Life Begins at 30

Restaurant Websites: The Great and the Terrible.

If you're anything like me, you just may judge restaurants on their website design. 

Check out my KQED post today haranguing the terrible restaurant websites in San Francisco.

This made me giggle

I'm just hoping we can beat the Chocolate Jesus.

Monday Thoughts

I have been developing a few photos from my trip, trying to decide what I am going to do with them.  Of the few that I printed, this one came out really nicely in 8 x 10.  I took it at the Dalat airport while we were waiting for our flight to Ho Chi Minh City.

I'm back in Los Angeles this week, working and also babysitting my favorite 12 and 9-year old boys -- the sons of some lifelong friends -- for a whopping eight days.  Yesterday was a banner day as I took them to the first farmers' market that they've ever been to.  Mark, the youngest, was pretty interested in everything, even choosing some purple cauliflower from Weiser Family Farms, carefully inspecting about 5 booths of strawberries before settling on our purchase, and also taking home some kettle corn. 

If you happen to see a copy of Time magazine this week,  check out this week's cover story "Eating Better than Organic" about the local food movement and one man's account of trying to make a decision between local and organic. I felt like a proud parent when I received the press release on Friday, as the Eat Local Challenge blog and the Locavores are both mentioned in the piece.  Big pat on the back to all of you who work so hard to talk about the importance of where your food comes from.  We are being heard, and are acting as catalysts for a conversation that is now occurring throughout this country!

John Mackey and Michael Pollan on the Same Stage!

Go to Ethicurean to read more.

I'll definitely be there on Feb 27.  Now who's going to offer to get me a ticket when they're available on Feb 1?  I'll still be on the big trip.

What I'm Reading

When is Local not Really Local? The point of view of a fruit farmer in upstate New York.  In this post, he talks about the fact that providing local food is difficult when the consumer is looking for instant gratification. 

Here again the consumer is the only one that can make a difference. If people want strawberries in February, then there is going to be someone out there to get it to them. Consumers often focus on buying locally grown products only when they are “in season,” instead of looking to use them throughout the year. Many local products can be processed for use throughout the year, but we don’t do that much anymore. And others like apples store quite well for many months throughout the winter.

The Whole Foods Story, why the elite supermarket's stock is tanking, and why it shouldn't be (via Worsted Witch)

Whole Foods, which enjoyed two decades of growth, is catching flack from all sides. From below: Wal-Mart is making a push to sell more organic foods, and so are old-line grocers like Safeway and A&P. From above: As Whole Foods becomes mainstream, food snobs are going ever further afield, and local food aficionados have taken to joining the Community Supported Agriculture movement.

Poor Taste, why The Economist's recent assault on 'ethical food' missed the mark

... the magazine's contention that food hauled in from long distances burns less energy than locally produced food rests on shaky ground.

And in "getting ready for the big trip" news, an ode to why the Internet is so dang cool.  Because I can ask questions like this and get 15 answers.

Ted Kaczynski could have been a Food Blogger

Some new documents have been released that were in Unabomber Ted Kaczynski's cabin.  Too bad that he didn't know about food blogging -- he could have focused all that bombing energy into every detail of his food life.

"He wrote about everything. He wrote about what he had for lunch on May 5, 1979, where he got the food, how he prepared it and what did it taste like."

From CBS5.com.

Andy Griffin on Spinach

Chez Pim posted an essay by Andy Griffin of Mariquita Farm today, and it's the most coherent discussion of the spinach / e.coli debacle that I have heard so far.  In the essay, Griffin expresses some of the same frustration that I have been feeling with the broad strokes descriptions the FDA has been giving to the types of spinach we should avoid.  And he does so using rational arguments and his own experience with the bagged spinach industry.  You can read the essay here.

Photo taken by Jen Maiser of Life Begins at 30.  All rights reserved.

Catching Up

Friday night is the worst night ever to post to your blog, but I suspect that there is going to be a revolt against this site if I don't post something soon.

Things have been very busy around here.  As you saw from my pictures, I spent a little over a week in Los Angeles and then meandered back on Highway 101 stopping at some of my favorite places.  You can read my write-up about the drive back on KQED's Bay Area Bites (Parts One and Two).

