Memorial Day -- Lest We Forget, Lest We Break Faith

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

—John McCrae

Century Mark

This is my 100th post on this blog.

So What. Big Deal.

The Death of Reilly

Oh my. From surviving the terrible Hartford Circus Fire of 1944, to winning a Tony, on to movies and TV and then to every damn game show ever, Charles Nelson Reilly was always one of my favorite clowns. Goodbye Jose Chung. So long Uncle Croc. Smooth sailing Claymore Gregg. Farewell Bic Banana. Keep 'em flying Horatio J. Hoodoo. But somehow, I'll miss you most of all, Mr. Really Really Campy Over-the-Top Obviously Gay Guy who sat next to Brett Somers.


Seriously though, Hoodoo rocked.

Dario! Dario!

Way to go Dario! It was a great win for the Scotsman and for AGR. It was also one heck of a race, except for the rain. Lots of lead changes, passing, and some exciting driving. How about Tony Kanaan keeping it between the walls in that crash? That guy is good. I felt pretty bad for Marco Andretti. He was running a good race before his car turned into a glider. Short flight but a long slide, upside-down, into the grass. The kid's a lot tougher than he looks (and a damn site tougher than me, I don't mind telling you). Imagine walking away from a crash like that, getting a microphone stuck in your face as soon as you leave the medical area, and being able to chat with Jamie Little as if it were just another day at the office. Wow.

And in the end the day belongs to Dario Franchitti. I'm glad. He's well known among racers and fans as a classy guy, and today he earned his place on the Borg-Warner.

Red Flag

I'm just sitting here, waiting for things to dry off at Indy. If they don't get going then Tony Kanaan will have won his first Borg-Warner. Great results for AGR, one, two, three, and five.

It's been a pretty exciting race so far. Danica is doing great. Marco is back to last year's form. TK is tops and Dario is terrific. Vitor Meira may be the best driver without a win (including Danica, but Danica has a better car). Dan Weldon doesn't look so hot right now, but if they get going again he could be a factor. Helio showed his stuff coming back from pit problems. I wasn't particularly surprised when Milka Duno hit the wall. This is Indy, and it is a lot faster than the sports cars she is used to. It's a very small rookie class this year, with Phil Giebler being the only other one, and he's had a crash too.

Hope they get it going again . . .

Don't Panic!

Today's the day we separate the truly hoopy froods from the not so hoopy people who are certainly not, um, froods. Yes. Today is Towel Day and we carry our towels proudly to honor the memory of Douglas Adams. That and to fend off the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal.

The Joy of Mourning

I've seen Mourning Doves every day this week. I spotted two this morning while waiting for the train. Odd. I often hear them in the crepuscular periods of the day, but rarely do they come out from their cover. They are beautiful, but I can't help but wonder if there is not some great gathering of Mourners, as if for a state funeral in Birdland.

In the House of Chow

Yesterday I had a bit of business in my favorite town, Brookline, so Da Queen and I decided to make a night of it. We’ve been wanting to try Chef Chow’s House on Harvard Street and since we were Coolidge Corner we dropped in. It’s been a while since we've had Chinese food and it’s been a long while since we’ve had good Chinese food, so we were looking forward to our visit.

We got a booth by the window that came equipped with an attentive but unobtrusive waiter. Knowing Da Queen’s love for beef teriyaki, I made sure that we got her favorite appetizer. I thought the meat on a stick was very good. Too often the teriyaki sauce overpowers the meat with a hard glaze, but not these. They were tender and beefy. Da Queen thought they lacked a little in the teriyaki flavor, but were still pretty good.

Da Queen, ever the carnivore, ordered “Beef Sautéed With Fresh Snow Peas and Mushrooms.” It was a big plate that included bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, and the expected brown beef sauce. The veggies were crisp and fresh. The sauce was not your average one-note brown, but well-seasoned and flavorful. The star of the plate was, of course, the beef. The little strips were melt-in-your-mouth tender and delicious, balancing an excellent entrée.

After reading over the menu I knew that I just had to try the “Strange Flavored Chicken.” How could I miss something with such a colorful name? The dish was even more colorful than I had imagined. Tender little slices of chicken with sliced carrots, snow peas, and other good crunchy veggies, were presented in a shockingly bright red-orange sauce. The strange flavor turned out to be an excellent multi-dimensional hot sauce. With bright, almost fruity high notes at the start and a pleasingly hot sourness toward the finish, this was a lot of fun. Okay, so I guess I like things on the strange side.

The food was very good, the portions were generous, the prices reasonable, and the service first-rate. I’m pretty sure this won’t be our last visit to Chef Chow’s House.

Too Tired to Come Up With a Good Title

I love my job but sometimes you can have too much of a good thing. I'm really looking forward to things settling down a bit. Work a few 50+ hour weeks or some 10+ hour days and you might start to feel a bit worn around the edges. Oh, and 6 day weeks get a little less than jolly after a while too.

A Brand New Hummer!

Take a gander at the cool pictures of the Gorgeted Puffleg, a newly discovered species of hummingbird. Next time you're in the cloud forest of Serrania del Pinche in Columbia see if you can check this little guy off your life list.

Happy World Fair Trade Day!

Shop Fair Trade today!

I'd write a longer post, but I'm busy advancing the Fair Trade mission and celebrating the movement!

Magic Beans?

