Miscellanea

So, I ran the summer solstice half marathon on Saturday night. I was pretty happy with my time--faster than my time in the same race 2 years ago. Wish I'd run like that in Cleveland. Plus I got my picture in the paper. It was cold and rainy, but I had fun!

I also made both basil beef stir fry and baba ghanoush over the weekend, with decent results. No photographic proof this time, so you'll have to take my word for it. According to The Cook's Thesaurus, if your local supermarket doesn't have tahini, you can substitute 3 parts peanut butter and 1 part sesame oil. So I did. I gotta try the real thing next time.

Funny thing about Michael Bloomberg leaving the Republican party, but not surprising given his policies. Especially cracking down on gun crime, much to the chagrin of the NRA. He says he's not running for President, but if he did, I'm guessing he'd mostly take votes away from Republicans--the socially moderate, fiscally conservative votes.

I was a huge fan of KRS-One back in the early 90s, but didn't really hear much of his material after '93 or so. Anyway, I picked up his new album, and he's still got it--politically and socially conscious as ever. It's not as good as his classic material, but it's still quite good. That makes me feel good--considering the shelf life of a hip-hop artist is treacherously short, it's nice to see someone still around after 20-plus years. The best rhyme: "I've got 26 gold and platinum plaques/I'll take away your rights like the Patriot Act."

It's been a gooooood week at work. 'Nuff said.

Twenty-First Century Cities

As someone who tries to walk the line between city mouse and country mouse (with a hint of suburb mouse), I loved this feature in Forbes, on the urban landscape in our newish century. Some standouts included "Two Billion Slum Dwellers" (I had no idea that the number of urban residents in the world will surpass the number of rural residents for the first time this year), a piece on shrinking cities that could look vastly different by 2100 (including some I wouldn't have guessed, ever), and "Snitchtown"--a damning indictment of our surveillance culture. I never expected to see anything like this in Forbes. Shows how much I know. Check it out.

In other news, I LOVE my new glasses! Couldn't find a picture of them on the Internets, but they're made by these folks. But they don't look all trendy.

Come On In My Kitchen

Well, I tried my hand at making sauteed sausage and grapes today--I love simple recipes: sausage, grapes, garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. According to the guy who wrote How To Cook Everything, the dish dates back to Roman times. So I figured it would collapse under its own hubris, yet have a lasting influence on my culture.

Here's kind of what it looked like, except it looked better in real life. Alas, I'm no Ansel Adams. All told, it tasted pretty good.

OK, one more time with the cat pics

I'm not going to say how the cat got to the uppermost reaches of the bathroom without a nearby jumping-off point. Unless you ask me--it's a mildly amusing story. In any case, it made for some good entertainment on my lunch break.

Demmiecrats

Well, I caught the second half of tonight's debate among the 8 Democrats vying for the nomination. Dennis Kucinich is still my first choice, but Bill Richardson impressed me. Kucinich and Mike Gravel got seated at the far ends of the stage, so they could be left out of most camera shots. Really, I'd take any of these Dems over Bush, McCain, Giuliani, Brownback, Huckabee, Romney, or pretty much any Republican who isn't Ron Paul (then I'd have to do some soul searching). Hopefully the Democrats can make it happen.

I'm getting slightly better at making tandoori chicken. Woohoo!

Bliss

Some kitties have a rough life. Mine ain't one of 'em.

International Whaling Commission Roundup

First off, had my annual physical today, and everything looks fine. I feel great, but it's always nice to have that affirmed by a professional. Needless to say, I have been medically cleared to Take It to the Man.

The IWC met in Anchorage this week. Japan was unsuccessful in bringing back commercial whaling, despite amassing an impressive number of votes--the moratorium in place since 1986 still stands. Alaskan subsistence whaling is safe, with quotas approved for the next five years.

Here's some decent background on subsistence whaling, for the unfamiliar.

The IWC also approved a quota for the Makah tribe on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, but whaling is not likely to happen anytime soon, thanks to the federal courts' boneheadedness--approving the hunt in theory, saying that the tribe can apply for a federal permit under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, but setting nigh impossible permit requirements. Of course, the 1855 Treaty of Neah Bay, signed by the U.S. government, explicitly gives the tribe whaling rights, but since when does this government care about treaties? Sorry--I'm kind of rehashing my law review comment here (full text available on request, or if you get on my bad side).

Oh, and Japan is threatening to leave the IWC after not getting its way. Reminds me of Lenin's strategy of threatening to leave the Bolshevik Party if they didn't vote the way he wanted them too. Of course, in his case it worked.

It's Friday. One last weekend before training for the next marathon begins. But mostly, I just want a nap.