I finally made it to the fabulous Wednesday Santa Monica Farmers' Market.  It was nearly three years ago that an elderly man ran his car into this farmers' market killing 10 people.  I remembered this when I was at the market and noticed an amazing amount of camaraderie between the farmers there.  All markets have their close relationships, but this was a palpable feeling that the farmers at this market were family -- and I truly believe that it's because they went through that horrible tragedy together.

I grew up in Southern California, and didn't move from there until I was 27.  So in many ways, it feels like home there.  It was interesting being there during the Eat Local month.  One of the things that we always hear about eating local is "it's easy to do if you're in California."  I would revise that stereotype to say it's relatively easy to do if you are in Northern California.  Southern California, to my mind, is a whole different story.  I have a friend who lives in Manhattan Beach who participated in the Eat Local Challenge, and she changed her challenge from 150 miles to the entire state of California.  And being down there, I can see why.

I am planning on talking about this further in the future, but for now I'd just like to give a big high five to the Southern California participants of the challenge.  You really had your work cut out for you.

One reason for the quiet on this site is because a lot of my attention has been focused on the Eat Local Challenge site.  I am really proud of the work that everyone has done over there.  And it's getting some attention.  We were the Typepad Featured Blog a couple weeks ago, and then the site was mentioned in Time magazine this past week, as a part of an article about the Locavores.  It included an interview with Barbara Fisher, and was quite a thrill. 

Meanwhile, spring is almost gone and summer is almost here.  Our CSA box* this week was one of the best yet: strawberries, fresh lavender, cherries, dino kale, beets, and fresh potatoes.  I wish that I could bottle and sell the scent that filled my car as I drove home from the pick-up site.  It was the quintessential smell of spring to me.  If you make it to the Saturday Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market this week or next, be sure to consider some of Eatwell's fresh lavender.  It's only available for about a month a year, and is worth buying to either put in vases fresh or to dry yourself.  To me, it is the yearly sign that summer is here.

* I would have taken a picture of the CSA box if my boyfriend wasn't off with BOTH cameras in the middle of the desert taking photographs.  Bragging rights to you if you can figure out where he went.  Bragging rights cancelled if I already told you in person where he was and you guess anyway!

Great Articles in Chronicle, New York Times

Chad Heeter  wrote an article that was published in the San Francisco Chronicle today entitled "The oil in your oatmeal: A lot of fossil fuel goes into producing, packaging and shipping our breakfast."  It does a good job of explaining some of the fossil fuel-saving reasons to eat locally grown, minimally processed food.  An excerpt:

So how do you gauge how much oil went into your food? 

First check out how far it traveled. The farther it went, the more oil it required. Next, gauge how much processing went into the food. A fresh apple is not processed, but Kellogg's Apple Jacks cereal requires enormous amounts of energy to process. The more processed the food, the more oil it requires. Then consider how much packaging is wrapped around your food. Buy fresh vegetables instead of canned, and buy bulk beans, grains, and flour if you want to reduce that packaging. 

You may think you're in the clear because you eat strictly organically grown foods. When it comes to fossil-fuel calculations though, that isn't relevant. However it is grown, a raspberry is shipped, packed and chilled the same way. 

Also, in the New York Times Magazine today, a very lengthy article by Michael Pollan entitled "The Modern Hunter-Gatherer."  It is adapted from his forthcoming book "The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals."  To tell the truth, I haven't had time to read this article today, but I know enough about Michael Pollan and the premise of his new book to recommend this article.

The Real Dirt on Farmer John - Back in Theaters

Last year, I reported about seeing the movie The Real Dirt on Farmer John - the documentary movie about an organic farmer outside of Chicago.  The movie is going to be shown on several theaters throughout the nation, and here in the Bay Area will include Q&A sessions by Farmer John and director Taggart Siegel.  See the list below or look here for further details.

CHICAGO - Friday, January 20.  Esquire 6 Theater at 58 East Oak St. Farmer John and Director Taggart Siegel in attendance for Q & A following the film.

MINNEAPOLIS - Friday, January 20. Regal Brooklyn Center 20 Theatre at 6420 Camden Avenue North in Brooklyn Center Farmer John and Director Taggart Siegel in attendance for Q & A following the film on Saturday January 21st.

