au revoir

changed cities, changed sites.  deal with it.  

United thumps Kiev again

4 nil to United. Pretty goals:

I feel ya, Big Fella

I am so stoked for my man KG these days. I just watched the clips of the Celtics-Nuggets game on espn.com and have been following his stats so far this season, and KG is playing like a man possessed. He has been better than 20-10-5 in his first three games as a Celtic, and he looks so damn happy. I mean did you see the 'oop that Pierce gave him in the 3rd quarter? They celebrated like freaking And-1 playground ballers, it just looks like they are having a lot of fun. And that is good to see.

The T-wolves and my new hometown boys the Durants, I mean Sonics... pretty much going to be battling it out all season for the worst record in the league. So that will be a nice rivalry to follow between my two teams.

The clip also made me wish I was ballin some out here. I stuck my head in the gym the other day to see what sorta pickup was going on, and it was intense. There were probably 3 to 5 teams of 5 guys sitting out waiting to get in. Two courts going full-length 5v5 (the other courts were occupied by volleyball and badminton games), and it was some intense ball. It was also the most Black people I have seen on campus. Diversity is not a strong suit out here.

Anyways, go KG, or as Trent Tucker used to say, "I feel ya, Big Fella." If the Celtics come to town I am definitely going. Sonics tickets have been expensive since it's the start of the season and people are still excited to watch Durant. But I have no doubt that 20 losses down the road I will be able to score some cheap upper deck tix. And since Key Arena is so small, that probably won't be a bad thing. Shame the Sonics will be leaving in a year or three, I think they could eventually be pretty good. After all, I am a T-Wolves fan at my core, so all I really strive for is first round elimination mediocrity, and I am sure that by season three Durant will be supplying that.

Adventures in tofu

Tonight I had visions of hot and sour soup in my head when I decided to try adding steamed tofu to my leftover squash & broccoli soup. I've been trying to find ways to eat tofu that I enjoy, because there is just something inherent in tofu that I dislike. Not sure what it is. It might be that subtle flavor. It might be the texture. It might be something else, but what matters is that I can usually overcome this inherent deficiency in tofu if it is prepared in a tasty way. Tonight I had a protein craving, and since I am a pescetarian who can't afford to eat fish, I decided I'd do something with the chunk of tofu in my fridge. I also had leftover soup. I almost dismissed using the tofu somehow when I remembered that hot and sour soup has tofu in it, in fact many Asian soups do, and they are delish. So I decided to give it a whirl.

The first mistake was the tofu itself. It was super firm. Super firm is pretty gross. It is way too firm. Its sorta like chewy calamari. No bueno. I steamed it before adding it to the soup, hoping to loosen it up a bit and get it heated thoroughly. I crumbled the super chewy firm tofu as best I could intot he steamer basket and let it rip for 10 mins. I even added a hit or two of soy sauce, hoping to impart some flavor on the tofu.

Once the soup was hot and the tofu was steamed, I combined the two and let it come together for 10 mins or so on low heat before I ate it. And it was gross. The tofu was nasty. Whatever that little thing I sorta don't like about tofu is, it was in my soup in spades. It tasted awful, the texture was awful, it was a failed experiment. I ended up eating only half of the tofu and dumping the leftovers in the compost. No bueno, indeed.

I think I will come back to Adventures in Tofu again, probably in the near future. I want to like the damn stuff and quite often I genuinely do. And I have to use the rest of this damn block of tofu in the next few days, we're cutting it a litte close to the expiration date. I wonder if that had anything to do with the off flavor...

blog block

I got a case of blog block. Every time I'm procrastinating on the interwebs and I start a new post, I realize what I am writing is dumb. I know, it's never stopped me before. I guess this stuff is just really bad. So I will just drop some pics on you and let it go. I also can't decide if I ought to tell my classmates about my blog. Not that I care if they would read it, just that I might want to use this to vent at them at some point along the way. I mean there are only 16 of us, I am sure I'll be pissed at someone at some point. SO I dunno.

Check it out, Seattle's Magnolia neighborhood in the fall. Some amazing Puget Sound and Olympic peninsula vistas, as well as a nice shot of the Seattle skyline.

As it turns out...

As it turns out, I am not very well suited to living alone. Thankfully, I only have another month or so of this hell. Everything suffers when I have no one to be held responsible to. My hygiene has gone to shit for starters, I used to shower everyday, sometimes twice a day. I sometimes fall asleep without brushing my teeth now (gross). And I only really shave when my neck gets itchy from my own whiskers.

My apartment doesn't get any visitors, so I don't make a very big effort to do the dishes everyday or clean up the newspapers on the coffee table or bother to put the clothes anywhere other than the floor. It annoys me to see my slobbery, but not to the point where I am really motivated to do anything about it.

I know once I am rejoined with my [much] better half in December(ish) that I will definitely feel compelled to do a better job on all these things. I will also feel compelled to go grocery shopping regularly. As it is now, I go when the cupboards are bare, like really bare. If there is still enough food to scrape together some semblance of a meal--beans & rice, pasta & olive oil, carrots & toast--I will put off shopping for another day. I haven't had fresh fruit/vegetables in over a week.

And for those of you really skilled at reading comprehension, you will note that I actually take no responsibility for these slovenly actions (or lack of actions... l'actions?). Instead, I blame others (for not living here, for not coming over to my apt, etc etc). And I think this maybe this is the hallmark of our generation, "complain complain complain... but not my fuckin' problem." Or maybe it's just me.

Ok, off to class. This sufficiently took up the time I had allotted for showering this morning (victory!), so I guess we press on with Day 3. Since I haven't really worked out since Monday nigh, I haven't showered since then either. No one seems to be repulsed yet, but maybe people are just being polite. But today, will shower, I promise. Shave? Hell no, I did that last week.

Holy Rant, Batman!

Did you know that medical harm is the third leading cause of death in this country? Holy shit, right? It's behind cardiac disease (1) and cancer (3). This is astounding to me. I learned this recently in some research I was doing for class.

Then today, I saw this article saying that about 19,000 peopled died in 2005 from a fucking gross staph infection that they picked up WHILE IN THE FREAKING HOSPITAL!! That would be more people than died of AIDS in 2005 (about 15,000). Wowzers. People are going to the hospital and leaving no better off (or WORSE) when they leave.

I could go on about how medical harm on this scale is endemic of our current F-ed up system of health care. About how in our private insurer/private provider model, profits are valued over patients by both insurers AND providers, with no one to give a shit about individual patients except individual patients (and their lawyers). Or about how trial lawyers claim to provide justice and stand up for the little guy who gets screwed by big hospital/big insurer... but have yet to actually stop the increasing costs of care or improved quality of care in any marked way or decrease the numbers of those getting harmed in our hospitals every year. But I will spare you all of that, and just say shit is fucked.

VIVA LA REVOLUCION!!!!

[insert obligatory stock Che pic here]

Battin' 1.000

Well folks, I'm perfect so far in this new school year. Just got a progress report from the prof, and I am currently getting 100% for the quarter. Roughly two weeks into school. Ok, so its not that big of a deal. But I got a kick out of the email. I felt like I should print it out and hang it on the fridge.

Just did a lil' report on the Canadian health care system, and I gotta say them Canucks are onto something. Their system, also called Medicare, insures every Canadian for any medically necessary service for any resident, regardless of ability to pay. In fact you pay nothing when you go to the Doc. Cuz the gov prepays for you and lets the Doc send in a bill later. Clever, no? Go figure, a health care system that focuses on patients and care instead of profits.

