NICO | GALOPPO || journal

Frietje met mayonnaise

Nico — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:59:47 +0000

Eva Mouton (22) is a young illustrator in Belgium, currently serving up fries at the yearly Gentse Feesten festival. Yesterday, she described her view on the festival in De Standaard in a way that made me smile and remind myself what I think summer is all about.

De hongerigen spijzen, de dronken papa’s ontnuchteren, een glimlach verschaffen aan onzekere pubers. Mijn job was er een van de nobele soort. © Eva Mouton (De Standaard)

What is it that I do

Nico — Sun, 31 May 2009 18:11:12 +0000

I get asked this question quite often: “What is it that you do?”. I always feel that my answer falls short somehow. When I bring up the term physically based simulation (or animation), most people go into a blank stare. Now I know that I can refer people to an article on “Up”, Pixar’s latest movie about an old man who flies away on a house lifted by balloons. Pixar used a programmed physical simulator to animate thousands of balloons – a scene that is too time-consuming to animate by hand! Read the entire article at CNN.

Nine fuzzy lovers!

Nico — Tue, 05 May 2009 03:46:16 +0000

Since this morning, I’ve got nine fuzzy lovers living in the guest room shower stall – exciting! Make sure to check AK’s blog regularly for the latest updates!

Grilling Season

Nico — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:23:31 +0000

Even though the cloud is gray as I gaze through the big window on my way to the cafetaria – there’s no view on the outside from my cube – I can feel that spring is coming. The temperatures in Portland have been extremely moderate lately – to the point where walking in a light sweater in the evening was not torture.

The sun has been out, people have been crowding Mississippi St. in the last few days. That, and the warm evening light that we’ve been enjoying since daylight savings has kicked in tell me that grilling season is approaching quickly. Soon, we’ll be able to move the burgers from the cooking stove to the grill outside!

In the meantime, I will comfort myself with images of the juiciness that Allison and I put together a few months ago:

Breakfast club: best brunch ever

Nico — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:35:38 +0000

We’ve been joining a great group of people for brunch every Saturday or Sunday morning. Last Sunday the breakfast club attended simpatica dining hall at opening time to have, for my taste, the best brunch food so far!

Both the boudin blanc sausage biscuit I had and the chicken fried bison steak A. indulged in were stellar. The meat (of viande meats), the biscuits, the gravy.. all were exquisite! Even the potatoes and eggs were cooked perfectly.

E has some pictures up, go there for a few shots of the ambiance that morning… Truly a great way to start the day and I know I’ll be back.

If you haven’t gone yet and live in the neigborhood, don’t fret any longer!

Photography

Nico — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 17:34:25 +0000

Last summer, I gifted myself with Nikon D60, mainly because I like making (close-up) portraits. I just love capturing the expression on people’s faces into eternity… but one day, maybe I can venture out and try things like this amazing time lapse video of an African sky by night at TheSkyInMotion. [via: Pietel]

Champagne

Nico — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:09:29 +0000

It’s no secret that we’re in a little bit of an economic bubble right now (have you heard?), but that doesn’t keep Belgians from drinking Champagne. In 2007, they were the only ones in the world to increase their consumption of Champagne. And not by just a little bit, a hefty 7%. Joie de vivre, anyone?

Don’t vote.

Nico — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:18:54 +0000

Don’t do it. Don’t vote.

On the road: Past the parks.

Nico — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 05:49:16 +0000

We’re in Jackson, WY. We spent the last 2 days in the Badlands (South Dakota) and in the Yellowstone and the Grand Teton National Parks (both Wyoming). Cowboy-country. Seriously.

Internet connectivity was non-existent, but we had a great time nevertheless. I’ll have to catch up writing about the experience later, but for now, I’ve put up some more pictures on the flickr set. Tomorrow, we’re heading to Portland as fast as we can, taking I-84 past Idaho Falls and Boise, ID. I don’t expect to reach the final destination yet, but we’re hoping to get pretty close.

On the road: Corn on the cob at Bob’s

Nico — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 05:57:17 +0000

What do you do when you’re heading West on I-90 out of Chicago, and after a long day of driving you’re in the-middle-of-nowhere — also known as South Dakota — and in urgent need of some honest food? You stop at Bob’s in Sioux Falls for the friendliest dinner you’ve had in a long time.

In this tiny but authentic twelve-seat diner, you take a seat at the bar and put in your order of ribs, buffalo burger and sides. Better yet, if you happen to be there in the summer when the corn is so sweet that it could be dessert, you make sure that you add a few cobs slathered with butter to your order. And while you wait, you watch the locals and talk to owner Ben-Bob as he fixes dinner in front of you.

On this Saturday evening, owner Ben-Bob and son couldn’t be any more helpful with tips about the area for visitors like us and we had a really friendly conversation, even though they couldn’t be any more busy because most of their staff had taken off for Labor Day weekend! He even signed my copy of Road Food. In the incredibly unlikely event that I ever make it out to Sioux Falls for breakfast, lunch or dinner again, I’ll make sure to stop at Bob’s again!