Friday, January 20. Crown Block E 15 at 600 Hennepin Avenue Minneapolis

SAN FRANCISCO - Opening Night on Friday, January 27. Presidio Theater at 2340 Chestnut St. Farmer John in attendance for Q & A following the film on Opening Night. (415) 776-2388

BERKELEY - Opening Night on Friday, January 27. Shattuck Landmark Theater at 2230 Shattuck Avenue Director Taggart Siegel in attendance for Q & A following the film on Opening Night.

SANTA CRUZ - Opening Night on Friday, January 27. The Nickelodeon Theater at 210 Lincoln Street

SANTA ROSA - Opening Night on Friday, January 27. The Rialto Lakeside at 551 Summerfield Road

SAN RAFAEL - Opening Night on Friday, January 27. The Rafael Film Center at 1118 Fourth Street

PORTLAND - Opening Night on Saturday, January 28 at 5:00 pm. Cinema 21 at 616 NW 21st Avenue Farmer John and Director Taggart Siegel in attendance for Q & A following the film on Opening Night. Scheduled to run February 1 – February 9

SAN DIEGO - Opening Night on Friday, February 10. Mission Valley Cinemas (Hazard Center) at 7510 Hazard Center Drive

DEL MAR - Opening Night on Friday, February 10. Flower Hill Theater at 2630 Via De La Valle

TEMPE - Opening Night on Friday, February 24. Valley Art

DENVER - Opening Night on Friday, February 24. Cherry Creek 8 at 3000 East 1st Avenue

BOULDER - Opening Night on Friday, February 24. United Artists Village Theater at 2525 Arapahoe Avenue

SANTA MONICA - Opening Night on Friday, March 10. The Laemmle Santa Monica at 1332 Second Street

WEST HOLLYWOOD - Opening Night on Friday, March 10. Sunset 5 at 8000 Sunset Boulevard

PASADENA - Opening Night on Friday, March 10. Pasadena Playhouse 7 at 673 E Colorado Boulevard

ORANGE COUNTY - Opening Night on Friday, March 10. Edwards University Town Center 6 at 4245 Campus Drive (949) 854-8818

Edible San Francisco

This post falls under the "tooting my own horn" category.

Edible San Francisco is a magazine whose initial publication was this month.  Another magazine produced by the folks at Edible Communities, Edible San Francisco is edited by none other than Bruce Cole of Saute Wednesday.

In addition to articles about honey, Cafe Gratitude, and Three Wise Hens eggs, there is also an article by yours truly about the Eat Local Challenge.  You can find copies for free around town -- check these locations.

Tidbits

"Of the 37 ingredients in chicken nuggets, something like 30 are made, directly or indirectly, from corn."

"The question of where we do our food shopping is an important one. Thinking carefully about where we spend money on food is a large part of eating locally and sustainably.  I know that when I buy produce from Wegman's, for example, that the vegetables may come from anywhere in the world.  Moreover, the farmer who grew the food will have to split any profits with Wegmans, the distributor, the marketer, and the packaging company.  There won't be much left for the farmer."

"First you layer instant mashed potato flakes on the bottom. I use 1/2 a box. Then over that you pour 4 cans of Cream of Mushroom soup. On top of that you do chunks of velveeta. I use an entire brick! Don't you just love the way Velveeta melts? "

dear internet

Please stop posting interesting stuff!  Can't you see I am trying to work here?

Current diversions:

Sugar is the Latest Supermarket Demon, NY Times (via Alaina).

Dr. Stuart Fischer, who worked for nine years with the low-carb diet specialist Dr. Robert Atkins and now runs his own nutrition practice in Manhattan, contends that artificial sweeteners do nothing for a person's "overall health" because they perpetuate cravings for sweet foods.

"They remind dieters about the taste of the forbidden fruit," Dr. Fischer said. "Does Alcoholics Anonymous recommend alcohol-free beer? Of course not." Dr. Fischer said he counsels patients to cut out all sweet foods from their diet to eliminate sugar cravings, which he says can lay the groundwork for Type II diabetes.

Dr. David Katz, a nutrition specialist and professor of public health at the Yale University School of Medicine, says that in his 15 years of treating patients he has observed that people who consume a lot of artificially sweetened foods also end up eating an excess of foods loaded with regular sugar, negating any savings in calories. "If you're exposed to sweet foods and drinks often, the threshold for satisfaction goes up," Dr. Katz said.

Bitter Greens Journal on the billionth acre of GM crops planted.

