ceremonies the day is celebrated in large and small communities and cities around the nation. Australia Day has become the biggest annual civic event in Australia.[3]
The date is controversial to some Australians, particularly those of Indigenous heritage, leading to the use of alternate names, such as Invasion Day and Survival Day. Proposals have been made to change the date of Australia Day, but these have failed to gain widespread public support.


If you ever get a chance to visit this wonderful country, with it's blue skies, lovely beaches and friendly people, I hope you grab it. It will certainly be an experience. Many of our friends have come to visit or work for a few years only to move over permanently with the intention of retiring here.


© This work is copyrighted to Invest-Ex and Destiny’s Fortunes Pty Ltd

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Garlic Sautéed Broccoli ... or any other vegetable that takes your fancy

I always like to serve something green and vegetable-like with my meals, be it at home with The Boy on a night in, or when I'm doing a dinner party and serving a big meal to the boys or any other guests.

Green stuff is good for you!!!

Depending on the meal, I either put together a green leafy salad with a vinaigrette dressing (post link from rissotto post) or a simple steamed or sautéed vegetable dish. I don't do fancy salads or vegetable dishes because I'm not serving them as a main meal themselves. If I were doing that the dishes would be different.

Steamed vegetables is easy, 'cos all you do it steam it, but just make sure that you don't over-steam and end up with mushy vegetables. I've done that before and let me tell you - it is not nice. I usually do a combo of broccoli, carrots and if in season, asparagus and / or snow peas. Sometimes, I just do steamed broccoli and call it a day. I've talked about steaming vegetables here (post boiling veggie link).

So, sautéed vegetables. Green beans are a favorite, as is broccoli. It really doesn't matter the vegetable, so long as they are sturdy enough to survive the sautée-ing. I've used snow peas, green beans, broccoli, asparagus and a few others too.


Here's the RECIPE:

Ingredients:
  • Green vegetable of your choice, amount of your choice
  • Garlic in copious quantities or just a little bit, depending on how much you like garlic, finely chopped
  • Olive oil
  • Pinch of salt

Instructions:
  • Heat fry pan with olive oil
  • Put in garlic and sautée gently for a few minutes
  • Add in vegetable and continue to sautée for 7 to 10 minutes until cooked, stirring regularly
  • Serve hot

That's it! Really!!! It's that simple. When you're doing a complicated main meal, a simple vegetable side is what best, to compliment, not to overtake the main.

Oh! And don't overcook the vegetables or they will burn and turn rubbery.

How do you feel about garlic? Love it? Like it? Hate it? A little or a lot?

© This work is copyrighted to Invest-Ex and Destiny’s Fortunes Pty Ltd

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Kong Hei Fatt Choy!!! Happy Lunar New Year of the Dragon

Today, January 23rd 2012 is the Lunar New Year. That's being very correct. In my family, we say Happy Chinese New Year or "Kong Hei Fatt Choy", which translated literally means "Wishing you great prosperity". The Chinese are big on prosperity and fortune and luck, and all other things which involve making more money. That's basically the sum total of the good wishes that abound during this time of the year.


This is also the year of the Dragon, more specifically the year of the Water Dragon. It's also The Boy's year 'cos he is a Water Dragon. Most auspicious for him. I hope this means his year will be tremendous and great things will come. :-)


Chinese New Year (CNY) usually runs for 30 days and celebrations start on the night before the 1st day of CNY with a family Reunion Dinner. This involves the whole family congregating for a meal at the home of the oldest or most senior member of the family. It usually includes a lot of food, many of them with very auspicious sounding names like "Hou See Fatt Choy" which means "good things, prosper greatly". The dish involved "Hou See" which is Chinese for oysters and "Fatt Choy" which is a kind of seaweed.

Reunion Dinner at The Sister's home in London

The 1st day of CNY involves visiting with family, usually "going home" to the parents' home (on the male's / husband's side of the family) and paying our respects. Red packets filled with a token amount of money as a symbol of good luck given by the married members of the family to the children and other unmarried members of the family. These are also given to friends who are visited or who visit during CNY.

