...because they just might be planning our demise.
The following is a 10 minute presentation by Joshua Klein, who has a thing for crows. In the first 5:00 minutes of the lecture you'll see something that will blow your mind about how smart these little buggers are. Apparently, crows can make tools AND hold grudges against people, so don't piss them off.
By the way, I also highly recommend the TED Talks website as a great way to spend 'non-porn' minutes in front of the computer.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
My eater's manifesto
WARNING: this post is a little longer than usual. Most of it focuses on Michael Pollan's book In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. He's much better at talking about his research than I am, so if you're so inclined, check out the video of this Google chat he did a few months ago (it's an hour long, but it's the best non-porn hour in front of your computer you will ever spend):
And here's my little food testimonial:
I’ve noticed a pattern among my male friends. As we get to be 40-ish, we’ve come to the realization that we can’t eat like we were still 18. We used to believe we were indestructible and we ate like it. I remember being able to eat (and keep down) a Big Mac, large French fries and three hamburgers; pizza several times a week; and then there was the day me and Bill downed a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken between the two of us.
Now we are reminded by our bathroom scales, blood pressure levels and cholesterol test results, that we are not only mortal – but we are on the road towards heart problems, diabetes and other serious health problems that are linked to poor diets.
Hypertension (high blood pressure) and diabetes spot my family tree. I remembered my grandma Minnie, who had both afflictions, taking a handful of medications and giving herself insulin shots daily. It horrified me. My father also had a couple scares with high blood sugar and cholesterol and my own tests showed that I was pre-hypertensive, pre-diabetic and my bad cholesterol was kicking my good cholesterol’s ass.
I knew that I could get these levels under control by going on a low-calorie, low-fat, low-carb diet. But I also knew that, for me, that’s not a sustainable diet. Anyway, I don’t believe in diets. All a diet makes you do is crave the food you can’t eat and then fills you with guilt at any little slip. Face it, it’s no way to live.
Lucky for me, my wife read Michael Pollan’s book The Omnivore’s Dilemma. The book challenged her to look more closely at how and what she ate. And she challenged me to do the same. I first read Pollan’s follow up to ‘Dilemma’ a shorter read called In Defense of Food – An Eater’s Manifesto. It contains a lot of the info from the previous book. And in seven words Pollan sums up a reasonable approach to eating:
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
Here’s what I’ve taken to heart and have tried to adopt – not as a diet – but a lifestyle change (there’s a big difference):
Eat food. Eat real food -- not a bunch of processed stuff. Why? Because processing eliminates the natural goodness in food (and it puts a lot of harmful stuff in its place in order to give it shelf life). Plus, when food companies try to put the good stuff back in, scientists have found that the nutrients don’t behave in the same way. Meaning, all the supplements and “vitamin fortified” shit you eat – isn’t making you healthier.
Real food is more than the sum of its nutrients. For example, scientists have extracted the beta-carotenes from carrots and put them in other food. Now the evidence shows, you’re better off just eating the friggin’ carrot.
It goes the same for all the so-called ‘bad stuff’ like animal fats, carbohydrates and cholesterol. Remember, there are societies where their main source of protein is animal fats. Think about it. Herding societies and Eskimoes eat a lot of meat and fatty fish and whale blubber. Think of the French diet, full of butter and other fatty goodness.
The point Pollan makes is to look at the lifestyles together with the diets. Long story short – fat alone is not the enemy. And the fear of fat is driving people to eat artificially produced ‘low fat’ foods. I used to think I was eating healthy by eating those Boca burgers. But if you look at the ingredients, you’re going to find a bunch of other crap in there, that may be making you worse off than if you’d just had a burger.
The same goes with carbs. People have been eating pasta made from white flour, eating white rice, and white bread for years. Why all of a sudden are these verboten? (read the book.)
Not too much: Portion sizes are way out of control. We really just don’t need to supersize everything. I now cringe at ads on television for Taco Bell which extol the virtues of stuffing your food sac for $1.99.
I learned a little tip: if you’re full, you’ve eaten too much.