(Yeah dude, we know, we all saw Sicko.)

Well I didn't see it, so the homework was illuminating. Sure the CA system has its problems, namely waiting lists. But its a better system than not, and its a whole lot better than what we got here. The NYT this sunday had a nice piece about how our own Medicare, thru the Bushies' privatization of Medicare-Part D, is now fucking over old people and the disadvantaged. Sweet. No, really, this system works. People must have choice to see who they want! (Canadians do.) The market will provide for people at all levels, there will be some plan that everyone can afford, because that is how markets work! (No, it's not, especially not with regard to health care.) But thank god we have that compassionately conservative president to veto a bill to insure our kids, who complained that it just covered too many darn kids, and that has now successfully killed any chance the GOP had in 2008.

And, if you don't believe me that our system is fucked, just wait for this great PBS documentary coming in 2008 called "Unnatural Causes." Go check out the site too, tons of good info there. Like this factsheet on health disparities in the U.S.

If you've got 10 mins to kill...

...you really oughta watch the clips from this game, Manchester vs Roma at Old Trafford (sorry it wont let me embed it). Nani, the manks' newest portugese winger, was amazing. Rooney was clinical, just sick. He doesn't even look where he is and just calmly hits a one timer across the goal mouth, off the post and in. It actually looks like a "lucky shot" until they show the final camera angle, the one from behind the goal, and you can see how luck had very little to do with it. It's just awesome to watch, IF you are a giant nerd, like me. Here is a 1 min version of just the Rooney goal, but the whole ten min deal I linked to above is way better.

Anyways, United were also lucky not to get scored on. I'd like to find the full game on-line somewhere, send me a link if you know where I can find full sporting events to watch. I have no TV, so I am missing the baseball playoffs right now, too. I saw some of the yankees get kicked tonight while I was at the bar. A happy hour with the other kids in the program, both our year and the 2nd years. Good times. I am acutally pulling for the Yanks tho'... I know, it's evil, but I like that Doug main-ka-wits or whatever. And I hate any team in the AL central not named the Twins, so fuck Cleveland.

School life

Detecting a theme in these posts, are we? Well hell, you can't blame a guy for being preoccupied with himself and what's going on in his own world, right? Especially not when he is writing for his own blog.

Today I realized that university and college towns would be the perfect place to live, if it weren't for the damn undergrads. They are loud, obnoxious, ostentatious (a grad school world), and for the most part, just plain dumb.

Take for instance these two jokes sitting at the next table over here at Cafe Allegro (the first espresso shop in Seattle, and pretty darn good coffee, too boot). They are in some philosophy topics course and are currently reading David Hume, one of the first Empiricists (any Descartes-hater is a friend of mine). So anyways, I can see by the book sitting on the table that homies are still in the first chapter. And yet they are running their mouths like they are freaking Hume scholars, bad mouthing everything from Christianity to Kant, whom I am sure they haven't even read yet (cuz Kant always comes after Hume in modern philosophy classes, duh)! So they are having this quasi-high minded conversation when a couple of co-eds walk in. Next thing you know, Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum are talkin' about how awesome it's gonna be to get shit-faced and do some E this weekend.

Now, I know I shouldn't be judgmental because I was probably actually worse when I was there age, in terms of know-it-allness and meat-headedness all wrapped up into one, but for some reason it still annoys the shit outta me. I mean, I am sitting here, quietly trying to do my get my homework done, and these fucks just have no respect for their elders. It's like they don't even know how loud they are being. Should I say something? No, of course not, that would make me a mean old man. If anything I should offer to buy them booze to get them the hell outta here. But were we really this annoying? Were we worse? This makes me sorta sad to think about, I have a feeling I might still be this annoying. I know, instead of saying something, I will just give them the stink-eye. Like this:
Woah, this post is going south fast. Enough introspection, back to my fake "Memo to the President" on the dismal state of health care in the US. I'd say it's easy and going well, that it's essentially writing itself at this point, but that would be a bald faced lie. It is currently writing this pointless and wandering post. But, I need to try to get it done soon so I can go grab beers with this friend of a friend (the one in Saipan), and hopefully become friends with this FoF. Wish me luck, this could go a number of different ways. Sometimes FoFs are awesome, and become your own friends. Other times you find that the only real thing you have in common is said friend. So we'll see. I am sure hoping we connect, cuz lord knows I need some friends. Not that I am trying to be all pitiful or anything, just sayin' it'd be good to have some more buddies, that's all.

I mean c'mon, does this look like a guy who is wallowing in his own pity-party right now? Hell no! Godspeed, LIFE! Hoo-haa! Get some!
Alright, this procrastination is just getting ridiculous. And besides, I am getting looks from the others around me who keep wondering why I am taking pictures of myself with my computer. And frankly, I don't blame them, this is weird and more than a little self-serving. But that is what blogging is all about right? Well, that and procrastination.

Breaking news...

This just in: my old dear friend Pedro Locco made the Saipan National Soccer Team!! How cool is that? Homey went over there to learn some chitlins in some edumacation, decided to try out for a team, and what do you know? Three weeks later I get a frantic email that reads (more or less), "Can't write now. Kids screaming in classroom. Someone back home should know: I made the Saipan national team. Might mean travel to Guam and the like. Good luck finding grass in Seattle, I know it's out there. Peace and love."

By golly he is right, apparently, due to the rain of course, it is green all year round and peoeples' lawns never turn brown and die like back home in Minny (that is what he meant, right?). ANYWAYS, how cool is it that I know an internationally capped footy player? (That means he played in an international recognized game, which I am not sure if he did just yet, but probably will in the near future.)

Now, I am not sure exactly how legit the Saipan national team is, given that it is an island about 5.5 miles wide by 13 miles long, give or take, BUT that does not take away from the fact that homey still gots mad skillz. He even scored a goal in his last match!

For those of you who know and love Pedro, like I do (former roommate and world travel companion), this is probably one of the biggest shocks of 2007. Stay tuned for more!

The beautiful Saipan (umm, i think we can see the whole island from this angle, but where are the soccer fields?):

Big News from Barry

Courtesy of his Myspace page:

Last night our movement hit some landmark goals: more than 500,000 donations from more than 350,000 people.

We also got news yesterday from Iowa -- we're leading in the latest Newsweek poll of likely caucus-goers. Here's the breakdown:

Obama: 28%
Clinton: 24%
Edwards: 22%

And our lead climbs to 8 points when first and second choices are combined.

It's important to remember that deciding the Democratic nominee for president is a sequential process that begins in Iowa. Generating momentum early will be the key to winning the nomination.

So while the pundits focus on meaningless national polls, we are leading in the one state where the electorate is most focused on this election and where they are getting the most exposure to Barack.

That same dynamic explains the unprecedented number of donors to our movement. The American people by and large have not yet tuned into this election. But among those who have gotten involved, Barack Obama has inspired record numbers to take ownership of this campaign.

We have a long way to go, but because of your support and determination, we are shattering records and making progress where it counts most.

Thank you so much for everything you've done to make this happen.


P.S. -- There's still time for you to be part of this historic moment. The deadline for donations is midnight tonight, so please make yours now:

https://donate.barackobama.com/winiowa

A great perk

One of the really great perks of grad school, and one I really did not see coming (which makes it all the more awesome), is that I have time in the afternoon to take a nap if I need one. Do you know how long it's been since I took regular naps?? Me neither. Probably not since high school when I would sneak one in every day after school before I had to go to work. I took 45 min power naps, and I had it down to a science. I could be lights out 5 mins from putting my head down.

