Robert Ricci :: Other Interests

• Music - I believe that when you buy music online, it should be in a standard, DRM-free format such as mp3, Ogg Vorbis or flac. When you buy music, the assumption should not be that you're a criminal who needs to be thwarted with DRM. You should be able to do with it what you want, without being locked into someone's proprietary player. The artist should be fairly compensated for their music.

  • This quote sums up my feelings about the ways that the RIAA and MPAA are trying to hold back the spread of digital music:

    There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the notion that because a man or corporation had made a profit out of the public for many years, the government and the courts are charged with the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary to public interest. This strange doctrine is not supported by statute nor by common law. Neither individuals nor corporations have any right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back.

    - Robert A. Heinlein, Life-line

  • Magnatune is the record label that isn't evil. You know how we've all been saying that the record industry is a dinosaur, and needs to adapt with the technology? Well, here's a label that's done it right from the start. They let you listen to any music they sell as much as you want, for free. Then, when you inevitably decide to buy some, you decide how much it's worth to you (they suggest $8 per album), and the artist gets half of that. Compare that to the pennies they usually get per album from the major labels. You can download your music in several forms, including mp3, ogg, and flac (lossless!). And, you explicitly have permission to copy it for three friends! They've got hundreds of artists across a pretty wide range of genres. This is the music business done right. [samples: Zen Flute has gotta be the most relaxing thing in the world to listen to / Drop Trio plays nice, funky jazz]
  • They Might Be Giants will sell you mp3 and flac files of many of their albums. Sadly, they don't have all of their albums for download, but they have some cool stuff like live shows and songs they've written about the venues they've performed at. [samples: The Spine, their latest album is my favorite since Flood / the Venue Songs are incredibly entertaining]
  • The Live Music Archive at archive.org has something like 30,000 shows, most in lossless formats, for download. All of it's completely free. There are both indie and well-known artists in the list. The recordings are done by fans (and only uploaded with the artist's permission), so the quality varies. Some of it, though, borders on professional quality. But, since the downloads tend to be half a gig, I'd definitely recommend reading the reviews first! [samples: The Glen Phillips shows from August 30, 2005 and November 15, 2003 are amazing, and flawlessly recorded]
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  Wasatch mountains, Utah

  Digital Photography - All photographs on this page are mine. I'm currently shooting with an Olympus E-500, having recently upgraded from an Olympus C-5050Z I quite like Olympus cameras; I started on my dad's old OM2, then on his IS-3000, then on his C-720UZ.

  I've put many of my photos online in two places. (I hope to unify the two someday...) Newer photographs are at gallery.xrob.org, and older ones are at photos.xrob.org.

  Here are some local Salt Lake resources for amateur photographers:

  • Borge Andersen PhotoDigital is a good place to go if you need prints in an usual size. I've done a few panoramic prints there. They're not cheap, though.
  • Framing Establishment (5664 South 900 East, Murray, UT, 265-3500) is where I get all of my frames. They have a good selection of stock frames, and they do custom framing too. All of the staff there have always been very helpful to me.
  • Pictureline is a local camera store focusing on high-end gear.
• Good beer - believe it or not, you actually can get beer in Utah, and some of it is quite good.
  • The Beer Nut sells homebrewing equipment and supplies. My roommates and I made about a dozen batches over a few years. [favorites: the raspberry wheat kit was everyone's favorite, except for perhaps the imperial stout]
  • The Bayou (645 South State Street, Salt Lake City, UT) has over 200 beers on tap and in bottles. They have good Cajun-style food, and live jazz some nights. [favorites: well, I haven't had the same beer twice here. any of the deserts that have rum sauce are delicious]
  • Wasatch Beers is my favorite local brewery. [favorites: I'm quite partial to polygamy porter and the unofficial 2002 ale]
  • Uinta Brewing is another local microbrew. [favorites: cutthroat ale]
  • Eddie McStiff's is a pub down in Moab, Utah, the heart of Utah's red rock country. Some of their beers can be found occasionally in some Salt Lake grocery stores. [favorites: they're all good, though I would specifically recommend the raspberry and blueberry wheat]
  • Squatters is a brewpub in downtown Salt Lake City. They have several beers of their own, and carry the local brews. [favorites: captain bastard's oatmeal stout and provo girl pilsner. last time I was there, they had an espresso stout that was just awesome, but I believe it was a limited-run brew]
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  Sunset reflected in the Clark Fork River,
  Missoula, Montana