Mostly plants: Notice he doesn’t say ONLY plants. Although he says there are plenty of good reasons to go strictly vegetarian, there is a movement that recognizes the benefits of eating pasture-raised animals. Thank the gods. Because, to be honest with you, I’m just not giving up the meat. But, I’m certainly more willing to make a serious effort to eat pasture-raised, naturally fed chickens, pigs, turkeys and cows. These animals live better, die much more humanely and taste better than their feedlot brethren. Plus, because these animals have eaten what they’re supposed to – cows are meant to eat grass, not corn (its bad for them) – their meat becomes more healthful.
The challenge for me is to incorporate more plants into my life. And I have to say, after reading about the process under which plants convert sunlight into nutrients, I’ve attained a much higher respect for the little beings. They are amazing little sources of all kinds of things that are good for you, AND, when prepared properly (meaning not overcooked), they’re tasty to boot. And for the record – you will not cancel out the goodness of properly wilted greens by adding a little pork fat.
So I’m making more room for them on my plate. Whereas, I used to have just meat and potatoes – now the meat portion is smaller and there’s some kind of dark leafy green, like spinach or kale or chard. And there’s some kind of rice (brown rice is actually quite lovely) or bean dish.
The more plants you eat, the less room you have for meat. It’s as simple as that.
Pollan says, and I’ve come to agree – that America’s got an eating disorder. We don’t know what to eat, so we’ve turned to the food scientists for advice. That has led to a national obsession with the nutritional value of everything. We count calories and carbs. We buy butter substitutes, fake yogurt artificially infused with good bacteria and vitamins, we swallow vitamin supplements by the handful, we buy vitamin-fortified water (are you shitting me??) and we buy fiber substitutes – All because we refuse to just eat a balanced diet. Remember, all the good stuff you need is in the food – no supplements are needed.
So, after reading In Defense of Food, I decided that what I needed was not a diet – but a lifestyle adjustment. That means I put more time into selecting and preparing the food I eat. I look forward to seeing the butcher at Clancey’s and getting the low-down on the farms where the best cuts of the day come from. Also, Mecca and I signed up for a half a farm share, which will bring us 10 lbs of organically-grown veggies every other week. That means I’m going to have to learn some new recipes that involve fresh veg.
And really, the extra few hours it may take me to shop and prepare this food every week, is time that I would otherwise be spending either in front of the computer or the television.
I did start exercising a lot more than I used to. It has helped bring my blood pressure down -- at last check it was 110/60. And, personally, I think the exercise has helped keep me from huffing and puffing in the sack (if you know what I mean.)
Here are the results of the food lifestyle change so far.
I’m slowly losing weight. Which is fine - because diets encourage rapid weight loss and then when the diet fails, the weight goes right back on. I’m still about 20 lbs over my BMI or whatever. I don't really care. Interestingly enough, at my last physical, my doc didn’t say anything about my weight. She was more concerned about my lipid and blood glucose counts. My tests came back and to my pleasure, my good cholesterol is back to where it should be and my blood sugar is around 80 (it used to be close to 100 which is pre-diabetic).
When you think about it, food is not medicine. It is to be enjoyed. Share it with people you love. Don’t worship the food, but respect it enough to get the good stuff. Veggies and critters that have been properly raised are also good for the environment as well as your health.
Michael Pollan knows a lot of people have read his books and taken his research and advice to heart. So he often says in interviews – don’t freak out if you can’t always get to the farmer’s market for organically grown food. A peek in his fridge once revealed some processed food, including a can of spray whip cream. He said his son likes the whipped cream on his Belgian waffles.
“I’m not a fanatic,” he said.
So I’ll add this to his seven word manifesto:
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. Don’t freak out.
And here's my little food testimonial:
I’ve noticed a pattern among my male friends. As we get to be 40-ish, we’ve come to the realization that we can’t eat like we were still 18. We used to believe we were indestructible and we ate like it. I remember being able to eat (and keep down) a Big Mac, large French fries and three hamburgers; pizza several times a week; and then there was the day me and Bill downed a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken between the two of us.
Now we are reminded by our bathroom scales, blood pressure levels and cholesterol test results, that we are not only mortal – but we are on the road towards heart problems, diabetes and other serious health problems that are linked to poor diets.