The 2nd day of CNY is usually a vegetarian day. This means the first meal of the day to "Hoy Leen" which means to "open the new year" is vegetarian. I must confess I do not know the symbolism and reason for the vegetarian food on the day. This is also the day for visiting the female's or wife's side of the family to pay respects to the grandparents on that side of the family.

Some traditions that I remember growing up during CNY include not cutting your hair until after the 2nd day of CNY because if you did it before, you'd cut away all your luck. Same went with sweeping with brooms and washing the hair - both involved getting rid of your luck and you did not want that. I remember The Mother the night before the 1st day of CNY going around the house and hiding all the brooms in the house after we came home from our grandmother's house from the Reunion Dinner.

These days, since the passing of The Paternal Grandmother, many of the uncles and other relatives moving away to other countries, CNY is a much quieter affair, usually celebrated on a much lower key that it used to be. This year we had an early Reunion Dinner at The Parents' house prior to their trip to the UK to visit The Sister and The Nephew (mostly it's to visit The Nephew, who is also Grandchild Number One).


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Sunday, January 22, 2012

Easy is good ... and so is roasted pork belly

I think I went on a cooking overload when I did 3 dinner parties in 7 days - Wednesday night, Friday night and Tuesday night. I don't recommend it unless you are a professional chef and are used to the hours and the heat in the kitchen.

After planning the menus and cooking on Wednesday and Friday night, I was a little lost at what to cook for Tuesday night. Fortunately, I had suggested roasted pork belly at a different night and so the main was set. Then The Boy requested truffle mashed potatoes to go with the pork belly, and I threw in some green stuff just 'cos it's good for you.

The menu turned out like this:

Starter was a Morrocan Vegetable Soup (I'll write about this another time), followed by Roasted Pork Belly, Truffle Mashed Potatoes and Garlic Sautéed Broccoli for main. Dessert was courtesy of Angelo, so all I had to do was provide homemade ice cream as an accompaniment - Vanilla and Caramel.


Angelo, one of the boys, is a particular fan of pork belly. In fact, he told us this story (I do not recommend anyone do this!) of how he found a pâtisserie that served a pork belly and brie baguette that was delicious, in fact so delicious that he ate it twice a day, everyday for 3 weeks straight. At the end of the 3 weeks, his blood pressure was through the roof. The moral of this story? Too much of a good thing can be bad for you!!

Anyway, Angelo asked if the pork belly was easy to make and could he do it himself. I told him that yes, it was super easy to make and explained it to him at the dining table while we ate. He was surprised at how easy the whole thing was.


Here's the RECIPE for roasted pork belly:

Ingredients
  • 1 slab of pork belly according to number of people to be served (200g per person)
  • Olive oil
  • Salt
  • 6 – 8 large onions

Instructions:

Preparing the pan:
  • Oil a roasting pan with spray oil
  • Cut up onions into quarters and place in centre of pan

Preparing the pork belly:
  • Defrost pork belly and let sit to room temperature. Dry the skin of the pork belly with some paper towels and then gently rub a little bit of vinegar onto it. Any vinegar will do, since this is just to make sure that the skin is very, very dry
  • Score the skin of the pork belly in a crosshatch pattern using a knife – the cuts to be deep enough to penetrate to the fat layer below the skin
  • Pour a generous amount of olive oil to cover pork belly surface
  • Sprinkle a generous amount of salt on top of olive oil
  • Massage oil and salt thoroughly into skin

Cooking the pork belly:
  • Heat oven to 180 degrees C
  • Heat a saucepan with some olive oil and sear all sides of the pork belly (including crackling) until golden brown, remove from pan
  • Place pork belly on top of onions and roast in oven for 30 minutes
  • After 30 minutes check temp in middle of pork belly (should be 70 degrees C)
  • If it is not up to 70 degrees C, put back into oven to continue roasting
  • After 15 minutes, repeat step 4 until middle of pork belly reaches 70 degrees C
  • When at right temp, take out of oven and stand pork belly for 10 – 20 minutes
  • Remove crackling, slice and serve with hot gravy and red cabbage relish