  Books - I've always loved to read. It can be almost as fun to go to a library or bookstore to pick out a book as it is to read it! Here are some of my favorite places to get books:
  • Sam Weller's Zion Bookstore is a great new and used bookstore in downtown Salt Lake. The first floor is large. The second floor is packed. The basement is a maze in which you could easily get lost for days. If you don't want to deal with parking, take TRAX - it's right next to the 3rd South stop. They're also working on getting the more than one million books in the store into their online catalog.
  • The Salt Lake City Main Library is mind-blowingly beautiful. Their collection is not that great, but it's an excellent place to hang out and explore. Really, it's one of the coolest things about Salt Lake. They have free wireless Internet thanks to Xmission, so it's a great place to take a laptop. Also easily accessible via TRAX, at the Library station on the University line.
  • The Marriott Library at the University of Utah is truly vast - it's one of the biggest university libraries in North America. And they're currently undergoing construction, partly to increase their capacity by another two million volumes. I'm quite impressed with their Computer Science collection.
  • King's English is another staple independent Utah bookstore.
  • Books of Yesterday is a great used book store in Logan, Utah, a small city about an hour and a half north of Salt Lake. They have a great collection of rare books. They claim to have over 400,000 books. It's actually worth a few hours of driving just to visit it.
  • Every time I go to San Francisco, I have to go to City Lights, a cool bookstore in the North Beach section of the city. It's a great place to look for books on current events and politics if you're a liberal sort of person.
  • Shakespeare and Company is an independent bookstore with several shops in New York City. My wife and I went into one, and didn't leave until we absolutely had to.
  • I've never actually been to Powell's, since I've never been to Portland, Oregon, but it's become my store of choice whenever I feel the need to order something over Ye Olde Web.
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  Sunset reflected in the Clark Fork River,
  Missoula, Montana

  Cooking - I like to do some cooking in my spare time. My favorites are Italian foods and stir-fry. Here are some of my favorite family recipes.

  Auntie Gloria's Pizzelles

  Italian waffle cookies. A Ricci Christmas tradition - my parents make literally hundreds of these every year to give to friends and family.

  3 eggs
  3/4 cup sugar
  3/4 cup melted butter
  2 cups flour
  1 tsp baking powder
  2 tsp anise extract
  1 tsp anise seed
  1 tsp orange rind
  2 tbsp milk
  Yields approximately 20 pizzelles

  Combine all ingredients in mixer, putting in the flour last. Let the melted butter cool for a few minutes before adding it, or it will cook the eggs. (If using a standard KitchenAid mixer, you can double the recipe if desired.)

  Place globs of dough, slightly larger than a tablespoon, on the two halves of a pizzelle iron. Close iron and clip shut. After about 30 seconds, remove pizzelles by lifting them with a fork. Set aside to cool. Once cooled, trim excess from the edges with a paring knife.

  Alternate flavors: Lemon - substitute lemon extract for anise extract and lemon peel for anise seed. Orange Rum - substitute rum or rum flavoring for anise extract, and orange peel for anise seeds. Almond - substitute amaretto for anise extract, and finely chopped almonds for anise seed.

  Mom's Philadelphia Style Vanilla Ice Cream

  This is a no-cook style of ice cream, since it doesn't contain any eggs. This recipe is best when eaten immediately after churning; the texture is absolutely perfect, and doesn't quite surive sitting in your freezer.

  2 quarts (8 cups) half and half
  1 quart (4 cups) heaving whipping cream
  3 tablespoons vanilla extract
  2 1/4 cup sugar
  3/8 tsp salt

  Freeze in ice cream freezer as per normal freezer instructions. Alternate flavors are easy: substitute your favorite flavorings, such as espresso (several shots), fresh mint (approx. 3 cups), grenadine, etc. for the vanilla extract. Some flavorings are best if you let the mixture sit in the fridge overnight before freezing.