Hypertension (high blood pressure) and diabetes spot my family tree. I remembered my grandma Minnie, who had both afflictions, taking a handful of medications and giving herself insulin shots daily. It horrified me. My father also had a couple scares with high blood sugar and cholesterol and my own tests showed that I was pre-hypertensive, pre-diabetic and my bad cholesterol was kicking my good cholesterol’s ass.
I knew that I could get these levels under control by going on a low-calorie, low-fat, low-carb diet. But I also knew that, for me, that’s not a sustainable diet. Anyway, I don’t believe in diets. All a diet makes you do is crave the food you can’t eat and then fills you with guilt at any little slip. Face it, it’s no way to live.
Lucky for me, my wife read Michael Pollan’s book The Omnivore’s Dilemma. The book challenged her to look more closely at how and what she ate. And she challenged me to do the same. I first read Pollan’s follow up to ‘Dilemma’ a shorter read called In Defense of Food – An Eater’s Manifesto. It contains a lot of the info from the previous book. And in seven words Pollan sums up a reasonable approach to eating:
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
Here’s what I’ve taken to heart and have tried to adopt – not as a diet – but a lifestyle change (there’s a big difference):
Eat food. Eat real food -- not a bunch of processed stuff. Why? Because processing eliminates the natural goodness in food (and it puts a lot of harmful stuff in its place in order to give it shelf life). Plus, when food companies try to put the good stuff back in, scientists have found that the nutrients don’t behave in the same way. Meaning, all the supplements and “vitamin fortified” shit you eat – isn’t making you healthier.
Real food is more than the sum of its nutrients. For example, scientists have extracted the beta-carotenes from carrots and put them in other food. Now the evidence shows, you’re better off just eating the friggin’ carrot.
It goes the same for all the so-called ‘bad stuff’ like animal fats, carbohydrates and cholesterol. Remember, there are societies where their main source of protein is animal fats. Think about it. Herding societies and Eskimoes eat a lot of meat and fatty fish and whale blubber. Think of the French diet, full of butter and other fatty goodness.
The point Pollan makes is to look at the lifestyles together with the diets. Long story short – fat alone is not the enemy. And the fear of fat is driving people to eat artificially produced ‘low fat’ foods. I used to think I was eating healthy by eating those Boca burgers. But if you look at the ingredients, you’re going to find a bunch of other crap in there, that may be making you worse off than if you’d just had a burger.
The same goes with carbs. People have been eating pasta made from white flour, eating white rice, and white bread for years. Why all of a sudden are these verboten? (read the book.)
Not too much: Portion sizes are way out of control. We really just don’t need to supersize everything. I now cringe at ads on television for Taco Bell which extol the virtues of stuffing your food sac for $1.99.
I learned a little tip: if you’re full, you’ve eaten too much.
Mostly plants: Notice he doesn’t say ONLY plants. Although he says there are plenty of good reasons to go strictly vegetarian, there is a movement that recognizes the benefits of eating pasture-raised animals. Thank the gods. Because, to be honest with you, I’m just not giving up the meat. But, I’m certainly more willing to make a serious effort to eat pasture-raised, naturally fed chickens, pigs, turkeys and cows. These animals live better, die much more humanely and taste better than their feedlot brethren. Plus, because these animals have eaten what they’re supposed to – cows are meant to eat grass, not corn (its bad for them) – their meat becomes more healthful.
The challenge for me is to incorporate more plants into my life. And I have to say, after reading about the process under which plants convert sunlight into nutrients, I’ve attained a much higher respect for the little beings. They are amazing little sources of all kinds of things that are good for you, AND, when prepared properly (meaning not overcooked), they’re tasty to boot. And for the record – you will not cancel out the goodness of properly wilted greens by adding a little pork fat.
So I’m making more room for them on my plate. Whereas, I used to have just meat and potatoes – now the meat portion is smaller and there’s some kind of dark leafy green, like spinach or kale or chard. And there’s some kind of rice (brown rice is actually quite lovely) or bean dish.
The more plants you eat, the less room you have for meat. It’s as simple as that.
