What I saw on my bike ride today

Elephants hiding behind some trees.



A future home for endangered fish.



Fields of chili plants.



A (blurry) roadrunner.

A distant wasteland.

The underside of a train.

A junkyard full of VWs.

A little visitor

The other night I had a spot of Bourbon; as I often do, I didn’t quite finish the glass, leaving a bit of the alcohol in the bottoms. I left the glass on my stove…..the next evening, I found this in it:



In case you can’t quite identify what’s in the glass, it’s a two inch centipede that crawled in and died (either from drowning or alcohol poisoning). As gross as this is, I’m more disconcerted by the idea that a centipede could one day crawl on me while sleeping or zoning out in front of the TV.

A dietary issue you'll probably not have to deal with

I’ve been reading "Pickled, Potted, Canned: How the Art and Science of Food Preserving Changed the World" (Sue Shepard)...it’s been an interesting read, but I think it’s missed some important (or at least interesting) information. For instance, no where does it even mention lutefisk. Another item of note regards something that I learned when researching botulism poisoning (in preparation for my pepperoni-making experiment.....it failed miserably, yielding a funny tasting overly dried sausage stick). Apparently, Alaskan natives eat quite a bit of fermented meat. Fermentation under anaerobic conditions (like in a jar or tupperware container, instead of the traditional hole in the ground) encourages the growth of Clostridium bacteria...these are the suckers responsible for producing the toxin that causes botulism. This practice has led to a number of botulism poisonings, including this one......get this.....from eating fermented beaver paw and tail.

As an aside, I just got "Here come the warm jets" by Brian Eno in the mail (ordered on Amazon, where I pick up about 95% of my music these days)....it’s easily the best album I’ve purchased in quite a while.

Lung diseases, the element Si, and outer apparel

I was over at the John Brook’s again tonight, picking up some diet tonic water; the checker who rang me up was complaining to another employee about smelling "pneumonia" in some container that she had opened. I didn’t say anything, but maybe I should’ve. At work, I correct people for making similar mistakes, although there I think that’s my duty. A common mistake I hear is confusion between ‘silicon’, ‘silica’, and ‘silicone’. Silicon is the element, the stuff they make transistors and computer chip out of. Silica is silicon dioxide (formula SiO2); basically sand. And silicone is the polymer that is often associated with breast implants (if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know what I think of those) but is in many other useful day-to-day items such as bathtub caulk or those new-fangled rubbery baking trays (the latter taking advantage of the excellent heat resistance of silicones). The monomer present in silicon is -Si(CH3)2-O-, although other organic groups can take the place of the -CH3.

Anyway, a checker at John Brook’s recently complained that I never said anything. I explained that I was quiet, but the real reason (I’m definitely not quiet) is that I don’t like to small talk too much. In fact, I’m downright bad at small talk. In Vegas, I’ve tried to chat with my fellow Blackjack players about the luck of players at the table, or some similar shallow topic, but I just end up falling on my face socially.

Speaking of small talk, the temperature here has taken a sudden downfall. I love the fall....I really like this slight chilliness (well, at least at night... the day is still 70 degrees here), the crispness of the air, the smell of turning leaves. But an issue I’ve been dealing with related to fall is my need for a new jacket appropriate to this season. I’ve got a jacket that is reasonable comfortable, but it’s kind of a middle-aged man’s jacket (in fact, I saw a middle-aged guy earlier this year wearing the very same coat). I tossed out my Dickie’s jackets. I liked those quite a bit, but they were falling apart and on their last legs. New Dickie’s jackets all have a Dickie’s logo on the front, which I don’t like. I enjoyed the anonymous style of these jackets; I don’t want to be accused of wearing a fashion jacket. So now I’m stuck; I want a light coat that is hip, but not trendy. And I’m not ready to be middle-aged yet (even when in middle-age, I hope to maintain some semblance of fashion sense. If anyone catches me wearing something like this, please shoot me).

