Blog Master G

There are a lot of reasons people don’t eat meat and each of us has his own: Maybe you don’t like the way animals are treated, perhaps you’re sketched out by the hormones with which animals are injected, maybe you’ve read Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation, or it could be that you simply don’t enjoy how meat tastes.

Whatever the reason(s), we all have our own. There are also degrees of vegetarianism and veganism. I grew up eating meat, but am mostly a vegetarian these days. I still eat seafood regularly and used to eat white meat more often, but have all but stopped doing so. After a number of years without meat — the last steak I ordered in a restaurant was in 2001, when I was all at once disturbed by and no longer interested in the idea of eating a living mammal — you just don’t miss it. I’ve read Fast Food Nation, which is the best motivation not to eat meat. I also care about animals and don’t like the way they’re treated in big agrifarming — there are, of course, responsible ways to care for and raise animals, with which I don’t have a problem. I’ll also note for the record that I have no problem with responsible hunting — not the Dick Cheney caged bird (or friend) style — and eating your own kills (it’s just not something I’m interested in doing).

Yes, I do believe that our bodies do crave meat from time to time and that there’s nothing wrong with feeding that craving, so I enjoy the once-a-year or so carne asada at one of James’ BBQs, or the hand-picked cow that Jane and Sarah prepare with such mastery at their wine parties. And I even enjoy the occasional grilled chicken that I BBQ in my yard during Saratoga summers.

But I’ll leave you with this excellent question, posed last night by Jen as we tried a new offering from Morningstar Farms, producers of delicious soy-based fake meat products: If it looks like chicken, feels like chicken, smells like chicken, and tastes like chicken, then why does it matter if it’s not chicken?

MorningStar Farms Chik ‘N Strips

Throw ’em in the pan

…and out comes a delicious fake chik’n meal

And just like that, the snow is gone. It seems spring is nearly here, and Saratoga Springs got a taste of it Saturday, when temperatures were in the 50s and Broadway was packed with people. It looked more like track season than the end of a mild winter.

Friday night we took it easy at home before a long day on Saturday. We walked into town twice — first just to enjoy the day and being outside, and to pick up wine, cheese, and crackers at Putnam Market, which was packed with people (I’m always glad to see downtown businesses thriving, as they do whenever the weather is nice). We enjoyed some Australian wines that were being featured in the tasting that day on the wine side of Putnam.

Saturday night Alex, Cati, Hugh, and Jami joined us for cocktail hour and snacks — exhibiting their good taste, Hugh and Jami brought over the same Bordeaux that we had sampled and bought earlier in the day, too — before we walked into town again for dinner at O’Callaghan’s — where Justin later joined us — and drinks at the Tin & Lint. It was a really fun evening of good friends, good laughs, and good times.

Since I take so many pictures with my cell phone, I’m sometimes tempted to get the first 2.0 megapixel camera phone (and camcorder) available in the U.S., the Samsung MM-A800 (CNET Review | Engadget). But apparently uploading photos would be really slow since it uses the old data network. It also doesn’t have Bluetooth, another feature I’d like to see in my next phone. Of course, the other drawback to having a phone with 2 MP photo capabilities is that it’s almost like taking a step backward since I’d likely carry it and use it more often my regular camera. 2.0 MP is good quality, especially for a cell phone, but not quite as good as my regular 5 MP digital camera, so it’s almost as if I should wait for the technology to advance (and price to come down) before investing in a phone that doubles as a camera (or vice-versa).

(Coincidentally, after writing the above, I see in my “On This Day in…” feature that it was two years ago today when I first got my current camera phone, the Samsung VGA1000.)

You can get a free Microsoft USB memory stick in exchange for your address — just click the “Get Yours” link. It’s probably only 16 MB or so, but what the heck? Seems like a good place to store vital data like a Quicken QDF file and RoboForm backup data. (Thanks, Alex, for the tip!)

How cool is this thing? OK, it’s pretty crazy looking, but to be presumed extinct for 11 million years and then to reappear is pretty nuts. And, as Jen said, why does it look like he’s posing in a Sears portrait studio?

Rat-Squirrel Not Extinct After All:

It has the face of a rat and the tail of a skinny squirrel — and scientists say this creature discovered living in central Laos is pretty special: It’s a species believed to have been extinct for 11 million years.

The long-whiskered rodent made international headlines last spring when biologists declared they’d discovered a brand new species, nicknamed the Laotian rock rat.

It turns out the little guy isn’t new after all, but a rare kind of survivor: a member of a family until now known only from fossils.

(Thanks, Pete, for the link!)

