Author: PAO Productions

Photographer, road tripper, former patron of the local arts, aspiring app developer, and late night coffee drinker and conversationalist.

bookmark_borderIndian-inspired rice

Posted on by PAO Productions

I've always liked flavorful and aromatic rices, and Indian-style rice was an early recipe candidate for me once I began to focus more on cooking. Here is my current recipe, put together by combining and tweaking elements of multiple other Indian rice recipes I've made, and with the end result having actually been approved by at least one Indian acquaintance. As always, authenticity matters less to me than whether I like the final result.

Note that this recipe makes use of some ingredients that give the end result a more characteristically "Indian" or "ethnic" taste that will likely be at odds with what many people (based on experiences at local Indian restaurants) are expecting. If this an issue, omit the ingredients in blue.

Ingredients:
  • 1 1/2 cups basmati rice
  • 2 1/4 cups water, divided into 1/2 cup and 1 3/4 cup portions
  • 1/2 g Spanish saffron
  • 1/2 tsp methi seed (fenugreek seed, available in Indian markets)
  • 1 to 1.5 T oil (I use olive)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 green cardamom pods, cracked
  • 8 whole cloves
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seed
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1/4 tsp hing (available in Indian markets)
  • 1 T freshly grated ginger
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
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bookmark_borderInteresting bathrooms

Posted on by PAO Productions
Like everyone else, I've spent my fair share of time having to make use of public and private facilities away from home. Here are some of the more interesting things - none of them disgusting! - that I've encountered.

Deep Ellum bathroom

Adair's Saloon was never a venue I frequented during my concert photography days, but I did end up on the inside once or twice. The scrawled graffiti covering the bathroom walls presented a masterclass in how to create a gritty, dirty scene just ripe for some urban decay photography.

Bathroom inside Adair's Saloon, July 2015
Urban decay inside Adair's Saloon in Deep Ellum, July 2015
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bookmark_borderVintage scenes from life

Posted on by PAO Productions
Vintage photos, like modern-day ones, are vignettes of the daily life of their time. Here is a selection of twenty-three such examples from my collection.

1920s dry goods store

I found this one a bit intriguing despite not really having a place for it in any future projects. Perhaps this is because I've always had a bit of a fancy for small neighborhood markets laid out in a late 19th/early 20th century style. It's what attracts me to Rudolph's Market & Sausage Factory in Deep Ellum, a fixture in the neighborhood since 1895, despite my being meat-free since 1999. There's no indication in the photo of this store's location.
1920s dry goods store
1920s dry goods store

Bathing beauties

Bathing suits have changed a lot in the last century. I'm guessing this photo dates to the 1920s or 30s.
Two shapely women in bathing suits
Two shapely women in bathing suits
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bookmark_borderUpdated top tier movies list

Posted on by PAO Productions
A long, long time ago, when this site was in its earliest days, I decided to spotlight some of my favorite people, organizations, and things. Alongside descriptions of individual creators and supporters in the local arts scenes and notifications of upcoming local shows, I presented an overly long list of movies deemed to be personal favorites, organized chronologically by decade. This, along with a ton of other early material, eventually got the axe years later, casualties of a major website redesign which deemed them irrelevant. But a while back, a conversation with a friend about old movies and which ones would make it onto our individual top ten lists got the gears turning in my mind. Which titles on my earlier list really deserved a spot, given my current tastes and the changes in my perspective that have taken place over the last decade? This reappraisal is what has resulted in the list presented below.

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bookmark_borderA letter from 1892

Posted on by PAO Productions
A couple of weeks ago, whilst making my usual rounds at some area antique stores, I came upon a collection of interesting historical oddities. These were a decent-sized stack of old nineteenth-century letters, carefully unfolded and presented with their original envelopes inside sealed plastic Ziplock bags. The correspondence varied, consisting mostly of everyday life updates, but there were also business-related items and even some love letters included in the mix. Most were from senders inside the state of Texas, and a few were even addressed to recipients located right here in Dallas. I thumbed through the stack, looking at each item in turn, and ultimately decided I would buy one with a Wood Street address. Within the correspondence I saw references to what seemed to be the State Fair of Texas, and I was intrigued.

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