I think as an undergrad I took naps, but mostly because I stayed out drinking way too late the night before, not just for the sake of taking one. And no way I took naps when I was working 9 to 5. I think I can count on one hand the number of naps I took in DC, and those were all because I was out too late drinking the night before. But now, when I am sitting in front of my computer in the middle of the afternoon, trying to do research for some random case study in public health, I can just say fuck it all, I'm taking a nap and will come back to this in a few hours. It is totally liberating, not to mention rejuvenating. Today I took a power nap for the ages. I was completely tuckered out from this long hilly 50 mile ride in the rain, I couldn't get any work doen because I could hardly keep my head up. An hour and a half later, I woke up feeling like a new man. Naps rule. And I will probably take one every day I don't have class in the afternoon, cuz why not?

Historical quote of the year

Maybe that Reagan guy wasn't as much of a dipshit as I thought...

"A moment I've been dreading. George brought his ne're-do-well son around this morning and asked me to find the kid a job. Not the political one who lives in Florida. The one who hangs around here all the time looking shiftless. This so-called kid is already almost 40 and has never had a real job. Maybe I' ll call Kinsley over at The New Republic and see if they'll hire him as a contributing editor or something. That looks like easy work."

-- Ronald Reagan in his recently published diaries, May 17, 1986.

Must read

Sorry to get all political and righteous on ya'll, but now that NYT has stopped their bullshit Times Select deal--which forced us to pay for their editorials and commentator's articles--you really must go read Bob Herbert's piece called the Ugly Side of the GOP. He talks about the racism implicit in the GOP party, from it's blocking the passage of DC voting rights to the top GOP candidates for president refusing a debate on minority issues. Go check it out, and fuck the GOP.

Sugar mommas

So here I am, at Holly's coffee shop, catching up on some articles from last Sunday's NYT. I was checking out the Sunday Styles section because there was this article I found interesting called "Putting Money on the Table." The premise of this article is that a lot of men in their 20s and 30s are uncomfortable dating a woman who makes substantially more money than they. My immediate response was, "Who are these fucking idiots?" Maybe I am in a minority here, but ladies who bring in the money are not intimidating, they are amazing! Look at my situation, Suga' takes care of her man! She hooks me up with health insurance, contributes to rent when she lives 3,000 miles away, tried convincing me to use the joint account to pay for my groceries (hence subsidizing half of my food, but I can't in good faith do this... more than once). I mean seriously, guys who get all upity about not living up to their father's generation's idea of providing for a family with a wife and kids at home are completely and totally fucking nuts. Maybe it's an ego thing, but it's still stupid. Fellas out there in NYC who have a problem with rich chics, I have some advice for you: get the fuck over it, times are changing, as long as you bring something to the table (e.g., you're nice or funny or good in bed or whatever), she probably won't mind providing for you and maybe paying more than her share for some things. (Lucky for me, I am nice.)

Interestingly, "the median income of women 21 to 30 in NYC and who are employed full time is 17% higher than that of comparable men." Way to go ladies! Now, a little advice for the chicas in that article who can't seem to hold down a man: if you make more money and you know it (I mean like a lot more money here), pay for shit. Part of the reason you can't find a guy who is willing to go to fancy restaurants with you isn't because he doesn't like fine dining, it's because homey is po'. So hook that shit up. I mean, if roles were reversed and he wanted to go out somewhere fancy and you were not making money, he'd treat. Even if you did make money he may try treating because that is part of the chauvinist mystique. And if you insist on going Dutch, which is totally respectable, then you have to agree to eat somewhere he is comfortable paying his own way. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

Yes, I agree, this post belongs on Mindy's blog.

Battle of the beers

I think I may have heard somewhere that can beer has less environmental impact than bottle beer (I am definitely Googling that when I get done posting this). I know for a fact it's cheaper. This truth and a half combined make it my new standard operating procedure. That is right, I am buying canned beer from here on out (at least until I get a job). I am also interested in buying local as much as possible, because on the one hand it lets me try new things, and on the other hand it takes less fuel to get it to the store shelves. (Did someone say hippie? Yeah, I think I heard it too. I think it was me, actually, shouting it at myself as I washed out a ziplock sandwich bag to reuse it for my PB&J yesterday. What in the hell happened to me? I didn't used to be like this...) So anyways, Kokanee beer is pretty darn good for cheap beer. It is a lot like Labatts Blue, another Canadian lager beer I am also fond of, but only a dollar or so cheaper. And it is a product of global warming, as far as I can tell, because you see it is a "glacier beer" as the water used for the beer comes from the ice melt of a glacier. See, you damn hippies, global warming ain't all bad after all.

Anyways, not 100% content with my Canuck glacier beer, I was in the store the other day looking for something even localer. (Not to mention, cheaper.) And what did I find? Olympia. Named, I presumed, in honor of the capital of this fine state. And only a little over $4 a six pack. Sold.
I get my sixer home, eager to enjoy a cold one while I watch some stupid tv show on my laptop, when I start to give the can a good once over. Union made, it says. Nice, I say to myself. It makes me feel good knowing that the makers of this fine beverage are making a decent wage and have a voice on the job. (Great, now he's a communist hippie.) Kokanee was also union made, but I expected nothing less coming from a beer made in the People's Republic of British Columbia. I turn the can over some more.

Pabst Brewing Company, Milwaukee, WI.

WHAT THE FUCK!!?!?!!?

Don't get me wrong, I love Wisconsin beer. I love Pabst Brewing Company and the hipster fav PBR. But where in sam hill do those fuckers get off calling it Olympia beer, selling it in Washington, and making it in Wisconsin? I felt cheated. I still feel cheated. In fact, I am drinking said impostor beer right now, but under severe protest. Like, if I get drunk and do something totally crazy, it'll definitely have to have an asterisked by it in the history books.

Needless to say, Kokanee in a Kan wins Round 1. Next up for Big Blue? I think I'll check out Rainier beer and see how it compares to the cool, crisp, taste of global warming. I'll be damned if this sommamabitch ain't local. AND it comes in Tall Boy cans. Fuckin' A.

UPDATE: Well fuck my ass, Rainier beer is also owned and brewed by Pabst in fucking Milwaukee. It's not fair to compare Kokanee to any of the fancy micro brews that are indeed local (and in expensive bottles), so my quest for a good cheap local beer continues. Godspeed, me...

UPDATE II: This guy seems to have done a best guess approximation of environmental impact of new aluminum vs. glass vs. recycled aluminum. Not surprisingly, recycled aluminum wins, hands down. Interestingly, he claims that to recycle glass takes just as much energy as creating new glass from the primary material used to make it, sand. Go figure. The answer then is to buy beer in recycled cans, if you are able to and give a shit about such things. Interesting little blog post he wrote too, I recommend checking it out. Further investigation seems to support that aluminum recycles better than plastic bottles too, so if you are some wussy tee-totaller who doesn't drink beer but does drink soda, drink your soda out of aluminum cans as opposed to plastic bottles (unless you are comparing 2 liter bottles to 12 oz cans, that fucks up the math).

Life without television

Life without TV is not as bad as some of you may believe. When we moved, I decided that my shitty 19" set was not going to make the journey across country. It just wasn't worth it, I probably paid $50 for it brand new, and its tuner was starting to go I think. I also knew I would be getting new laptop, which would have a DVD player in it, so I could still netflix movies and shows.