Since I was feeding the boys and I wanted enough to have some for them to take away for leftovers, I ordered a 2kg slab of pork belly. That was a mistake because the slab of pork belly was wider than my oven. It's just a good idea to make sure that the piece of meat is going to fit into the oven. I know I could have halved it and put it into two trays, but I have a stupid, small oven and I needed the second shelf for the mashed potatoes. On top of that, I did not have enough onions (stupid me, I didn't check my onion supply, which I had exhausted after cooking so much) and only had 4 onions instead of 8 to rest the pork belly in. That was not too much of a problem, but I'm a perfectionist and that did not make me happy.

In spite of all that, the pork belly turned out well and the boys loved it. I would have preferred that it was a little bit better, but then I'm much more exacting on myself and The Boy and everyone else did say it was a superb dinner.

Oh, to do with the pork belly, I made red cabbage relish. Here's the RECIPE:


Ingredients for Relish:
  • ½ red cabbage
  • 2 cups of red wine vinegar (or enough to cover the cabbage in a small pot
  • 2 tablespoons of raw / brown sugar

Ingredients for apple sauce:
  • 2 small red apples, skinned and cored, diced
  • 2 tablespoons of raw/ brown sugar

Instructions for Relish:
  • Cut up red cabbage into thin 1 inch slices
  • Put in small pot
  • Cover with red wine vinegar and put in sugar
  • Put over low flame and cook, checking regularly it does not get too dry for 1 hour
  • Cover and cook over low flame for another hour
  • Put in oven and braise slowly in 80 degrees C heat for another 2 hours

Instructions for apple sauce:
  • Put apples into small pot
  • Put in sugar and cover with water
  • Cook gently until soft ( can put in oven if preferred)

Final step:
  • When relish and apple sauce is ready, combine and serve

Note: the cabbage can be made a few days ahead and just put in the fridge and served when you are ready to eat.


The relish is a fantastic accompaniment to the pork belly. In fact, it is so yummy, I was eating the stuff on it's own. It's got a lovely, slighty salty, slightly sweet, slightly sour flavor that's very more-ish. You can't quite figure out the flavor but you just want to keep eating more of it. The Boy said it smelled like sauerkraut when cooking but it really does not taste anything that like because to me sauerkraut just tastes like sour boiled cabbage.

Remember! Everything in moderation!!! Or do what The Father did when I invited him and The Mother to dinner and cooked the same dish - eat half the slab of pork belly as a compliment to the cook.

Do you have any meat that is a favorite? Any meat you don't eat? For health, personal or religious reasons? Any meat you love and will eat all the time? What will you only eat occasionally? What's your "everyday" meat? What do you think of pork?

© This work is copyrighted to Invest-Ex and Destiny’s Fortunes Pty Ltd

Friday, January 20, 2012

F-F-F-Friday - Weird eating habits

It's Friday again in my neck of the woods, so time for another F-F-F-Friday post - most likely the last one. I think I'm going to miss them, but also think that I would enjoy the flexibility of not being specifically tied to Friday for a F-F-F-Friday post. :-)

As an aside: the blog has looked a bit like a for sale site the last few days - we're listing things for sale, eBay or otherwise. eBay has sucked so far. The things I have listed have garnered no interest at all. Could be I'm listing sucky things and they might be better off in a garage sale. I don't know. We're in an apartment, a garage sale is rather difficult to pull off - especially with the security in the building. Anyhoooo ... the reason for my posting stuff here too? I'm taking advantage of the fact that I can format the listing for eBay here, post pictures here and not have to pay extra for the photos that I'm including in the listing. They want to charge from between 50c to $1 for each extra photo and with a few photos that starts to add up. Add to that the fact that the listings are not going so well, you can see why I don't want to waste too much money on extras but still get the full listing with pictures and all. I'm taking advantage of the HTML code generated by this blog. :-) And BTW ... so far, it's a lot of effort for not a lot of return.