I learned in a New Yorker story (Issue of 2006-03-13: Green Gold by Jack Turner, pages 38-44), which I read last night about the modern revival of absinthe, that I wasn’t actually breaking the law when I brought a bottle of Absinthe back into the U.S. from London.

It seems that the 1912 ban by the U.S. Department of Agriculture only bans the selling and distilling of absinthe in the U.S. Although my bottle could have been taken away from me, the act of bringing absinthe into the country is not illegal: “Travellers returning to the U.S. with a bottle or customers buying it from Europe on the Internet are not guilty of any crime, though they could have their bottle confiscated” (page 42).

The New Yorker piece focuses on displaced New Orleans native Ted Breaux, a chemist who’s spent years perfecting the original absinthe recipe of the 1800s through a series of trial and error experiments using antique distilling equipment and all natural ingredients — wormwood (“the second most bitter substance on earth”), green anise, and fennel, along with sop, melissa, star anise, and coriander — in an old French distillery. He’s perfected the recipe and his company, Jade Liquers, now offers three varieties of absinthe and sells about 5,000 bottles per year for just under $100 each.

The Bulgarian Hapsburg absinthe I purchased in London probably isn’t nearly as good quality as those absinthese produced by Breauxer, but I did enjoy my first absinthe experience over New Year’s Eve (the small samples Jen and I had in London notwithstanding). And I continue to be intrigued by the mysterious green elixir, enjoyed by the likes of James Joyce, Edgar Degas, Oscar Wilde, and Pablo Picasso, and often blamed for causing insanity in many: “In 1907, four hundred thousand French citizens signed a petition, to the effect that ‘absinthe makes one crazy and criminal, provokes epilepsy and tuberculosis, and has killed thousands of French people. It makes a ferocious beast of man, a martyr of woman, and a degenerate of the infant, it disorganizes and ruins the family and menances the future of our country'” (page 41).

That’s a lot of power packed in a small green bottle.

It was 4 years ago today that we lost Nana. On this day every year my blog turns pink, in honor of Nana; pink was her favorite color. My Mom, brother, and I spent a lot of years living with Nana and Alan, and their house was my last connection to any kind of childhood home. When it was sold several years ago, I didn’t realize at the time how much of an impact that would have on me. I still have many dreams that take place in Nana’s house. The house and Nana and Alan will always be alive and well in my memories.

As I started my memorial post to Nana two years ago today, she once said, “I see only the good in every person.” I’ve always said that a big part of who I am comes as much from Nana as from my parents, and with each passing year, I really understand just how true that is. That concept — seeing only the good in all people — really resonates more and more with me every day that I live my life. It’s about hope. It’s about believing in people. It’s about helping people feel good about themselves and what they’re capable of. These are all things that Nana lived for, and things I try to live for, too. We all want to help people. I believe that there’s good in every person, and I can only hope that I’m making even a fraction of the impact on the world that Nana made during her amazing life.

One of the things that sucks the most about losing a loved one is that the loved one doesn’t get to see how you’ve lived your life and how things have turned out. Nana never met Happy Dingo; she didn’t get to attend mine and Jen’s wedding (though she was there in spirit); she didn’t get a chance to see our new house and our lives together here in Saratoga Springs.

But I know she’d be proud of all this — proud of me and Jen and the lives we’ve built for ourselves, and the good we try to do in the world every day.

We miss you and love you, Nana.

• 2005 Memorial
• 2004 Memorial
• 2003 Memorial
• 2002 Memorial

Was it the A-list stars in the cast that catapulted Crash to victory Sunday night, as foreshadowed by Jon Stewart’s earlier comments? Was it that America’s not quite ready for a movie about gay cowboys to win Best Picture, as it should have? Yes, it was probably those reasons and others.

OSCAR ANALYSIS / Theories abound on why ‘Crash’ won best picture:

“They bent over backward to say this is not a gay love story,” Coyote said. “In fact, it was a gay love story, and it was a story about the cost of being in the closet, and that’s a really political and powerful issue. In trying to market to a wide audience, they deprived the film of its radical edge. So a lot of people who might have gone to see it didn’t go because they just thought it was a romance movie — and a lot of those people would not have gone to a heterosexual romance movie.”

Saturday marked my 5th ski day this season at the biggest mountain in the Northeast, Killington. It also marked my first full-day ski trip this season. I woke up bright ‘n early and hit the road by 7:30. I arrived just after 9 and was on the slopes by 9:30. I made the mistake, however, of parking at Snowshed mountain, one of Killington’s five base lodges at the mammoth resort and the only area that has nothing to offer non-beginners. It took me an hour to get somewhere good — K1 Peak — where I spent the rest of the morning skiing, mostly on the Canyon Quad. Big Dipper was a powdery, moguly delight that took me through the trees adjacent to the run and was a hell of a workout.