Also, exploding yields led to tumbling prices. Not coincidentally, the same period described by Business Week saw the total number of U.S. farms plunge from 5 million to under 2 million.

There's a lot of despair and pain built into that number, lots of tradition ruined, families and entire areas devastated. The quality of our food, too, has paid a dear price.

And as GM crops continue their awesome ascent, I fear, the unpaid bills of industrial agriculture will continue piling up.

The only salute I can offer Monsanto on the occasion of the billion-acre milestone is a middle finger raised high in the air. I hope more farmers join me in this gesture.

Halting the march of unreason, including organic foods (SF Chronicle). 

Lord Taverne characterizes as "a monument to irrationality" the trend toward consumers buying overpriced organic food, promoted by advocates whose "principles are founded on a scientific howler; it is governed by rules that have no rhyme or reason, and its propaganda could have an adverse effect on the health of poor people."

The Real Dirt on Farmer John

Last night, I saw The Real Dirt on Farmer John at the Kabuki Theater as a part of the San Francisco Film Festival.  John Peterson has a CSA farm about two hours out of Chicago in rural Illinois, and this is a documentary about his life, the life of his family farm, and the trials and tribulations that go along with farming.  The director, Taggart Siegel, has known Farmer John for about 25 years and has filmed many important parts of the life of the farm - including days in the late seventies when the farm was host to many artist friends in a commune-type atmosphere.  The many different phases of Farmer John's life that were captured on film were remarkable and really added to the story.

The entire film was wonderful, but the last portion of the film, focusing on the farm's transition to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) model was really worth the price of admission.  As an added bonus, both Farmer John and Taggert Siegel were present to answer questions - and questions we asked.  I would estimate they spoke for about 45 minutes after the film.

If you have the ability to see the film during the day, it is going to be shown tomorrow at the Kabuki at 1.00 pm -- see the SFFS site for more information.  Peterson and Siegel will be in attendance and discussing the film afterward.

If you don't live in the Bay Area, click here to see screenings nationwide.  It is also screening in NYC on Wednesday.  If you need details on that, email me and I will try and find them.

 

We interrupt this regularly scheduled food blog ...

... for a lesson about iPod photo and how I almost lost all our vacation pictures.

The moral of the story?  Thank goodness for Norton Disk Doctor.

When Jason came home with a new iPod Photo about a week before our trip, I initially rolled my eyes at it - thinking it was just another one of his gadgets.  But then I realized that this meant that we would not be having to take a laptop to Venice.  Using a connector between the iPod and the camera, we could download direct to the iPod and it would save all our photos until we returned home.

I was nervous at the prospect that this gadget would be responsible for the safety of all our photos, but was willing to suspend worry and trust that Jason had tested it all thoroughly enough to know it would work.

We returned home late Saturday night and part of Jason's ritual that night was to check and make sure that the download of the photos would work smoothly.  He had several gigs of photos on the iPod photo so he just tested a few pictures, we saw that they downloaded to the computer very nicely and went to bed.  Fast forward to the morning.  I woke up way before Jason and decided to grab his laptop and go into the other room to read my email.  The iPod was connected, but since both seemed to be sleeping, I just disconnected the iPod and took the computer.

You know how computers get grumpy when you detach a piece of hardware without dismounting / ejecting it?  Well, I got that same message that we always get ... the one that we all kind of ignore, knowing that we shouldn't have detached the hardware, but whatever.  You've done it ... I know you've done it.

When Jason realized what I had done he said, "I bet you didn't disconnect it properly and the computer yelled at you didn't it?"  I meekly said yes, and we kind of laughed about it.

A while later, Jason went to download his photos and the computer wouldn't recognize the iPod.  It knew something was there, but wanted to reformat it.  That was the only option that Jason seemed to have.  I was in deep doo-doo.  He tried everything he could think of - restarting, he went on boards to figure out if anyone had experienced the same thing, tried mounting with the iPod connected to it's AC adapter, turning the iPod into a hard drive and trying to make my computer recognize it ... nothing was working. 

We for sure were not going to let anything reformat the iPod - that would have meant losing everything we had taken in Venice that was not yet backed up. 

To give J credit, he really kept his cool.  He wasn't mad at me, and realized that it was a serious glitch in the iPod software that was letting this happen.  He was almost out of options when he decided to try Norton Disk Doctor.  He said that it had saved him before, and so we shelled out the $100 for a new copy of it and let it run.