Anyway, on the the main topic of today's post ...

Now I don't know about other peoples' eating habits but mine have been downright strange this past several weeks.


I've been eating rather erratically of late. I do eat breakfast, then possibly lunch which may or may not be a proper lunch considering how I feel and then get to evening when it's time for dinner and I have no appetite at all. I just do not feel like eating at all, to which I usually force something down because I need food for my meds.

On top of that, I'm also off most meats, except chicken but only in small pieces. If you put a steak in front of me, chances are it would turn my stomach, I'd get one or two bites in and then start pushing my food around my plate. I seem to be ok with light carbs (tortilla shells, small amounts of rice, oats porridge, a slice of bread), certain fruits (rock melon, the odd banana) and jello (or as I call them jelly cups, which consists of a small cup of flavored jello with some fruit in it).


My dinner of choice for the last week has been Promite (which is similar to Vegemite, only less salty) and shredded cheese in a tortilla shell, microwaved for a short while to melt the cheese. I can manage two mini tortilla shells of those before I am feeling very, very full. Odd! It's quite possibly my stomach is shrinking but I don't know from what.

A friend of mine had asked if it was stress related but I don't feel particularly stressed (either that or my subconscious is repressing the stress) at the moment. There are a few things going on that could be considered stressful but I'm quite determined not to let it get me down.


Mind you, I'm not in any danger of wasting away nor am I on the verge of developing an eating disorder - though if I was developing an eating disorder, would I know it? I think I'm eating enough to keep going but I'm just not eating all that much or rather, I'm eating what I would consider normally during meal times.

A typical day would consist of one slice of toast for breakfast or a small bowl of oats porridge, some odd thing for lunch that I cannot even define (which tends to be my best meal, quantity-wise) and then (if I can get away with it) the equivalent of one slice of toast for dinner, plus a jelly cup for breakfast. I don't think it's a lot of food.


I'm not concerned enough to go see a doctor about it yet, plus I don't seem to be losing any weight. If I am, I certainly can't tell. Besides, losing weight is a good thing, considering my doctor actually wants me to lose 10 lbs. :-)


What do you think? Should I be concerned that I'm eating rather weird lately?



© This work is copyrighted to Invest-Ex and Destiny’s Fortunes Pty Ltd

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Round Punching Bag for sale on eBay

This is a used round punching bag in very good condition.

This item is available on eBay here.

Dimensions are:
Diameter: 45 cm
Depth: 20 cm

Here are the pictures of what this looks like: (click on image for larger view)

Front view

Side view (the black thing is just what I propped
the punching bag up against)

Collection: this item is offered for PICK UP ONLY in the SYDNEY area.

There will be no refunds or returns for this item.


© This work is copyrighted to Invest-Ex and Destiny’s Fortunes Pty Ltd

Sports Master Rectangular Punching Bag for sale on eBay

This is a used rectangular punching bag in very good condition.

The item listing can be found on eBay here.

Brand: Sports Master, Australian made.

Dimensions are:
Height: 70 cm
Width: 35 cm
Depth: 15 cm

Here are the pictures of what this looks like: (click on image for larger view)




Collection: this item is offered for PICK UP ONLY in the SYDNEY area.

There will be no refunds or returns for this item.


© This work is copyrighted to Invest-Ex and Destiny’s Fortunes Pty Ltd

Swarovski AT 80 HD Telescope for sale

This is a Swarovski AT 80 HD telescope for sale.

This telescope is in excellent condition and still has all it's original packaging. A similar telescope new, including the lenses and tripod is approximately $2,500 RRP. We are selling this telescope for $500.

Swarovski AT-80 HD High Definition Angled Spotting Scope is one of the best spotting scopes in the world.

