Sunday, December 20, 2015

The Digital Library #4



I have written previous blogs about the era of digital libraries. (you can find the previous blog posts by the following search http://rvbond.blogspot.com library).

Every library has a different selection of electronic resources. Your particular library might not subscribe to the services I will mention.

Access Video on Demand provides access to over 24,000 videos from among a number of producers including ABC News, American Experience, National Geographic, History Channel, BBC, Nightline, NOVA, and TED. There are over 35 topics from Anthropology to World Languages.

Alexander Street
A streaming audio collection provides you access to over 6 million tracks, including over 45,000 unique recordings.


This music can also be download to your mobile device. The music is recorded at 320 kbps (iTune songs are 256 kbps.

Friday, October 30, 2015

"Deep South" by Paul Theroux - Book review




“Deep South” recounts road trips taken in Mississippi, South Carolina, Arkansas and elsewhere below the Mason-Dixon line. Mr. Theroux is happy to be in the comfortable front seat of his own car, as opposed to the crowded and rickety buses and trains he’s used in other parts of the world."

Click here for the entire NY Times review.

Sunday, July 12, 2015

Amazon Prime

Amazon Prime is a service from Amazon which provides free two-day shipping on Prime items. Prime cost $100/year and includes free access to videos as well as books. You can also share your Prime account with up to four people. Other members will only have access to free shipping.

Click here for more details.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Are we in Buenos Aires or Naples?


Are we in Buenos Aires or Naples?

"An Argentine is an Italian who speaks Spanish, acts like a Frenchman, and secretly wishes he was British." Argentine Proverb

If you didn't know any Spanish, you would swear that the Argentines were speaking Italian. They are speaking Rioplatense Spanish which is a dialect of the Spanish language spoken mainly in the areas around the Rio de la Plata basin of Argentina.

Fifty percent of Argentinians have some Italian ancestry. Research has shown that Rioplatense Spanish and particularly the speech of the city of Buenos Aires has intonation patterns that resemble those of Italian dialects.  Buenos Aires residents speak with an intonation most closely resembling Neapolitan.

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Orchestra del Tango de Buenos Aires


The Orquesta del Tango presented a homage to Astor Piazzolla, on March 13, 2015 at the Usina del Arte. Follow the link below to see a great video about Usina del Arte. This great cultural center was created from an old abandoned generating station. Notice in the video the use of the bandoneon which is a form of concertina which has now become associated with tango music.
The composer Astor Piazzolla was a notable performer on the instrument. His compositions, which include three concertos as well as orchestral, chamber and solo works, introduced the bandoneon to concert audiences.


Saturday, February 14, 2015

How to Use Google to Search Blogs and Web Sites

Many blogs have a list of Categories which gives the title of past blogs. Many blogs do not have this feature. Imagine that you remember a blog about fountain pens on Musings. How to find it.
Go to Google and enter rvbond.blogspot.com: fountain
I tried this and it works like a charm. You can use this technique for any website.
Don't forget the follow the blog or website with a colon.

Friday, February 6, 2015

Shopping in Valparaíso


Valparaíso has regular supermarkets but many locals shop at small shops. Here are photos of the vegetable stands, butcher shop, bakery, fish stall, pastry shop, cheese/yogurt, and  eggs and dried beans.




Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Chorrillana at Bar Victoria

One of Chile's famous culinary dishes is called Chorilliana. It's prepared in a variety of ways but it basically consists of a plate of french fries, covered with strips of beef, slices of sausage, fried onions, and topped with a fried egg or two. Three of us just managed to eat one chorrillana grande.
The chorilliana is best with a large glass of beer. In our case, it was Austral Calafate Ale. This beer is made in Patagonia by Austral Brewing which has been in business since 1896. Austral Calafate is especially interesting because it's combined with an exotic fruit to give it an interesting aroma and taste in addition to having an intense amber color. The fruit is the calafate berry which looks much like a blueberry. It's scientific name is Berberis heterophylla.



Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Lunch in Valparaíso, Chile

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This is a local restaurant around the corner from my flat.





This the interior of the restaurant.





Here's the black board special of the day.







Pebre is the Chilean version of salsa.




Cream of Zuccini soup 





Porotos de granados

This is a popular Bean Stew.



This is called Budín de Platanos which translates as Banana pudding.