It isn't easy, driving green. Sure, ethanol is great stuff. It burns clean, it's renewable, and it works. It even makes race cars go very fast. But it's not perfect.

Ethanol is made from corn (that's maize to my best beloved readers east of Cape Cod). That's fine if all you want to do is use it to power your car, but not so great if you need it to live. Could ethanol become to Mexico what potato blight was to Ireland? Probably not, but perhaps we could tap the brakes a bit just to be sure.

If only there was some alternative. Imagine a plant that grows beans that can easily be converted to biodiesel. The conversion is so simple that even poor farmers can afford to do it. Imagine that diesel engines would need only a slight modification to use this new fuel. Suppose then that the bean is not a food and that the plant had previously been considered a weed -- a weed so hearty that you can harvest its beans over and over again. A weed that can grow in the poorest soil, soil that would not be suitable for any food crop. What do you suppose this miracle plant would look like?


Something like this, actually. Behold, jatropha.

According to today's Christian Science Monitor:

The leafy bush thrives in arid regions around the equator, has no use as food, and takes little refinement: a hydraulic press to squeeze the oil from the seeds, and a chemical solution to create and filter the fuel. When the necessary infrastructure is in place – sufficient farms, transport routes, and processing plants – jatropha oil could be no more expensive than regular diesel.

That's all well and good, but is anyone in the industry taking this seriously? When the fuel is ready will there be cars and trucks that can use it? DaimlerChrysler seems to think so.

There's one more thing to think about. Where does this stuff grow?It grows in some of the poorest countries in the world, in what used to be called the Third World. Let's do some more imagining. Imagine if all the money that the EU, the US, and China currently spend in petroleum exporting countries instead started heading to South and Central America, Africa, India, and Indonesia. Imagine less pollution, less petroleum dependency, and less poverty. Could these be magic beans? Imagine that.

No Capes!

A couple of weeks ago, during my not-so-great TV Week Project, I watched a couple of superhero movies back-to-back. Unless you've been in a coma for the last three years you've heard of them: The Incredibles and Spider-Man 2. There's really no point in reviewing them. If you like superheros you will love them, if not, you probably won't. The Incredibles is a loving parody of the genre; a CGI animated feature. Spider-Man 2, of course, brings the classic comic book characters and story to life, with CGI animated action scenes. Seeing the two 2004 movies in two days gave me an unexpected perspective on the genre.

Mr. Incredible is forcibly retired from active superhero-ing because of lawyers, insurance, and governmental idiocy (the same forces that threaten to destroy everything good about our culture, but that's another rant . . .). He is trying to fit in as a white-collar cubicle-cramped suburban family man. And he hates it. He yearns for the old days, when he could slip on the cool costume, show off his remarkable abilities, and do good.

In Spider-Man 2 Peter Parker chooses to retire from being a hero so that he can focus on being a normal guy. Being a hero is a burden he would be rid of, a responsibility that he takes no joy in.

Of course both heroes eventually do as expected. Mr. I. jumps at the chance to fight the good fight again. His whole super-family gets in on the act and the rest of the movie is exciting, hilarious, and occasionally heart-warming. I loved watching the Incredible family do their thing, and they clearly (especially dad) had fun doing it.

Spider-Man on the other hand . . . there was just no joy in spidey-land. He went back to work because he had to. Peter is driven by morality and a sense of duty. With the exception of one or two "yah-hoos" I can't say that I saw a lot of joy.

Some would say that Spider-Man is the more adult film. I don't think so. I think it is more of an adolescent film. Peter is suffering teen angst and personal confusion. Yes, he makes the grown-up decision, but would it be so hard for an emotionally mature person? I don't think so.

Here's a question then -- if you suddenly developed super powers that allowed you to do great good, wouldn't you? Oh, sure, you'd have some pure, self-indulgent fun, but you'd also rescue people, fight evil, and make the world a better place. And you'd enjoy it right?

Or am I being too optimistic about humanity?

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Reasons to celebrate Cinco de Mayo:

1. The cuisine of Mexico makes the world a better place.

2. 145 years ago today the Mexicans beat the French. I'll drink to that.

3. I'll take any excuse to drink Negra Modelo, one of the best beers in the world.

4. I just want to post this picture:


5. Why not? Be happy!

If You Took the Bones Out It Wouldn't Be . . .

A smoothie? I think I'll give the latest energy drink a miss. Who wants a mouthful of bean broth? On the other hand, puree of raw frog sounds mighty tasty.

TV Week Project - Conclusions

Let's look at the numbers. During the week in question I watched 5.75 hours of TV via coaxial cable. I watched another 6 hours on DVD, 2 of which were an old TV documentary. I watched another half hour or so of vid on the web. All together that's about 12.5 hours of moving pictures on the small screen. That's out of a total of 168 hours for the week.

That's along with a couple of hours of Public Radio, several chapters from a couple of books, a few articles and recipes from cooking magazines, loads of stuff on the web, and a good deal of work.

And so, what have we learned from all this?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

I already knew that I liked some TV. This was a slightly atypical week because I got to see more DVDs than usual. I already knew that I like movies with superheroes. I already knew what I watched.

But I can check a couple of things off my life list of things to do. I've been meaning to watch both of those movies for a little while now. I've wanted to watch Victory at Sea for the longest time. Most of all I've long wanted to keep a journal of my television viewing for a week. Now I've done that too. And like so many other things in my life I am moved to state the following: So what. Big deal.