Now, maybe it is a function of the age we live in or some other such profound thing, but for the most part, I have lost the attention span to sit through a 2+/- hour long movie, unless it is something I am dying to see. And with HBO and Showtime, and even ABC and NBC occasionally, putting out some good shows these days, my netflix queue is almost entirely composed of products of the silver screen. Let me also say that I just cannot be bothered to actually watch shows, even when I did have a TV, at their regularly scheduled time. For one, I hate commercials, so that right there rules out anything on the networks. For two, I hate waiting a week or more in between episodes. For three, and most importantly, who can schedule their lives around a fucking tv show? Certainly not me, and if you do, you are probably lame and you definitely need to get out more. I think I would like TiVo if I had a nice flatscreen and wasn't a poor grad student. So instead I just rent all the shit I missed when it was on the air originally in DVD form. That way if I want to watch 6 episodes of something back to back to back to back to back to back (is that six?), I can. I can watch at night or in the morning or whenever. You get the idea... moving right along.

Because my little profile over there on the right says 'pop culture critic,' I am going to give you a little rundown on what I am watching these days. Feel free to disagree with my assessments in the comments.

LOST, season 3: I think pound for pound, this is my favorite. I know, it makes no sense and it never will make sense. I know, it starts story lines only to then start new ones and never finish the older ones. I get all the criticisms. But two reasons why I am so damn addicted: (a) because it is a perpetual cliff hanger, which only really works because (2) they do such a damn good job on character development. The whole flashback bit, giving backstory and depth for all the main characters before they landed on Gilligan's Island, is what really sucks me into the show. I love/hate Sawyer, I wanna make babies with Kate, I wanna kick Jack's ass in something (chess, competitive sport, doesn't matter) to wipe that smug look off his hero face. Most of the time I wanna punch Locke in the face or groin for being so arrogant, and then there are times when I think he is the best character on the show. Now, given all of that, I have no doubt that since it is on network television, it will run 2-4 seasons too long, become a mockery of itself and piss off all its real fans. Wait for it. I reckon Season 4 will be the last good season, if it doesn't suck.

Weeds, season 2: Probably my second favorite. I don't want to make babies with Nancy Botwin, because she is a horrible mother, but I do have a GINORMOUS crush on Mary-Louise Parker. Wowza. I totally get how Conrad, against all better judgment, goes into business with a chick who is dating a DEA agent. She's hot and seductive and she sells grass, too boot. The brother-in-law, kids, and neighbors all make for great comedy. Hilarious, smart show. A++

Deadwood, season 3: Got a little too pompous in the third season for my liking. At least once an episode, more often 2-3 times, we'd be treated to one character or another's inner monolougue, as he or she sat there, usually drinking whiskey, talking to hisself/herself about whatever in Shakespearian English. That was just totally unbelievable to me given the education level these folks must have had, since this period piece was set in a prospecting boom town in the the wild west (Deadwood, South Dakota). AND, it was just a terrible season finale (which also doubled as the final installment of the show). I was not a huge Sopranos person--mostly because I started so late I couldn't squeeze in the earlier seasons in time to catch up with the current ones--but for me the last episode was a let down on Sopranos Finale proportions. What a fucking let down. [Spoiler alert] I mean c'mon, shoot Hearst for chrissakes, Bullock, you goddamn wussy. You are supposed to be the baddest mofo in town (ok, well Swearengen was badder, but he didn't share the sheriff's temper), and instead of killing the bastard you just give him the stink eye as he leaves town. Boooo, more violence! You can't end a gratuitously violent show with a goddamn staring contest, just doesn't make sense.

Heroes, season 1: Took me a few episodes to get into this, but I am digging it now. Not too much to report here. They obviously figured out the Lost formula makes for good network TV. Ensemble cast + Good char. dev. + cliff hanger = Entertaining program. Pretty simple, no?

Rome, season 2: As a sort of history nut, I love this show. Critics agree, it's an amazing period piece drama set in Ceaser's Rome. HBO and the BBC (the co-producers) loved it too, only problem was it cost a couple of million each episode to make so they had to scrap it after two seasons. Great actors, historical accuracy in the storylines, and amazing sets make this one top shelf in my book.

Freaks & Geeks, season 1 (and only): I think it was at least a year, probably two, ago that my pal James recommended I add this to the queue and check it out. It was a short lived program on NBC in 2000, written and produced by the now famous Judd Apatow (40 year old v-card, knocked up), that because it as too good for network TV only lasted one season. It is set in a suburban Detroit neighborhood in the 70s or early 80s or something along those lines, and is primarily a high school coming of age type of show, with an ensemble cast of kids who are either freaks or geeks. Think of it as That 70's Show, except intelligent and without a laugh track. In fact, forget I ever made that reference, because this show is actually really good.

I used to watch Entourage but that show went to shit. And if they ever release the second season of Huff on DVD I will definitely pick that up, I love that Hank Azaria (and his wife is hot). I really liked Arrested Development, another show that was way too good for TV, and that was probably my intrduction to netflixing shows instead of movies. Never got into that Larry David bit, for some reason or another I just don't find him very funny. Similarly, I am the guy who never liked Seinfeld. Crazy, I know. What else am I missing? Any recommendations?

UPDATE: I REALLY like Heroes now, I get the hype. I was a comic book fan growing up (ok, still) so I love that whole angle. Also, the Hiro makes me laugh laugh laugh.

Don't call it a comeback

Finally, you are saying, FINALLY Le Domestique is back in front of his computer. I know, I know, you've all been holding your breath, passing out, turning back on your computer, then holding your breath again, all the while hittin refresh over and over and over again. But here it is, finally, my return to the blogosphere. Please, please people, your applause is flattering but is really unnecessary.

ANYWAYS, I think I love Seattle.

And here are a few reasons why... Some of you who know me well know that, as material consumeristic objects go, there are three things in life that I am passionate about, that truly bring pleasure and joy to my life when they are of high, if not the highest, quality (read: there are 3 things I get snobby about). For the purposes of this here blog, I will only trouble you with two of these snobtastic gifts from Jah: coffee and wine.

Well, guess what? I am pretty sure they have the best coffee in the world here in Seattle. Don't believe me? Go ask a Seattlite, they'll you. And I don't mean that Starbucks shit neither, I mean places like Cafe Vita, Cafe Ladro, and even the place right down the road from me now, Hollys. These places, and the people who work and frequent them, know their espresso. Which is totally a stupid and contrived thing to say, I know, but I am a person who, the very second the alarm goes off in the morning, I think of coffee. It gets me out of bed in the morning, thinking about how good that first cup will taste. I freaking love the coffee, get it? Anyhoo, I am in the right town for this addiction, and coming from DC where there are only 'Bucks (not only that, but one on every block), it is a welcoming and refreshing change to have amazing independent coffee houses everywhere.

Moving right along...

The second I get downright snobby about sometimes is wine. While I would never claim Seattle (let's even say the upper Northwest) has the best wine in the world, I do hold that there is a lot of affordable, great tasting wine here from the Columbia, Walla Walla, and Rogue Valleys. And since it doesn't have to travel very far, it's a few bux cheaper than you'll find it back East, sure there is a lot of pricey stuff, but a lot is pretty affordable. And there is much of it that is new to me, stuff I have never seen in Minny or DC and that I am excited to try.

Now, I can't [won't] comment on the elusive third gratifying and snob-inducing thing for me because, while I know it is most like around me in abundance, I have not yet been able to sample any as of yet. But let's just say that I hear it is good.