Pollan says, and I’ve come to agree – that America’s got an eating disorder. We don’t know what to eat, so we’ve turned to the food scientists for advice. That has led to a national obsession with the nutritional value of everything. We count calories and carbs. We buy butter substitutes, fake yogurt artificially infused with good bacteria and vitamins, we swallow vitamin supplements by the handful, we buy vitamin-fortified water (are you shitting me??) and we buy fiber substitutes – All because we refuse to just eat a balanced diet. Remember, all the good stuff you need is in the food – no supplements are needed.
So, after reading In Defense of Food, I decided that what I needed was not a diet – but a lifestyle adjustment. That means I put more time into selecting and preparing the food I eat. I look forward to seeing the butcher at Clancey’s and getting the low-down on the farms where the best cuts of the day come from. Also, Mecca and I signed up for a half a farm share, which will bring us 10 lbs of organically-grown veggies every other week. That means I’m going to have to learn some new recipes that involve fresh veg.
And really, the extra few hours it may take me to shop and prepare this food every week, is time that I would otherwise be spending either in front of the computer or the television.
I did start exercising a lot more than I used to. It has helped bring my blood pressure down -- at last check it was 110/60. And, personally, I think the exercise has helped keep me from huffing and puffing in the sack (if you know what I mean.)
Here are the results of the food lifestyle change so far.
I’m slowly losing weight. Which is fine - because diets encourage rapid weight loss and then when the diet fails, the weight goes right back on. I’m still about 20 lbs over my BMI or whatever. I don't really care. Interestingly enough, at my last physical, my doc didn’t say anything about my weight. She was more concerned about my lipid and blood glucose counts. My tests came back and to my pleasure, my good cholesterol is back to where it should be and my blood sugar is around 80 (it used to be close to 100 which is pre-diabetic).
When you think about it, food is not medicine. It is to be enjoyed. Share it with people you love. Don’t worship the food, but respect it enough to get the good stuff. Veggies and critters that have been properly raised are also good for the environment as well as your health.
Michael Pollan knows a lot of people have read his books and taken his research and advice to heart. So he often says in interviews – don’t freak out if you can’t always get to the farmer’s market for organically grown food. A peek in his fridge once revealed some processed food, including a can of spray whip cream. He said his son likes the whipped cream on his Belgian waffles.
“I’m not a fanatic,” he said.
So I’ll add this to his seven word manifesto:
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. Don’t freak out.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Springtime
What isn't there to dig about spring?
When I sit at the computer at 9:30 a.m. on a Sunday, here's what I see. The sun is busting through a big pine tree right outside the window. If I listen closely, I can hear the sounds of springtime: the many patrons of the coffeeshop next door chatting and sipping Peace Coffee; their bored children squeak as they chase each other around on the sidewalk.
About this time of the morning, the little cat Baci is vying for my attention by rubbing up against my shins and occasionally, reaching a paw up to tap me on the leg. Most times he adds a little 'claw' to ensure some sort of response.
That's my cue to pick the little dickens up and harass him.
Monday, April 21, 2008
first grillin' of the season
I took a day off of work last week and got bit by the grill bug. Chicken is one of my favorite things to cook. I like the indirect heat method of grilling because it takes longer and the chicken gets mega-juicy. Put a drip pan underneath and catch the tasty leaks. Don't get me wrong, I love burnin' burgers and steaks, but they're done in a matter of minutes and then all those hot coals just go to waste.
Saturday, March 08, 2008
God watch
There are more protests over cartoons depicting the prophet - er what's his name? The protests are being held in Afghanistan, mind you. To that I say, 'dudes, you live in a country being torn apart by war. Isn't there something else worth raising your fist and yelling about?'The Mormon church recently decided to throw its support behind a state law banning the sale of wine coolers in grocery stores. According to the AP: "I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that these alcopops are
directed to our kids. It is a gateway drug," said Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab.
Restrictions on wine coolers were almost guaranteed after the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said last month that it supported doing so. Sixty percent of the state's residents are
Mormon, but 80 percent to 90 percent of lawmakers are.
----
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Music to torture terrorists by
Last week Mother Jones released a list of songs that are reportedly used as 'torture music' on terror suspects.