Heather and Saahil were in town from Hoboken, so we all met for a slow lunch (it was crowded and the service was sluggish) at the K1 lodge. In the restroom of said lodge was a condom/Advil machine in the men’s room. The condoms had a questionable brand name: Hot Fudge.

Saahil and I enjoyed the rest of the windy, snowy day skiing the diamonds and double diamonds of the K1 area. At times, the wind was so intense that even my face protection wasn’t quite enough. There’s also a strange triple on which we ended up at one point in the Sunrise mountain area that was more like a carnival ride — it actually turns left at one point and jerks you around so hard you’re lucky not to fall off.

Overall, I had a great day and enjoyed the much larger mountain to the previous weekend’s trip to Pico. The crowds and the commercialism of Killington — the Mountain Dew flags, the Chevy trucks, the loud music at Snowshed lodge — really made me appreciate Gore that much more. Gore is like a slice of Killington without the crowds and the commercialism. And it’s less than an hour away. A season pass at Gore just might be in my future next season.

Friday night before skiing Jen and I met up with Alex and Cati and friends in Albany for a night of movies and wine. We first saw the Oscar-nominated Match Point, which, given that Crash stole the Best PIcture award from Brokeback Mountain, should have won the Original Screenplay award instead of Crash — a great movie, but it wasn’t the best of the year.

Jen and I are scallop fans, but not until last night had we (she) ever attempted to cook them at home. It started with a trip to our local grocery store, Hannaford, among other errands. We only needed a few things at the store, so most of the time we were there, we were talking with the dude at the seafood counter about the ins and outs of scallop preparation. There were two kinds of scallops — sea and bay — with a significant price difference between them ($14.99 per pound and $4.99 per pound, respectively). Jen had brought two recipes with her — Deb’s Scallops Florentine, which needed scallops from the sea, and Baked Scallops, which called for bay scallops. The seafood guy advised us that the bay scallops might cook too fast and that we should go sea style; that we’d burn the bay scallops in no time. Since it would be her first attempt cooking scallops, Jen wisely opted for the bay scallops since, as she said, “I’d rather burn $4.99 a pound than $14.99 a pound.” So after much debate, we went for the bay and proceeded on our merry way.

Later on in the evening while enjoying some wine and preparing dinner, I was about to throw out the lid for the pound-and-a-half of scallops we had bought and what did I see? A sea scallops label stating that we had paid more than $16 for our bay scallops. We don’t live far from Hannaford, so on a mission of principle and to recover our $10, I cruised on back to the store, lid and receipt in hand, expecting to fight a battle.

I was pleasantly surprised with what happened, and it truly epitomizes good customer service.

I was directed to the customer service counter, explained the situation, and was immediately given a full refund plus an additional dollar for my troubles. I was expecting to have to present my evidence and argue with our friend at the seafood counter. No such thing. There were no questions asked.

So not only did we enjoy delicious baked scallops last night, but we made a dollar on the deal. Props to Hannaford for keepin’ it real on the CS front. That’s such an integral part of running a successful business.

Como te llamas? Como estas? Me llamo Gabriel. Bien, gracias. y tu?

Foreign languages have never been my forte (a bit of German here, some Latin there), but I bit the bullet last night and began my great seven-week adventure in Spanish for Beginners through the Saratoga Springs Continuing Education Program. The class was pretty funny; I’m the only man in it. The teacher is great — full of energy and exuding happiness. Our first night seemed a bit scattered — some phrases here, some verbs there, some BINGO at the end of class, and sombreros — but I’m sure it will get more focused as the weeks go on.

I’m taking the class in anticipation of our trip to Mallorca this summer for the wedding of Alex and Cati. Muy bien!

It’s almost creepy how much this reminds me of recent episodes of 24.

Video Shows Bush Warned Before Katrina Hit:

On the eve of Hurricane Katrina’s fateful landfall, President Bush was confident. His homeland security chief appeared relaxed. And warnings of the coming destruction — breached or overrun levees, deaths at the New Orleans Superdome and overwhelming needs for post-storm rescues — were delivered in dramatic terms to all involved. All of it was captured on videotape.

The Associated Press obtained the confidential government video and made it public Wednesday, offering Americans their own inside glimpse into the government’s fateful final Katrina preparations after months of fingerpointing and political recriminations.

“My gut tells me … this is a bad one and a big one,” then-federal disaster chief Michael Brown told the final government-wide briefing the day before Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29.

The president didn’t ask a single question during the briefing but assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: “We are fully prepared.”