Here's another reason I think I love this place, at least so far... The other day I went into a bike shop, fully expecting to be demoralized and out at least $150, too boot (at least I say). You see, my commuter was making some bad noises, BAD noises, and fixing it seemed way beyond my own novice abilities. Now, understand that every single time I went into a bike shop in DC I left feeling stupid, incompetent, and not worthy of even riding bikes, let alone wanting to maintain and work on my bikes as a hobby. For some reason, bike nerds out east are very old boys clubbish, meaning that if you aren't in the club, you suck. And if you want them to just fix something, they'll instead try to sell you something, and it will be expensive. Basically, it comes down to them being annoying skinny-pants wearing dickheads who also suck giant bull testicles at customer service... but are they only game in town, so as a customer you are screwed. So I expected to go get a similar reception at this awesome shop in Seattle, Recycled Cycles. After all, they had those same damn skinny pants and stretched out earlobes and mohawks and the like. Instead they were totally friendly, didn't try to sell me shit I didn't need, and fixed my bike for free. Sure, I ended up buying a part and having them install it for $10, but I was going to do that anyways. I guess since there are about a dozen bike shops in a 5 mile radius, maybe even more, they have to have good customer service. Or maybe it's because there is an open and accepting bike culture here or something, I dunno, but I like it, go Seattle.

Ok ok ok, I know, Reader, are sitting there saying, "we get it, you like your new home. We don't care." And I don't blame you. So let me leave you with some pics that might be a bit more enjoyable than my ramblings. In a word, the drive from Minny to here was "long." But in three words, it was: "not that bad." Montana sure is pretty (not to mention huge, although you may have heard that before). NoDak sure is... well, it's NoDak. What more can you say? (Sorry Mindy, it is pretty in that vast prairie sorta way, and the Teddy Roosevelt Park seemed neat.) Anyways, here are some shots, primarily of sunsets and bugs on my windshield... The first three are somewere in NoDak, the last two are in 'Tana.

Day 1 in the books

Welcome to Dickinson, North Dakota. 'Live here. Work here. Get your life back.'

Okaaaaay. Weird.

So we made it here, about 65 miles from the Montana border, give or take. I reckon we put in about 500 miles today. So far so good. Except that my phone broke. It still works, but I cant read the screen anymore. Cant tell who is calling, can't tell anything, whether I even have reception or not. Sooooo, please take time out of your busy lives over the next two days to give me a call and chat it up a bit. To all of you I was hoping to see one last time, I am sorry, packing and family stuff got in the way. I'll buy you a beer when you come visit in Seattle. They are fond of their micro brews there. In fact, there is a contest that you are all welcome to participate in: first friend to come visit the new digs. Winner gets a chocolate cake baked in his or her or their honor. How can you beat that?

Anyways, today went well. There was a bit of a problem picking up the truck, and we got on the road a lot later than we wanted, but oh well. The Kat seems to be far preferring this trip to a similar move blogged about over at Slurry Beta and here a few months ago. We are in a hotel right now, watching Conan on the tube.

Tomorrow night I hope to be camping somewhere near Missoula. Wish us luck.

Godspeed.

10 pounds later...

Well, since I last regalled you with tales of the firing range, I have been on a bit of an adventure oriented holiday. The most significant chunk of that time was floating down the Colorado River and experiencing about 130 of it while traversing through the Grand Canyon. That was an amazing adventure that included white water rapids, death hikes, rattle snakes, scorpions, and much much more. Some photos of rocks 'n things I encountered on this trip can be found here, in color, or here, in artistic black and white. Anyways, the trip was incredible, and surprisingly to us all I think, the food was really good. Somehow after two weeks on the river the guides were still able to produce fresh veggies and fruits for every meal. Don't know how they did it (nuclear powered cooler is my guess), but the guides were serious cooks and serious eaters and it felt like everyone ate each meal as it was his or her last, I think because with some of the rapids and hikes through the desert we did, it very well could have been. Regardless, I ate way too much given how little excercise I had and am feeling a little sluggish and out of shape at present. The bike beckons.


The second leg of my trip was equally adventurous, although I didn't fully comprehend just how much so until I was in the thick of it. Ostensibly I was in Seattle for a wedding. And it was a beautiful wedding of two beautiful people in a beautiful setting. It was a lot of fun. But the part of the trip I wasn't as mentally prepared for was meeting almost all of my pardner M's extended family. Her mother is 1 of 8 kids or something, and they are not even Irish Catholic or Mormon. No, they are a different breed altogether. I believe sociologists and anthropologists refer to them as Southernous Californicus, but I am no expert. Nice people, don't get me wrong. In fact I have zero complaints about any of them. It is just that meeting that many of one tribe and being instantly and deeply submerged into their reunion rituals for 48 hurs can be quite harrowing for anyone. Luckily I had two good avenues for survival: one entailed latching onto her fun Uncles and drinking heavily, the other involved latching onto the sibling circle of M and her Big Bro and Lil Sis (and taking responsibility for acquiring Lil Sis adult beverages at dinner... a little tip on this technique, boys and girls: when someone is ordering two drinks at a time, in this case a margarita for the youngin and a beer for myself, it is often best if the minor in question does NOT knock over her margarita onto the table and my lap and thereby drawing the attention of the wait staff; you see, subtlety and covertness are usually better tacts in this situation). ANYWAYS, I survived and it was a lot of fun on the whole.


Here are just a few of the shots from the river. If the current career paths for M and I stop working out somewhere down the road, I think we'll take up professional river running...


I mean, if you could guide tours down an amazing geological mystery of wonder and awe, work outdoors (in good weather and bad), and lead hikes to amazing locales like this one (below), wouldn't you seriously consider working for low pay and no benefits?

At the firing range

So one of my good good ole boys--let's call him 'El Otro Beta' in order to preserve his anonymity and not to confuse anyone with the Slurry one--so, anyways, el Otro went to the firing range today. Why in god's name he was at said firing range is beyond the scope of this hear post. What I am hear to blog about is what he saw at the firing range. In order to best tell this story, I am going to recreate our phone conversation to the best of my recollection. Here goes...







"Hey man, wanna meet for a beer this afternoon."







Otro: "Maybe later man, I am on my way to the firing range."







"You mean, like to shoot a gun?"







"Yeah."







"Oh." Stunned silence. "Well call me later."





:::LATER ON:::





(The Domestique's phone rings unanswered. He's taking a leak or eating a snack or something.)





:::10 MINS LATER:::







"Hey, Otro, sorry I missed your call. How'd the gun shooting go? Kill anyone?"







Chuckles, sighs downheartedly. "Nah, man, not this time."









"So what is it like there, at the firing range. What kind of gun do you shoot? Do you rent it? And how many shots do you get?" I was on a roll.





"Well, you rent the gun. The whole thing cost me like $50, I guess, once you count ammo and whatnot," he says.


"Uh-huh. And??"







"And I guess I shot like... lemme see, 50... no 100, no no. It was something like 200 shots. Yeah, thats right. 200. The gun was a Glock. It's a standard issue cop gun these days."






Me, curiously, "I see... So you just shot a gun 200 times. A cop gun. So, is it fun?"





"Yeah, man, it's pretty great."





"Well I imagine it would be. So what are you shooting at? People? Buck? Beer cans? Bulls eyes? What?"







"Well you buy these targets. They aren't people really, just black outlines. Like silhouettes of people, with bulls eyes on 'em. Just like on cop shows and the movies. And you can buy others too, the have Osama Bin Laden-"







I cut him off. "WHAT THE FUCK? YOU CAN SHOOT AT AND 'KILL' OSAMA BIN LADEN?"





