July 2009 Archives

nothing puts the arse end of bunker hill into perspective like climbing bunker hill from the other direction.

i reached a personal milestone today: i climbed bunker hill the hard way without using my granny gear. then i rode sawyer camp at a semi-leisurely pace, then back up the arse end of bunker hill -- which seemed easy for a change -- and then, while i was in the mood, i returned home via ascension drive and its tangly little nest of short, steep hills.

i haven't done a lot of hills since i forswore my granny gear, this was really refreshing.

today was bring-a-sandwich-to-work day. it failed on many levels.

my sandwich, from bottom to top:

12 grain bread
bourbon mustard
jarlsberg lite
heirloom tomato
romaine lettuce
yellow bell pepper
soprasetta
toscano salame
yellow bell pepper
romaine lettuce
heirloom tomato
turkey slices
bourbon mustard
12 grain bread

now, the turkey and the cheese were designed to shield the bread from the tomato, but they failed utterly and the bread was completely destroyed. i ended up scooping the last half of my sandwich out of the container. you might wonder why i didn't put the lettuce in between the bread and the tomato -- i simply don't like lettuce that close to the bread, and the lettuce, having been washed, was also wet. in the future though, i may have to go that route, devoid of choice.

the italian meats were cut way too thick. i cut them myself with a sausage knife, but that's really no substitute for deli-sliced. i guess next time i'll have that done, rearrange my sandwich, and hope for the best.

it's Frobuary 1, YOMHC 0x45!

#0 mohawk. looks bitchin. chilly at night. good gaw yaw, i needed that.

i hung aunt ruby's painting of flapper hoors over our guest toilet.

aunt ruby had this painting hung over her guest toilet. i didn't have a guest toilet in the old apartment, so aunt ruby's flapper hoor painting was displayed in an inappropriate place.

the new apartment has some really good feng shui, not that i believe in that nonsense. but my office is wood paneled. grandma/grandpa's jamaican mask (made in germany?!!) hangs there -- the place was supposedly built in the foh-tehs, and the wood paneling is so riddled with holes -- nails and wood screws and thumb tacks of all sizes -- that i don't really have to pound new holes to hang things. i simply find a hole and a nail of the proper diameter, and slide it in.

actually, in one case, i am pretty sure i slid a nail all the way through into the neighbor's apartment.

the arrest of professor Gates has blown way up, even to the point of clouding the news of health care reform -- which the insurance companies must love. i was pretty surprised that a local incident got a mention from the president -- and even more surprised by his choice of words.

(as an aside: isn't it funny that while the word "legalization" is not in the president's vocabulary, "stupidly" is? i guess maybe the first intellectual president of the last decade doesn't have five syllable capacity in his vocab).

charges of racism are flying around, and cambridge is backing their officer, who appears to have a pretty good community record, particularly regarding race. it could be that he's a racist, it could be that he's not. it could be that Gates is the racist. all of this misses the larger picture, which is totally independent of race: a man was arrested in his own (proven) home, after asking the police to leave, apparently on the charge of mouthing off.

reporters bloviate hundreds of words about the arrest, including quotes from police at all levels claiming that no misconduct occurred, and yet no mention is made of the disorderly conduct for which Gates was handcuffed in his own house.

Obama comes close to raising the issue: "I think it was a pretty straightforward commentary that you probably don't need to handcuff a guy, a middle-aged man who uses a cane, who's in his own home". But the president clouds the issue by throwing in descriptions of the man. The simple fact is that it's outrageous that the cops can come into my home, when i'm all alone, and arrest me for harming their sanctimonious ears.

it makes no difference whether a man in his own home -- alone, unarmed, presenting no danger to his neighbors -- asks the police politely or rudely to leave. once asked to leave, if there's no actual crime being comitted, the police should leave.

this is pretty fucking clear, i think:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.

People have a right to be secure in their houses. Saying "fuck off" is not a crime, even if it's said to a police officer, even if he's got a long and distinguished record.

Everyone throwing around race in this issue is doing a disservice to the American people -- who are not secure in their houses from unreasonable arrest.

An American demanded an unwelcome visitor to leave his house, and was hauled off to jail for the words he used in so doing. That's a disgrace.

parts of the world kinda suck.