Disk doctor found several errors in the directory structure and apparently repaired them.  When the program was finished running ... magic!  It allowed the iPod to be mounted, and Jason was able to (quickly) download all of his pictures.  He is planning on wiping the iPod photo clean today and reformatting.  At some point during all the drama, he grumbled something about wishing that he had bought the Nikon gadget that allows photo storage instead.

In the end, I don't think either of us regret buying or using the iPod photo, we just had a scary couple hours and will probably treat it as gold whenever it is not backed up ... and I have vowed to never unplug the iPod from his computer without ejecting it via the OS again.

 

Did you read your Chronicle carefully today?

Did you see Jason's picture of Blue Bottle Coffee Company in the Chronicle Magazine today?  I know that this doesn't count cause he's my boyfriend and all, but you should really check out his blog if you are into photography.  He has been trying to post a shot a day, and it's kind of fun to see his adventures (many of which are my adventures too).

Grab Bag

Sites I have been reading:

the hungry tiger.  I really enjoy this blog - always interesting posts and tempting recipes.

U.S. Food Policy.  An new blog with a food economy perspective.  (via someone else's blog ... I can't remember who!  If it's you, let me know so I can credit you)

Blue Bottle Clown College.  One of the guys over at Blue Bottle Coffee Company has started a blog with stories about working for the best coffee company in the world.  In case you missed it in the Chronicle, BBCC is opening up a coffee kiosk in Hayes valley ... on Linden Street (b/w Hayes and Fell, west side of Gough)

What I have been cooking:

White Beans with Black Kale and Savoy Cabbage, Local Flavors, Deborah Madison
Meatloaf from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook

What I have been reading:

Eat Here: Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket by Brian Halwell.  Halwell's argument for buying locally grown goods is sound and makes complete sense.  I suggest this book to anyone who is either on the fence about buying locally, or who needs more backup information in order to talk to others about buying locally.

Nothing to do with food:

This is an article about why Alias is such a great show.
I am currently listening to this new album by Tegan & Sara, and it is fantastic.

Grab Bag

I always love the miscellaneous categories in trivia games and shows.  The "Grab Bag" category, or whatever they call it, on Jeopardy is always full of very random questions and facts. 

Time has been fairly short this week, so I apologize for the quick posts.  Here are some quips about things I have been thinking about but haven't had time to write complete posts about:

Life Begins @ Thirty nominated in the Food Blog Awards.  This blog has been nominated for "Best Food Blog - Food Industry", which I couldn't be more pleased about.  Of all the categories listed, this is the one that I am most excited to be recognized for.  The new year will continue to bring you more facts about the food industry, sustainable and local buying, and more farmer's market reviews.  Please vote today!

One last chance for local gift buying.  The Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market is holding a special Christmas eve market on Friday, December 24 from 10 am - 2 pm.  According to the newsletter, the following farms are planning on attending:  Allstar Organics, Bariani Olive Oil, Bulldog Cactus, Captain Mike's Holy Smoke, Downtown Bakery, Eatwell Farm, Four Sisters Farm, Galaxy Granola, Genuine Exotic Melons, G.L. Alfieri Farms, Happy Boy Farm, Hare Hollow, Hidden Star Orchard, Highland Hills Farm, Iacopi Farm, Juicey Lucy, Lagier Ranches, Loulou’s Garden, Marin Gourmet, Moua Farm, Nash’s Olive Oil, Nick Sciabica and Sons Olive Oil, Redwood Hill, Star Route Farm, The Pasta Shop, Torosian Farms, and Twin Girls Farm.

Corporation-Friendly Laws outlaw Seed Saving in Iraq. This is an issue that I have been reading quite a bit about, and am outraged over.  Essentially, new legislation put into effect by the new Iraqi government with guidance by the U.S. is outlawing the centuries-old tradition of farmers to save seeds.  The reasons for this are supposedly many - from making Iraq friendly to big business (ie., Monsanto and other large seed companies) to making the Iraqi crops more exportable.  What it will do is make the Iraqi farmers completely dependent on patented seeds that are being thrust upon them by big business.  Keep an eye out for stories about this or read more about it here.