Says Mother Jones: "Music has been used in American military prisons and on bases to induce sleep deprivation, "prolong capture shock," disorient detainees during interrogations—and also drown out screams. Based on a leaked interrogation log, news reports, and the accounts of soldiers and detainees, here are some of the songs that guards and interrogators chose."
Topping the list is "F*ck your God" by Deicide. You can listen to a clip from the song on the Mother Jones website. What jihadist wouldn't crack after listening to this satanic, speed-core (complete with 'cookie monster' vocals) played at earsplitting levels 24 hours a day?
The list also includes the Barney song, the Meow mix jingle and curiously "Raspberry Beret" by Prince. Really?
Here are a few of my suggestions that didn't make the list:
Anything by Celine Dion (that bitch just annoys me)
the commercial jingle for Kay Jewelers
"Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" by Wham
The entire score of "Guys and Dolls"
"Proud to Be An American" by Lee Greenwood
Of course, there's more. But any of this stuff played 24 hours a day would cause me to either dig out my eardrums with a melon-baller, or confess to being a terrorist.
Monday, March 03, 2008
My theme song
I've often wondered that if I was a character in a movie, what my theme music would be? Well, I've found it in a song called "That Kind of Man," by a band called The Heavy.
What better musical accompaniment could a soul brother like me ask for? That driving beat and Curtis Mayfield-esque vocals bumping as the camera follows me as I cruise through downtown Minneapolis in my dope Ford Focus.
"duh-nah nah, duh duh nah nah, duh duh nah nah..."
I'm on my way for a big meeting with 'The Man.' Now I'm walking down an alley, wearing a full-length black leather trench coat, black beatle-boots and a turtle neck sweater.
"duh-nah nah, duh duh nah nah, duh duh nah nah..."
sweet...
Thursday, February 14, 2008
From the heart
Valentine's day cards are generally way too sappy and fake. I mean, really, a card with a picture of a silouetted couple on the front and a canned message inside is supposed to get you some leg?
Not for me. I've decided to post my superior-awesome Valentine's Day poem to my beloved on my blog for the whole world (or the three or four people who read it) to see:
Your love is better than bacon
or finding a 20 dollar bill in my coat
Your love is better than sunshine
and chocolate and freedom and whiskey
or clean laundry or curried goat
without you life would be cruel, nasty and banal
it would suck, much worse, than being hungover at the dentist getting a root canal (with Celine Dion music playing in the background)
I love the things you don't like about yourself
like the body parts you think are too big
I love you more than the gays like the showtunes
I need you more than Harry Connick Jr. needs a gig
(really, what's he been doing lately?)
Your beauty makes me feel giggly and warm
like a schedule one drug
And right now I need a fix,
c'mon baby gimme a hug
(like 50 cent)
You're prettier than new money
sexier than a rare, ribeye steak
You smell nicer than a Bed Bath and Beyond
you make other women jealous and say 'gimme a break'
Some may hate you cause you're beautiful
but let them haters hate
All that matters is I love you
This is a celebration bitches - let's celebrate!
Happy Valentine's Day baby
Saturday, February 09, 2008
When the Levees Broke
Watched the Spike Lee documentary, "When the Levees Broke" last night. It is probably the closest any outsider can get to what happened to the people who got flooded out of their homes and their lives.
I took this photo of an old cemetery in New Orleans in 2006. Mrs. M and I loved our visit. The people were great; food spectacular; music amazing. But after watching the documentary last night, we realized that we missed so much. The city will never be what is used to be.
That's a crying shame.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Another great photo
This is the first car I bought with my own money. A 1971 Plymouth Valiant. I bought it for $600 from a dude who used to drive the inter-campus shuttle which I took from class to work everyday when I was in college.
The bus driver was a Jehovah's Witness. I found out after I asked him one day if he voted during the last election. He told me his religion forbade him from taking part in such earthly, secular activities. I asked him, 'well, what if someone that you thought was evil was running for president. And your vote was the best way to stop him?' He told me that was up to the lord to handle.
Anyway, I loved the Valiant. In this picture it's parked behind the house I lived in during much of my college days. The house was located downtown, 1212 S. 7th street. 1212 was the scene of a lot of keggers, brawls, all kinds of sex, drug use and a few mice.