Swarovski AT/ST 80 (HD) observation telescopes / spotting scope sets the highest standards among telescopes in this category. Even with the easy-to-handle fully rubberized armoring, the AT/ST 80 HD by Swarovski are by far the lightest of the larger observation telescopes. Thanks to a recalculated optical system, Swarovski AT-80 Spotting Scope with High Definition glass offer a precise observation of detail, optimum edge-to-edge images and almost 100 per cent color fidelity with an extremely wide field of view, thereby achieving a revolutionary image quality. Swarovski spotting scopes are simply the best in terms of incredible optics in any weather condition, in any environment. This spotting scope has an extremely high-quality optical system for totally natural color reproduction and precision observation of detail, even when light conditions are poor.

Swarovski Spotting Scope - Whether you are out in the fields, by the coast, up in the mountains, on the open plain or at the lakeside - anywhere where you want to observe the minutes details over great distances, you will need high magnification power of Swarovski Spotting Scope. Regardless of whether it's twilight, mist, rain or fog - to get bright, sharp-edged images with totally natural color reproduction, you need a high-performance Swarovski spotting scope - the best spotting scopes available ... Swarovski Spotting Scopes.

Swarovski HD (High Definition) instruments helps to eradicate the slightest chromatic zonal aberrations and contributes to a more faithful color image.

The specifications of the telescope can be found here: (enlarge photo to see)


Pictures of the telescope itself are below:













© This work is copyrighted to Invest-Ex and Destiny’s Fortunes Pty Ltd

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

BLACKOUT: Protesting SOPA and PIPA

Today is January 18th and in conjunction with many other sites on the Internet, including Wikipedia and WordPress, I am supporting protesting SOPA and PIPA in the black out.



I don't know how to actually how to black out my blog, so consider this my black out.


If you want to learn more about SOPA and PIPA you can watch this video:


And you can also read about it here, here or here.

Of course, my protest is in no way as amusing as The Bloggess just 'cos she's super funny and I'm not.


© This work is copyrighted to Invest-Ex and Destiny’s Fortunes Pty Ltd

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Morrison Digital Trumpet for sale on eBay

We are selling this Morrison Digital Trumpet because it is not being used. This trumpet is in PERFECT condition and has been hardly used at all.

This trumpet also includes all original components, plus it also comes with an extra power supply and 10 fuses, and MIDI cable included for connection to output sound system.

eBay listing for Morrison Digital Trumpet.

Here are the additional details about the trumpet:

Morrison Digital Trumpet website

Specifications as listed on the website:

Note Controls
3 x Valves with optical sensing
8 x Octave Keys (4 1/2 Octave Range)
2 x Octave Select Buttons (Up/Dn Octave to give full 10 octave range)
Controllers
3 x Assignable Continuous Lever Controllers
2 x Assignable Switches
Sensors
Breath Sensor: Assignable to up to 4 continuous controllers at once
Memory
Flash writable memory to store all settings and favourites
Transpose
Key to transpose to any key
Physical Adjustments
LH handle adjustment for finger length and comfort
RH Lever Width adjustment for varying thumb size and desired sensitivity
LED's
Bell LED's: Green, Yellow and Red used for octave and volume indication
Blue LED's used for illumination
Display
16 x 2 Blue Backlight LCD Screen for user interface
MIDI Transmit Channel
User assignable from 1-16
Connections
Power In, MIDI Out, MDT - MIDI/Power Box
Power Supply
6-9V DC Tip Positive Plugpack
Weight
520 g
MDT Dimensions (LxHxW)
506 x 180 x 45 mm
Weight
950gms
In Case Shipping Dimensions (LxHxW)
475 x 170 x 370 mm
Shipping Weight
5.2Kg
Accessories
AC Plugpack with country adapter, MIDI/Power Box, MDT cable, Aluminium Case, Allen Key

Here are photos of the trumpet:







Collection of item:

This item can be posted out to you via regular Australia Post which will be registered and insured (calculated based on your location) or you can also pick it up from us after you have paid for it.

There will be no returns accepted for this item.


© This work is copyrighted to Invest-Ex and Destiny’s Fortunes Pty Ltd