Forget about taste, Florida says, these tomates are just too ugly to ship. Unlike the smooth, round baseball-size tomatoes usually shipped from Florida from mid-October through mid-April, the lush, vine-ripened UglyRipes have what the industry calls a "cat face," full of uneven crevices and ridges. The Florida Tomato Committee, a trade group that controls sales and shipments of round tomatoes, has determined that the brand does not meet its standards for shape, lack of blemishes and other defects. "The marketing order has nothing to do with taste," said Skip Jonas, the committee's compliance officer. "Taste is subjective."

Life Begins @ Thirty in SF Downtown

I was recently interviewed for an article about the Cannery Farmer's Market for a free newspaper called San Francisco Downtown.  The quote is below, and the article can be found here (at least for November - I'll work on getting a more permanent solution posted).

Jennifer ..., whose blog Life Begins @ Thirty keeps a close eye on the Bay Area food and farmers market scene, said densely crowded markets are less practical for regular shoppers.

"I would love it if [The Cannery Farmers’ Market] did better. I think there are a lot of people out there who are frustrated with the Ferry Plaza Market as a place to go," she said.

[She] also said the market gave her a reason to visit an area of the city she rarely sees.

"Before going down to The Cannery Farmers’ Market, I hadn't been down there in a while. It's such a pleasant market. It’s got live music, and it's an easy market to walk," she said.

Foodfight among Taiwanese Lawmakers

"You've got no shame!" screamed Chu Fong-chih of the opposition Nationalist Party, after throwing a take-out box of chicken and rice at Chen Tsung-yi, a legislator from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party who backed the special budget.

Chen responded by accusing Chu of sympathizing with Taiwan's arch-foe China, and flung his own lunch box at her.

View video here

Great Nike Ad

Check out this great Lance Armstrong ad by Nike. (Thanks to Norlinda for pointing it out!)

Hard Addictions: 24

A couple weeks ago, I posted discussing "Soft Addictions". Well, I didn't really know what one of my not-so-soft addictions were until this week when I sat down to watch the last four episodes of 24, season 2 and realized that the disk I received from Netflix was broken. Yup, hard addiction.

(I tried to find an image for this post but was so worried about finding out what happens on the show that I had to stop my search)

The National Spelling Bee

The National Spelling Bee is on ESPN today. I had it on for a few minutes this morning (while working hard, of course) and watched one kid get up to spell his word, PASS OUT in the middle of his turn, GET UP AGAIN and spell his word correctly. The Drama!! I think they recognize that they have a lot of new attention due to the movie Spellbound, and have done things like set a time limit (which was not the case in the past).

-------

Salon: How could women do that?

Interesting article in Salon over the weekend. "How could women do that?" explores the fact that women were involved in the torture of Iraqi prisoners ...

Of all the shocking photos to come out of Abu Ghraib, some of the most harrowing feature not a male but a female soldier, Lynndie England, an apple-cheeked 21-year-old from Fort Ashby, W.Va.

England has quickly become infamous for the photos in which she appears: There's the one of her jeering at hooded Iraqi prisoners standing in line, cigarette dangling from her mouth, pointing at the prisoners' genitalia. And there's the one that appeared yesterday, in which she's dragging a prisoner around by a leash attached to his neck.

She is now detained at Fort Bragg, N.C., where she has reportedly been denied legal counsel. (England, the only one of the accused to be dismissed from duty, is pregnant.) According to news stories, her family contends that she was a "paper-pusher" who wasn't trained to interrogate prisoners and was only "in the wrong place at the wrong time." Perhaps. But that doesn't change the global reaction to the photos: How could American soldiers gleefully torture other human beings? And then: How could a woman do this?

When the subject of women in combat was a hot topic in the 1980s, proponents argued that female soldiers would humanize the hypermasculinized machinations of the military -- perhaps even help prevent scandals like Abu Ghraib from happening. But the terrifying reports from the past week have thrown a major wrench into that theory. For centuries, women have been the casualties of mass rape and sexual torture during wartime, but for the first time in American history, women are accused of being perpetrators of sexual humiliation against male prisoners of war. Besides England, two other of the six soldiers who face court-martial for abusing Iraqi prisoners are women (Spc. Megan Ambuhl and Spc. Sabrina Harman). And, of course, there's former Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, the only female commander in the war zone, who oversaw Abu Ghraib and two other large jails until she was relieved of her position.