Oh yeah, the car. It was so cool. But one day, while I was stuck in traffic, it overheated and burned up the engine. It would have cost three times what I paid for the car to fix it. I was heartbroken, but, then again, it was just a car.
I got another one later. But you never forget your first.
Saturday, February 02, 2008
The greatest thing since, well, bacon
Hats off to the 'Breakfast Blogger' for bringing the 'bacon weave' to my attention. How many times have you been eating a supertastydelicious BLT or bacon double cheeseburger, and you have to keep re-adjusting your bacon? It shifts around because the lettuce and mayo is slippery. And of course, you want to make sure you get some salty, smoky goodness in every bite.
I've got to try this soon.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
one of my favorite photos
This is me and my big brother Niel. The photo was taken almost 40 years ago. My mom tells me that when I was this age, I followed my brother everywhere. I tried to emulate everything he did. I looked up to him and he could do no wrong in my eyes. Had my brother been a real dick, he could've done some cruel stuff to his little brother. But he never did.
I still look up to him and think he can do no wrong. He lives in California with his wife and two kids. One, Jett, is a little boy about as old as I am in the photo.
Niel is one of the coolest people you'll ever meet. He's only three years older than me, but I still want to be like him when I grow up.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
It doesn't get this cold in Africa
Sometimes when it gets this cold, I get mad at white folks for the whole slavery thing. I think, 'hey, if they didn't take my people out of Africa, I'd be in some warm country right now.' Sure, I might be dodging bullets or machetes in the coup attempt of the week. But I'd be able to unclench my shoulders and neck once in a while.
So, if you're white and you drive by a group of black folks shivering in the cold waiting for a bus. And they scowl at you -- all warm and content in your sensible compact car. Chances are they're thinking the same thing I am: "Damn, it don't get this cold in Africa."
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Memory Lane...
I just got a new scanner. So I've been scanning some pictures that are tucked away in photo albums on a shelf in our bedroom. My goal is to bring them back into the light of day and make them more accessible.
So far, I've gotten through pics taken about the time me and the Mrs. first met and some of our informal wedding shots.
There are so many pictures from parties. Most of the photos feature our guests mugging for the camera as they grip their drinks. It's funny to see clothes you used to wear; that ugly lamp we used to have in the living room of the old duplex we lived in over north. Some of the pictures feature couples that are no longer together. And some of the wedding photos show loved ones who are no longer with us.
You also notice how seven or eight years have changed the people around you. Back then our faces were a little thinner; us dudes had more hair.
Check out the wedding pic. It makes me think, 'dang, I looked pretty sharp. No wonder she wanted to marry me.' heh.
Somebody probably said this before me, but pictures really are bookmarks. And these are stuck in a book that's still being written.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Prepare for a 'back in my day' rant
The older I get, the more I utter a similar phrase - like "I remember when" or "back in the day." Sometimes I feel like Dana Carvey's 'Grumpy Old Man' character. "In my day, the girls didn't wear underwear made of strings. They wore big, white bloomers that covered them from head to toe. And we liked it!"For today's installment of 'remember when' I turn to college football.
Remember when the only college
football bowl games were played on New Year's Day?Now, there are way, way too many bowl games and most of them are played anywhere between Thanksgiving and like, mid-January. It used to be just the Fiesta, Orange, Sun, Cotton, Gator, Rose and Sugar Bowls. Then the bowls started to 'run out of money' so they needed sponsors to bankroll them. So, you started getting the 'Federal Express Orange Bowl' or the 'Tostitos Fiesta Bowl' and stuff like that.
That led to shit like the 'Chick-fil-A Bowl'. Never heard of Chick-fil-A? Neither have I. I think they're a fast food chain or something. Not McDonalds, or Burger King or some other established fast food chain. WTF?
Of course, there's the Outback Bowl (named after the mediocre restaurant chain).
Here are a few others, "The Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl" and the "Meineke Car Care Bowl." So do the winners of this one get coupons for free oil changes? There's the "San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl." I kid you not.
I count a little over 30 bowls this holiday season. So that also means just about every college team in the nation gets to play in a bowl game. It used to be just the best teams got in. Now, apparently all a team needs is to have an above .500 record.