He responds casually, "Yeah, dude, imagine the clientèle at this place. It's a friggin firing range."





Of course it is. I am an idiot. But now it makes me wonder. "Any hicks shootin' at minorities?" I joke, perhaps inappropriately, "or just Bin Laden?"






More chuckling. He continues, ignoring my joke, "Yeah, so like the picture has Osama standing there,-"






I interrupt again, "Is he armed? Or just standing there waving a white flag while you pump him full of iron?"





"These terrorists won't surrender man, that's why we gotta kill them at the firing range." He is finally playing along, I think, but then he gets back to describing the Osama target. "So he's standing there and you can shoot him in the head, in the heart, and there is a target over his balls, too."





"Woah, you can shoot Bin Laden in the dick!?!?" I ask rhetorically. Then pause. "Huh." Another pause. "That's kinda funny. At least they have a sense of humor about it all."





"Nah man, I think these guys were pretty serious."






Come to think of it, he's probably right. I keep thinking about this idea of shooting something other than a blank target, something personable like Bin Laden. So I ask if there were any ex-wives there taking aim at their ex-husband's privates, to which el Otro replies that it's mostly just people shootin' silhouettes and Osama Bin Laden. Shame.




I should note here that I am not a big second amendment guy or anything. And in fact I think all hand guns should be illegal and banned from personal use. Assualt weapons too. For some reason I think shotguns and rifles and hunting in general is mostly OK. But again, that is just beyond the scope of this here blog post. This here blog post was just to let all you know that should you ever take an interest in fighting terrorism here on the home front, you can take fifty clams out of the ATM and head on down to your local firing range and pump about 200 rounds into ole Osama's cock'n'balls. God Bless America.

Bab's still single? Smart girls finish last.

Well congratulations, Dubbya, yer daughter Jenna is about to marry a real class A full pedigree DOUCHE BAG. I just read this lil article the NYT about the newly betrothed.



Awwww, for cute!
So how do I know he is a major DB? You mean, besides the above picture?

Mr. Hager is a former staff member for Mr. Bush’s top political strategist, Karl Rove, and is in his second and final year at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia..

His father, John H. Hager, was an assistant secretary of education in Mr. Bush’s administration and took over this month as the chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also a former lieutenant governor of Virginia.

In my opinion though, I always thought Barbara was the catch, seeing as she got the brains and--how do I say this--more fit bod' of the two. I mean look at 'em side by side, Babs is clearly the better looking. Jenna just looks too much like her old man, and I can't imagine anyone wanting to get intimate with Dubbya. With the obvious exception of the douchebag that I lead this post with.

Proud new MacBook owner

Oooooh, ahhhh.
I finally got with it and got a Mac. What a cool new toy. Me gusta mucho!

Summer Fun Update

Just had to check in with an update and some pics documenting how awesome these past 4 weeks have been. I have to make this relatively quick because I am leaving for Albany today to see my ladyfriend, "M."



First, I am sure you are all wondering how the bike trip went. In a word: awesome. It was, after all, the Tour de Awesome, so I guess it is a fitting word to describe the weekend. You can read all about my drinking exploits here. In terms of biking it was a great success, 40 miles on day 1, camping in William O'Brien State Park, then 80 additional miles to D'bury. About 60 of those 80 miles was on a County Highway F in Wisconsin, and we pace lined for probably 50 of those miles (meaning we all lined up and drafted off the guy in front, who would just pull off the lead and get on in back once he was too tired to pull anymore), which really helped us conserve our energy and had us biking at a pretty good clip. I believe we averaged 17 miles an hour for the whole 120 miles, but were pace-lining at about 20-22 mph. I will also add this, should you ever find yourself needing to draft behind someone on a bike trip, you better hope you are with the Angel Moroni, homey is HUGE (in a good way) and cuts a very large slipstream that you could draft a Mack truck behind.



OK OK OK, here are some obligatory sat night drinking pics that document the end of the Rossi (Rossi is deathly susceptible to snakes and, more accurately, being snaked).
Note the patriotism that cabin life brings out us.
This is me, killing the Rossi under the banner of our great nation (yeah, it's backwards, F-off).
And below we see one sad Beta, realizing the Rossi is no longer. Hey Beta, nice Ocho you pulled off on that pontoon, Carlo never saw that one comin.'
And that is just the biking trip. The weekend before that I was in Duluth, MN, visiting an old friend who is leaving our shores for the island territory of Saipan. My buddy likes fire, likes to dance with fire and throw it around. It's pretty neat...
We also went cliff jumping... Dangerous you say? True. But fun as hell. The first one was a warmup. The second pic is big Elgin Falls. Holy crap that was scary. Took a lot of talking to myself to convince me it was a good idea.

And yesterday I was out on Lake Minnetonka, pontooning and drinking beer and most importantly, celebrating the new apartment we just landed in Seattle!! Whoot whoot! After months of trying in vain, something finally came through for us, thank thee Jebus.



More later kids, but I gotta run for now. Keep on keepin on, we'll be on summer hours through labor day, after which you can probably expect a lot more frequent posting. Probably too frequent.

FUNemployment

I suppose that you might be wondering what happened to your ole pal, me, since there has been no follow up to my last triumphant post about our successful arrival to the Middle West. Well, it turns out, now that I am unemployed, I have way less free time than I did back when I was working to blog. This is counterintuitive and illogical, I admit, which is why I am naming this the Paradox of the Funemployed.



Instead of sitting in front of a computer screen all day long, which really just invites people to goof off on said computer, I--your funemployed Domestique--have been keeping rather busy with a wide array of actities. For instance, yesterday I washed and waxed my new hoopdee, which was gifted to M and I from my old man. A very kind and generous contribution to grad school, since I was going to have to buy one otherwise. And after the 5 hours I put into it yesterday, that damn thing sparkles.



I've also been logging 35 miles, give or take, rides each day. Which, depending on wind, seem to be taking me between one and a half and two hours. Today I am going for 50 I reckon. I think I am headed down to Lake Minnetonka to tour around that a bit, but not sure yet. I figure I need to keep logging serious miles, because at the rate they are kicking guys out of this year's tour, they may start looking for schmucks like me to compete. No? Ok, probably not.



I have been playing some tennis too, if you can call it that. I got thrashed by Jakes on Tuesday, and on Monday lost an epic one-setter 7-9 to my old high school buddy, Burn. Turns out I am not very good at tennis.



I've also been playing the role of Uncle Domestique, as my 16 month old nephew has had a GI problem that has kept him out of daycare for the past two days, meaning his Nana, my mom, watches him for the day. He's cute as can be, but given this GI problem I gotta admit I am a little apprehensive to pick him up when he comes running to me. Just kidding, I am not some heartless prick, I love my shitty nephew. Get it, shitty nephew? [Crickets chirping] Ok, enough with the lame jokes already, I apologize, I have been in suburbia for a week, give me a break.



Not sure what else is on tap for today, but I can assure you that with all that I do not have to do, I will probably not be able to check back in with you all for at least another day or so.

PROFOUNDLY Strung out...

We listened to about three or three and a half hours of Chuck Klosterman's new audiobook (also in paper form for you literary types), and it struck me that Chuck Klosterman (apparently pronounced KLOH-ster-man, not KLAW-ster-man as I had always thought) utilizes a lot of adjectives. One of them is "profoundly," things are "profoundly this" and "profoundly that."