Full article can be read here with a subscription or after viewing an ad or two.

The Magic of iTunes

I have my iTunes on shuffle today, and somehow it knows how to make these great mixes that I wouldn't have thought of myself. Of course I am biased because it IS my music, but I think it's pretty excellent. Here's what I listened to in the past hour:

Riding in my Car, Bruce Springsteen.
Til We Outnumber Em: Woody Guthrie

When that Evening Sun Goes Down, Van Mo.
Tupelo Honey

Please Remember Me, Tim McGraw.
A Place in the Sun

Become You, Indigo Girls.
Become You

Senorita Eula, Don Wilkerson.
Blue N Groovy Volume 2: Mostly Modal

#3, Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals.
Live From Mars

Less than Strangers, Tracy Chapman.
Telling Stories

Sirata, Habib Koite.
Mali to Memphis (Putamayo Collection)

New Dawn Coming, Cowboy Junkies.
Miles from our Home

A Chance with You, Alana Davis.
Fortune Cookies

Don't Take that Attitude to your Grave, Ben Harper.
Welcome to the Cruel World

Hate this Place, Goo Goo Dolls.
Dizzy Up the Girl

This just can't be true ...

New York Daily News - Daily Dish & Gossip

Who could write this stuff? Gotta love that Jessica Simpson. According to The Washington Post, the ditzy star of MTV's hit reality show "Newlyweds" found herself face to face with Cabinet official Gale Norton during a White House tour on Sunday. When Simpson was introduced to President Bush's Secretary of the Interior, she eagerly told Norton: "You've done a nice job decorating the White House."

"Nobody puts Baby in the Corner"

Salon: Why "Dirty Dancing" is the best girl movie ever

Yes, there are people who hate "Dirty Dancing," or who find it cheesy. But the rest of us not only don't change the dial when "She's Like the Wind" comes on the radio -- we actually turn it up. Such is the excellence of the movie that discussing it reduces intelligent and mature women into effusive seventh graders. "Oh my gosh, it just sings to me," says Ellen. "The music is so fabulous, the romance is so fabulous. It's just such a great thing. I just love it." Says Susanna, an ardent feminist, "I thought it was so romantic that she became a dancer and at the end he came back and rescued her."

Great article about the magic of "Dirty Dancing" from Salon (registration required). When it came out in 1987, I was fourteen years old, and it consumed us in Junior High School. My mom was pretty strict, and I don't know that I was able to see it right away. On the 10-year anniversary of Dirty Dancing, they released the movie again and my friends took me for my birthday. This article does a great job of recapping the craze around the goofy love movie of our generation.

"I want my life to be like the dance at the end," says Ellen who, as you may recall, is 53. "It's got it all: beauty, skill, love, passion, parents begging forgiveness. And she does the jump and he lifts her up, and all of a sudden everybody starts dancing -- the races and ages and classes come together. I want everybody in my life to all of a sudden dance together and to have grace and style and be smiling. Is that too much to ask?"

Are you watching Airline?

My new favorite show lately is Airline, on Mondays on A&E. It seems to be a fair look at Southwest Airlines -- sometimes they are right, and sometimes the customer is right. Most of the time, the customer rants and raves and is a complete fool.

I have watched:

> Countless drunks be sent away because you can't fly when you are drunk. The best is when they are sent away and go "sober up" at the bar.

> A woman try to convince the airline that it was ok to let her expletive-yelling oxygen-tank-breathing mother fly, because it was so important to the mother. When the airline said they couldn't let an oxygen tank on board, the concerned daughter said "well you guys are going to have to take care of her and get her back to the hospital then". When that was rejected, they all left the airport ... the 10-year old grandson yelling about suing the airline.

> Southwest employees handle re-routing passengers during last year's blackouts.

> I cried as an employee helped a man with Alzheimer's disease clean himself up after an accident.

> Customers berate, yell at, and threaten Southwest employees who are just trying to do their job.

Watch Airline if you get a chance!

OK Gross

Micro Touch Trimmer Commercial

Back Hair Anyone? This commercial made me laugh a lot when I saw it ... Luckily for you, it's on the Website!!!

I don't think I object to the product so much as the commercial!