What's at the grocery store

This evening I wandered over to the grocery store across the street to pick up some beer (I was in the mood for a brew); I don’t think I’ve actually ever purchased any malted beverage at "John Brooks", but there’s always a first time I guess. Out of curiosity, I wandered down the cold case to the "swill" section to see if they still sell some of the budget brands I remember so fondly stocking at Safeway. For $6.59, you can pick up a half rack of Hamm’s Light or Premium (I was shocked to find that the Premium was the same price as the Light! Are they crazy? I’m surprised they haven’t gone out of business yet!)....you may remember Hamm’s as "From the Land of Sky Blue Water". They still have that slogan, but I think they got rid of the cartoon bear. If you’re feeling a bit spendy, for only 50 cents more you can upgrade yourself to Pabst or Schaefer (as an aside, Pabst sells their beer in China....it’s pretty much the worst beer I’ve ever had). But then, if it’s a special occasion, you can splurge on Old Milwaukee (only $8.99/12 pack). If that’s a bit rich for your blood, Milwaukee’s Best is only $7.99 for the half rack. Not only is it the "Best", it’s also a whole $1.00 less than its competitor. How can you go wrong!

My theory is that all of these beers are exactly the same, except for the label on the can. They’re all brewed at one of a handful of breweries, along with the other similar beers such as Olympia, Schlitz, Animal Beer (a.k.a. Schmidt), etc. Can anyone seriously tell the difference between these? I think there’s an experiment brewing (no pun intended) here.

As I was leaving the store, I walked past the security guard; he was standing on the sidewalk, having a smoke. Except it wasn’t the normal kind of tobacco. My feeling is that it wouldn’t be too hard to slip a few items past this guy.

In case you're wondering, I bought some "Bridgeport IPA". Those other beers are for comedic effect, not for drinking.

A big update

What I’ve been listening recently.....

1) "Best of the JB’s"
2) "Eddie Bo.....The Hook and Sling" (kind of a New Orleans version of James Brown....very funky, even if Eddie Bo looks kind of like a Russ Troll Doll)
3) Say Hi to Your Mom
4) My Bloody Valentine...."Loveless". One of my all-time favorite albums.
5)Black Eye Peas...."Elephunk". A great album.
6) Corrine Bailey Rae. A super album, recommended by a friend with great taste (thanks for the lead!) who would probably agree with me that "The Toadies" suck. Wait.....that’d be most of my friends......
7) The Velvet Underground & Nico

Today I went into Kmart. I don’t know how they do it, but they manage to make themselves look worse that Walmart. And with limited claw machine options to boot. But at least it’s not crowded.

I received my 3.5 gt Le Crueset Braising Pan yesterday....I gave it a test run tonight with "Kecap manis chicken with star anise and orange peel". Incredibly tasty....I would even go so far to say it was the best chicken I’ve had in an incredibly long time. Kecap manis is an Indonesian condiment that’s basically a thick (chocolate syrup-like) soy sauce sweetened with palm sugar; it’s also a precursor for our western ‘Ketchup’, that most balanced in flavor of all modern condiments. I’d have to say that I’m a big condiment man...I’m a sucker for a good sauce or relish (but then, some would say I’m just a sucker).

Finally, here is a screen shot from "Disco Dancer", that Indian film I was raving about recently. Did you know if you went to a club here in the U.S., and started dancing Indian-movie style, you’d get your ass kicked?




Also, I haven’t really related this story to many people, but I was an extra in an Indian film called "Nothing but Life". I wasn’t dancing, but rather I was practicing my golf. Ask me sometime for the details.

Fashionable eyewear for your furry friend

If you're in need of some amusement, check out the following website:

http://www.doggles.com/about_doggles.html

A BAD KEYBOARD ARRANGEMENT

Why, on a keyboard, is the "Caps Lock" key in between the "Shift" and "Tab" keys? I can't stop hitting the "Caps Lock" key....it should be switched with "Tab".

A short trip log will be posted shortly.....