He also uses a lot of impromptu segues from one thing to another with the use of an exaggerated "ANYWAYS...." Despite this, Chuck Klosterman is a tremendously good and well respected writer.

ANYWAYS, we finally made it to our final destination: mi casa de padre (which Babel Fish tells me is the translation of "my parent's house," but I find this highly dubious because it clearly translates into "the house of my father." But my mom lives there too, and it's not just his house. I really ought to learn Spanish.)



Things got a little hairy, maybe even a lot hairy, in that last push from Madison to the Twin Cities. We hit Madtown around 2 or 3 in the morning and after 16 hours of driving, we were both a little road weary. HOWEVER, I mentioned elsewhere Beta was born to haul the big rig, and I just fed off his energy and we crafted tall tales we would tell about all the Lot Lizards we saw and did along the way, and next thing you know, the sun is rising and we are 30 miles from Hudson. Home clear. Once the sun was up Beta, a creature of the night, was overcome with fatigue. I, however, was feeling revived and somehow managed to guide us safely to the NW Burbs.

Like I was saying, we finally made it to our final destination, and there is only one way to describe how Beta and I felt upon arrival: profoundly strung out.



He crashed right away, with visions of sugar plums and tooth fairies dancing through his head. I was waaaaayyy too juiced from the Red Bulls and McD's cofees to fall asleep right away. SO I unpacked a bit. Well, just my bike stuff, really. But I got them back in working order, so I can go for a ride tomorrow morning, which I am itching to do after 20 hours in a fucking Budget truck. Oddly I have lost five pounds in the past few weeks, which at first I found exceptionally hard to believe considering all I have been doing is eating out and drinking and getting 6 or less hours of sleep every night for the past two weeks. But then it occurred to me I probably lost muscle mass, so I really gotta get back in the saddle.



ANYWAYS, the kat is adjusting, sorta not really, to his new surroundings. If you are willing to accept that sitting under the bed and only poking your head out for food and water is adjusting, then he is doing great. I think it's progress considering he didn't eat or drink at all in the past 22 hours (or wazz or shat, for that matter). He was also greeted, less than warmly, by my parent's cat (mi gato de padre, methinks), whom we will refer to as Fuckface. But I am sticking up for my homeboy, I got out the spray bottle and tormented Fuckface until he capitulated and went away.



And that my friends brings to a close Beta and Domestique's Excellent Adventure. We plan to get a little R&R at my 'rent's house for at least a night before we unleash Slurry on the 612. He needs his beauty rest.

Reveille & movin' out

Hey there Domestiques, sorry for the lapse in posting, but we've been busy scrambling to get everything boxed up and packed into the moving truck. Thankfully, we are finally done. Just a quick cleaning of the place and we're finished.



If you are only going to do one thing at work all week, make sure that it is checking out this great new web site ("zine") covering local (mpls) and national indie tunes,Reveille Magazine. This is a project of a bunch of local (again, mpls) writers and critics, most notably our boy Bobby Digital. Also Jim Walsh, so it's definitely got cred. But Bobby is my boy, not Jim, so check out his work when it's up. Here is his first submission, a great review of a great new album by Spoon.



Next time you see a posting on this blog, it'll be from Tha Grove, betta recognize.



Happy trails to Mish, Beta, and I!!



PS -- The going away party was absolutely mega. Shoulda been there, biiiiatches!

Day 2

Here it is, Day 2 in Le Tour D'Awesome. Our trek begins in Taylor's Falls, and as we say goodbye to Minnesota and hello to Wisconsin, we see our only real climb of the day. Starting around the 2 mile mark we bottom out on our mini descent (30' of elevation!) and we start climbing. Over the next three miles we put in a ridiculous climb of 235 feet of elevation, topping out at about 1008 feet about sea level! Alpe_d'Huez*, the Tour D'Awesome is not. By the time we get to the cabin destination, we'll have pedaled about 58 miles in a day and over 100 in two days.









* The most famed climb of the Tour de France, it has 21 hairpin switchbacks that kill a riders rhythm as he attempts to climb a mere 3642 feet over 8.6 miles at an average gradient of 8.1%. Knee burner, to say the very least. Lance did it in about 37 mins in 2004. Wow.

Grand Old Party Of Family Values

Family values MY ASS!

Enviro health concerns for urban athletes

The New York Times seems to have a lot of cool articles these days on public health. Maybe all papers do that, but the other two I read a lot (WaPo and Strib) don't really come close to the Times in this type of journalism. Anyhoo, I just read this NYT article on how athletes in urban areas are more adversely affected by an area's air pollution than sedentary urbanites. Not a surprise by any means, but it is becoming confirmed by science and medicine, and is yet another sign that our careless disregard for how our actions impact our environment is causing us harm. So get this, now we can work out in a warmer city AND kills our lungs and hearts in the process! Rad!

Kenneth Rundell, the director of the Human Performance Laboratory at Marywood University in Scranton, Pa., said, “Athletes typically take in 10 to 20 times as much air,” and thus pollutants, with every breath as sedentary people do.

Here is the skinny on what is going on:

...Today most experts agree that, as Dr. Lippmann said, the “greatest overall public health impact” of air pollution comes from fine particulates, which can be seen only with an electron microscope.



They are ubiquitous. Cars, trucks, and diesel buses — the main culprits in the creation of particle pollution — spew untold millions of the microscopic pollutants into the air daily. Exercisers should take precautions against particles, experts said, by not exerting themselves near traffic, or, if they must use a path next to a highway, staying a few hundred yards away from vehicles.



Particles can sail past nasal hairs, the body’s first line of defense, and settle deep in athletes’ lungs. Some remain there, causing irritation and inflammation. Others, so tiny they can bypass various bodily defenses, migrate into the bloodstream. “Blood vessels do not like those particulates,” said David Newby, a cardiology professor at the University of Edinburgh.



Dr. Newby has seen, in action, the effects of those particles on active people. In 2005, he and his colleagues had 30 healthy volunteers ride exercise bikes inside a laboratory for 30 minutes, while breathing piped-in diesel exhaust at levels approximately those along a city highway at rush hour.



Afterward, the researchers did a “kind of stress test of the blood vessels” in the participants’ forearms, Dr. Newby said, and found that the vessels were abnormally dilated, meaning blood and oxygen could not flow easily to the muscles. At the same time, levels of tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, a naturally-occurring protein that dissolves blood clots, had fallen.

But of course, my dear Domestiques, the answer is not to stop working out just because you live in a city... the answer is that we should ALL BIKE TO WORK!

In the calculus of health concerns, “Breathing air pollution is not nearly as bad as smoking,” Dr. Lippmann said.



“The bottom line is that running and cycling are healthy and, over all, good for the heart,” Dr. Newby said. With proper care, he said, outdoor exercise does not have to be harmful — and, done en masse, could even ease pollution.



“I ride my bike back and forth to work every day,” he said. “If everyone else did that, too, we wouldn’t be having this problem at all, would we?”

Soaked

F you Slurry Beta. If you woulda gotten off your ass three years ago and actually made biking chaps a reality, I wouldn’t be in the predicament I am now. Had to go home over lunch to sell some shit we don’t want to take across the country. Wouldn’t ya know it, light rain starts as I am helping the lady, who was 15 mins late, put the dresser into her SUV. Go inside, gather my stuff, check again that there is nothing in the fridge to eat, and decide I should hit the road before the rain gets too bad. I grab the goretex shell for the torso, but risk the jeans because it is just too damn hot (88 in the rain, motherfucker) to go slip the pants shell over my jeans. But guess what? Too late, dude. I get two blocks away, still four from work, and it opens up. Torrential. Mother. Fucker. Probably just 15 mins too late, too; thanks a lot lady.