Random Interesting Links

THE RECIPE WITH THE WORLD'S MOST VAGUE INSTRUCTIONS
Pork Chops, by James Beard. 1956

THE SITE THAT IS SATISFYING THE VOYEUR IN ME
Other People's Grocery Lists
This site is perfect for someone like me who would never touch someone's germy grocery list if I saw it in a basket or (gasp!) on the ground somewhere. But here, I can view to my sanitary heart's content!

A VERY INTERESTING ARTICLE THAT I READ TODAY
Chronicle: Intel, HP chiefs warn that US needs to improve education system

PHOTOGRAPHS I WISH I COULD TAKE
foodlover.com
Check out his food photography!

A WHOLE LOTTA WAYS TO PROCRASTINATE
Yahoo Picks of the Year

PICTURES OF MY DINNER ON MONDAY NIGHT
http://fogcity.blogs.com/photos/spices_ii/

Google Deskbar

I've had this fun tool for about a week now and love it. It's a search bar built directly into your windows taskbar. You can look something up without launching a browser first. Check it out!

Winged Migration

I've known for a while that I "should" see Winged Migration. But I really rebelled -- who wants to sit through a feature-length film with hardly any talking, and just watching birds? Having seen Winged Migration last night I am here to tell you rent this movie and watch it as soon as you can.

Also, watch the "Making of Winged Migration" clips on the DVD. It is really interesting to discover that this is NOT a documentary, more it is a movie featuring the birds as actors. The creators of the movie staged a lot of the scenes -- bringing their imprinted birds to a particular location and then flying with them. It's a bit of a bubble burst to discover that it wasn't all just natural, however, the perspectives viewed from this movie are extraordinary.

Link to a good article about this movie here.

Penguins for President?

Penguins for President?

Interesting post at linuxjournal regarding the software platforms that presidential candidates are using ...

itunes for windows

"ITunes for Windows is the best Windows app ever written'' -- Steve Jobs

Apple just gave me a great gift. iTunes for Windows. Before last week, iTunes was one of the major reasons I was jealous of the Mac OS. But now ... I can have my Windows OS and iTunes too! It's a good day!

Article from the Chronicle about iTunes here.

Jessica Simpson Watch

Tastes like chicken
Just when you thought "Newlyweds" couldn't get any better than the episode where Jessica Simpson mistakes "Chicken of the Sea" for chicken, the pop princess bride trumps her own finest hour. This week, our new favorite couple are on vacation in the Bahamas, hunkering down for some appetizers with Nick's brother, Drew, and his wife, Leah, when Jessica makes an important discovery.

Leah: (motioning to Buffalo wings) Have you tried these?

Jessica: I don't eat buffalo.

Leah: Ha! It's not buffalo, idiot. Oh my god.

Jessica: It's not?

Leah: No, it's chicken.

Jessica: Then why are they called Buffalo wings?

Nick: Baby, come on. You know that.

Jessica: I don't know this!

Drew: Because barbecue wings started in Buffalo, or something like that. You know, it's kinda weird that buffaloes don't have wings?

Jessica: I never thought about it.

Tune in next week, when Jessica gets confused about corn dogs.

From Heather Havrilesky, Salon.com.  Full article here

Newlyweds: Jessica and Nick

"Is this chicken, what I have, or is this fish?"
The Situation: Jessica asks her husband to explain the flaky white meat inside a can of Chicken of the Sea.
The Profound Lesson: Jessica is not afraid to ask questions that we've all pondered at one time...though, granted, most of us were in preschool when we were pondering them. But by doing so, she demonstrates that a true student of life knows there are no stupid questions--only stupid people. And if she were a stupid person, she would have taken one look at that fish-tailed woman on the label and asked her husband if she were eating canned mermaid, now wouldn't she?

This MTV show is one of my guilty pleasures lately.  Every episode is laugh out loud funny -- hard to believe that you are really watching how a couple lives their life.  Jessica Simpson is not in our world, constantly blurting out classic comments like the one above. 

Thanks to Rachel (another closet Newlyweds viewer) for finding this article.

Entire article can be found here

Nigerian woman escapes stoning sentence

Story here

Sept. 25, 2003 | KATSINA, Nigeria (AP) -- An Islamic appeals court Thursday overturned the conviction of a Nigerian woman sentenced to death by stoning for committing adultery, a case that sharpened the divide between Muslims and Christians in Africa's most-populous country.