Happy New Year, y'all
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Molly Ivins: An appreciation
Political columnist Molly Ivins died in 2007. So as a little tribute, I cut up a speech she gave at Tulane U in 2004 and made some video snippets. Each clip is two to three minutes - very short.
Personally, I'll miss Ivins because she had a knack for espousing very populist, progressive views without clobbering people over the head with it.
The first clip is classic Ivins as she talks about defending the First Amendment against the machinations of an anti-pornography minister in Austin, TX.
She followed politics for the Texas Observer and could spin hilarious yarns about some of the odd elected officials that lived on planet Texas.
Ivins was critical of politicians and the political machine. But she never became cynical. That is, perhaps one of the things I admire about her most.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Merry X-box or xmas or something
Here are some things I love about this time of year. Lights everywhere. It makes sense that during the darkest time of year, that people celebrate light. Whether you follow the traditional pagan recognition of the solstice or you believe Jebus is the light of the world.
And by the way, isn't it funny to hear the Christians complain about the 'war on xmas?' Or complain that Santa - a make believe character - is replacing Jebus as the symbol of the season? I find it just as plausible that a dude in a sleigh drawn by eight flying reindeer can deliver toys to children all around the world in one night - as I do that god decided to impregnate a virgin and that his son would perform magic tricks, get nailed to a cross and then rise from the dead.
Well, maybe that's all I like about this time of year. Nice having a day off work too I suppose.
Hey, my buddy Bill just started a blog. Check out his photos, he's a smashing photog.
Merry New Year y'all.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Five days in Playa del Carmen
Highlights:
My Mrs, already beautifully sun-browned and delicious from over a week in Playa met me at the bus station. In the first half hour she got me a chicken tamale from a street vendor, gave me a few shots of tequilla and then 'put it on me' back at the hotel.
That pretty much set up how the next five days went.
Me, the Mrs and her sister - the kid Dominique - kept the following schedule:
a.m. - breakfast, beach
p.m. - beach, nap, 1st dinner and drinks
late a.m. - more drinks and 2nd and third dinner (usually found at a taco stand or pizza joint).
Other highlights:
Drinking all of the tequilla in Playa (or at least trying)
smoking a real Cuban cigar
food and drink everywhere you go
lots of friendly dogs hanging out at the bars.
warm sunshine, blue waters and tropical breezes
taste of the ocean and Resposado Tequilla on wife's lips
sitting on the beach at night in Tulum, watching the waves crash onto reefs and sand and spending the night in a cabana with the Mrs which was reminiscent of our honeymoon seven years ago.
(And just for the record, my wife is already more beautiful than 99.9% of the mortal females. But she got even more gorgeous with a few extra layers of sun darkened skin contrasting against her white bikini.)
In short, my five days in Playa was all about love, sunshine, tequilla, ocean, sky, good eats, family, friendship, sex, dreams and art.
My friends, I ask you, 'what more do you need?'
(More pics of the trip and posted here.)
Friday, November 02, 2007
Feline delinquent attempts arson
Does this look like the face of a criminal?
Yep.
My cat Baci nearly burned down the friggin' building this week.
I went out for a few hours to a friends house and when I got home and opened the door to the building, I immediately smelled gas. When I walked into the apartment and entered the kitchen, I found a pan full of tomato sauce on the floor next to the stove and the right front burner nob turned all the way up, filling the kitchen with natural gas.
I launched into a tirade of profanity as I began to open windows and break out the fans to get the dangerous fumes out of the building. I knew it was Baci, because he'd lately taken to jumping on the stove on his way up to the top of the refrigerator. I wanted to choke that little cat, but first I had to alleviate the threat of an explosion. I had to move fast because at any moment a spark could have blown us all to kingdom come (and I half expected Baci to try and finish the job by lighting a cigarette or something).
Not only did he nearly kill us all, he spoiled the rest of the very lovely tomato sauce I'd made the day before. I was hungry and looking forward to eating it over some linguini.
That little fucker might have 9 lives, but I've only got one. So every morning I tape up the nobs on the stove before I leave the house.
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