But really, I blame Beta. He talked and talked and talked about biking chaps, how they were gonna revolutionize commuting, how the tops of your jeans would never be wet again. But no. Idle chit chat. Grow a pair, dammit! Make biking chaps happen already! What the else you gonna be doin’ with that fancy law degree?



I am soaking fucking wet right now. My undies are wet, this is gross. My shaved head is dripping. I am surly as hell. And hungry. I have 4 and a half hours left at work. I SAY EFFF YOOUUUUU, man!



In Seattle, I’ll have to be better prepared.

Day 1

Here is what Day 1 of Tour de Awesome has in store.*






Note the flatness, we only ascend 417 feet in total, and descend an equal amount (406 ft). 44 Miles is a lot easier over flat terrain, and over half (more like 2/3 I reckon) is on a bike only path, meaning no worries about cars or what have you.



I've been reading in bike & outdoorsy mags that nutrition plays a huge role in endurance and total output. That shouldn't be too surprising, but there are a few good things to keep in mind.



One popular idea is that you should carboload before a big outing or sporting event. Partially true. Carboloading is good to do, but the way most people do it is wrong. Instead of eating 3 lbs of pasta the night before, you should carboload for the whole week or so leading up to your event. This allows you to do it slowly, a little bit extra per day, so you body can better digest everything. For many, old fashioned means of carboloading can cause sleeplessness and indigestion and other GI issues. And GI issues are not what you want to be worrying about when you spending 45 miles on a bike saddle.



Also, it'll be important for our group to consume lot of calories while on the bike. We'll have to load our pockets with bars and maybe even some gels. And loads of water. Dehydration and bonking (no calories left to burn) can kill a fun group ride, we don't want anyone to be miserable on the bike or feeling like they can't go on. And once those things set in, it's too late to fix them, so we'l lall have to be dilligent about eating and drinking a lot as we go. We've got a long weekend ahead of us!

)

This is gonna be awesome.


*Note: We are not sure if the Tour de Awesome will make it all the way to D-town, we may cut it off at Jame's cabin, do more boating and swimming and partying, and then just pedaling back from there instead of having to get a car ride back from Duluth.. stay tuned, more ride details to come.

Thanks, James

An email I got yesterday from my pal James:

As the owner of a partially soccer based blog, I thought you might enjoy "THE BEST SOCCER CLIP EVER"

EVER,
James

Mormons don't know how to party...

But Angel Moroni does. In fact, here is his telling of the greatest holiday of all times. I got him to write something for the Domestique by saying: my 4th was better. Here is his response.

"Let's see, where is the better place to be in the summer, a crowded city crawling with power hungry deuschebags, or the greatest state in the Union, Minnesota? I'll go with Minnesota. So where is the best place to celebrate America's birthday? At a cabin in Minnesota, of course.

The day began with me being about an hour late to Dan S's apartment to begin our bike ride to Lake Collinwood, about 65 miles due west of Minneapolis. Around 9:30, Dan S, Dan E, and I caught the greenway and began our journey west. James and I had biked nearly all the way to Kraemerica's cabing on the previous Sunday, but enlist Brandon to pick us up about 12 miles away because we thought we were going to miss the boat parade. Because of this, we had a great route and didn't have to spend really any time hovering around a map. Our route included an always fun journey through the bays of Lake Minnetonka, and proceeded on into the glorious countryside of rural MN.

Dan E hit the wall about mile 40, but we after a couple food breaks and chilling out breaks, we made it up to the cabin around 2. It was nearly 95 degrees out, so the first order of
business was to hydrate. Luckly, Dan's girlfriend Kayla drove up the return car with all our camping equipment and 3 gallons of water. We drank and ate fresh cherries for about an hour, then tapped the keg, opened the Rossi, and began to celebrate America's birthday for real.

Something people might not know, a jug of Carlo Rossi floats. We pontooned out to the middle of the lake, put our lifejackets between our legs, and played a little game that became known as Rossi Tossi in perfectly temperatured water. Rossi Tossi consists of drinking some Rossi, then Tossing it into the water in the direction of the next drinker. It goes under water for a second, but then floats back up to the surface. I can't really adequetely explain how fun this was.

We headed back in from the pontoon adventure, did some grilling, then hopped back on a fully loaded pontoon to the park across the lake. Supplied with SoCo, grass, beer, frisbee, and good spirits, we went to the park for a great game of 500. We headed back to the cabin around dark, and enjoyed multiple fireworks shows around the lake as we continued our celebration.

It was amazing, Jake sums it up a little better on his blog.

Good times. T-9 days until hurricane DomestiqueBeta (editors note: a.k.a., "Two of DC's most wanted") hits the cities, the excitement is palpable."

Palpable, indeed. Thanks Moroni.

One. Week. Left.

Scary, really. One week left at work, one week left in DC. Am I packed? Sorta, kinda, not really. But getting there. Am I ready to bounce? Yes. And no. But more yes than no. I’ll miss my pals tho’.

I don’t think I’ll be working that much this week, so check back often as I plan to actually do some posting. Even if they are lame, “I am really bored at work posts,” like this one. Part of me thinks that forcing myself to compose my thoughts and write on this stupid thing will help me when I go back to being a student. That part of me is also good at rationalizing a lot of my bad or pointless habits, you know, like drugs, alcohol, junk food, and yes, blogging.

This morning I have been reading the live blogcast of the Tour De France by Bicycling Mag contributor Joe Linsdey. I am not that into the Tour, but intrigued enough that I’ll read someone blog live about it and hit my refresh button every 90 seconds. Especially with nothing else to do. And it’s informative to folks like me who don’t know anything about cycling as a sport, especially because of the blog format. People can leave comments for Lindsey, such as “how do teams work together” like someone did earlier, and then get their learn on when Lindsey gets around to addressing their questions.

Sometimes teams will form a pact to work together. This works best if the teams have complementary goals. In the CSC/Astana case, Astana is there for one reason: to win the overall. But CSC's best guy is Carlos Sastre, who could well be a top-five finisher but isn't a likely threat to win - he just doesn't time-trial well enough. And, CSC in the pre-Basso days was all about opportunism: take a win where you can find it. They went for everything - stage wins, intermediate sprints, KoM points, the team competition, whatever. They're omnivores and I'd bet they're back to that approach this year. They have yellow now, so they want to hold on to it. Astana may offer to help them a bit in that if, later in the race, CSC might help Astana chase down a rival for the overall.

Neat, eh?

I have been meaning to blog about my favorite holiday ever, the Fourth Of July (FOJ), but haven’t gotten around to it yet. It was incredible. I highly recommend floating down the Shenandoah River in an inner tube with a floating beer cooler in tow. I also highly recommend viewing the fireworks from a roofdeck, preferably in a relatively high part of the city, such as Mt Pleasant. From there you can see fireworks from neighboring cities and towns in literally every direction, including a wonderful view of the biggest and baddest of them all, over the Mall. Angel M. shares my love of FOJ. I hope you do, too. And to the haters out there who complained that it was on a Wednesday, grow a pair and plan ahead next time: take Thursday off. Hell, take Friday off too. I did. Moroni, if you care to recount your FOJ exploits, send me the manuscript and I’ll post it here for the world to see. But I am pretty sure mine was better.