The incident provides a vivid example of how the countless video recordings generated today by security cameras and cell phones are affecting police work.

Wrong.

The incident provides a vivid example of how the countless video recordings generated today by security cameras and cell phones are affecting police work make it harder for cops to get away with shit.

And they sure don't like it.

spent the weekend in napa. first things first: i stayed at a "business class" hotel, which meant crappy digs, not a great discount, either. next time, i'll either go for econolodge or super fancy, but the middle ground is just a waste of money.

second: it was fargen hot. over 100F for much of the visit. but that was napa: carneros was 70s to 90s. that's half of why i <3 carneros. the other half is that i loves me some carneros pinot noir, and the third half is that i think the wineries in carneros do better things to napa cabernet sauvignon than the wineries in napa. that's my humble opinion for yous.

the highlight of the visit was the artesa club bbq. we showed up around 2 with a couple boxes of wine we'd purchased the previous two days. because these guys are world class awesome, the tasting room staff let us drop off our bottles instead of leaving them in the car to sit at 120F. then back down to the bbq house, where a band was playing up-tempo bluesy stuff on the porch (ha!). at the entrance area we were issued a glass of chardonnay, a nametag, and a squirt gun. throughout the bbq, everyone squirted everyone else. it was a genius idea for icebreaking and staying cool. the squirtguns really made the bbq.

there were goofy games, including a compressed air rifle that shot corks at targets about 5 yards away. not exactly accurate, but once i got the hang of it and grokked its characteristics, i got myself 3 in a row and won a bunch of tickets. all the goofy games had tickets, which went into a raffle at the end -- also brilliantly organized: you could put your tickets on only the items you cared to win. i didn't win anything.

everyone went home with a complimentary half-bottle of 2003 reserve cab. one of our two bottles was leaky so we drank it when we got home. dunno if it was sitting out all day (it was shady but still hardly cellar temps) or the leak, but it wasn't great. wasn't vinegar, either, though.

the food was from chef edward's bbq, in oakland. chef edwards was there serving and joking around. the portions were ridiculous, and it was quite funny to see all the skinny wine girls breaking their plastic plates with pounds of barbecue. the food itself wasn't great, but it wasn't bad (the greens were super salty, which i considered a blessing in terms of electrolyte replacement. foodies may not agree :D). as with most food, the wine pairing and the company elevated it beyond its humble station. after the event we went back up to the tasting room to retrieve our wine, and enjoy a tasting, too -- but they wouldn't pour on account of our nametags, claiming we'd had enough at the bbq. sigh. i suppose that's fair.

all the club members were super friendly and seemed to know each other. maybe that was only because we all had nametags. in any case, i look forward to seeing this crowd again at the next event.

with the food, they were pouring their merlot and their tempranillo. i didn't much care for the pairing of the merlot and the bbq, but then, i think i just don't care for (their?) merlot. in fact, in the past i've tried and failed to pair wine with my own bbq. i was beginning to suspect that wine just doesn't pair with bbq. now, the tempranillo has changed my thinking on this. i like the tempranillo because it pairs well with food, is cheap, and has a non-french name. i'd gotten a few bottles last time i was up. but i still have doubts that it will pair well with my barbecue -- sugary, peppery, smokey. it pairs well with unsmokey, salty, saucy bbq like we had yesterday, and like you'll find at most restaurants.

anyhow: fun.

nice one

20 or so years ago (oh jeez..) i was a big fan of weird al, even so much that one day i dreamed of attending the same college as he, and through lots of hard work, i finally did.

well, not exactly.

anyhow, i read today that his song "mr. popeil" was not only a parody of ron popeil, but also a riff on the musical stylings of the b-52s, with whom i was not familiar at the time.

now, listening to it, it's obviously true -- and even more brilliantly funny. ha ha ha!

but wait, there's more!

don't answer yet!

In drug cases, more than 1.5 million samples are analyzed by state and local labs each year, resulting in more than 350,000 felony convictions, national statistics show. "Even if only 5 percent of drug cases culminate in trials, the burden on the states is oppressive," a group of state attorneys general wrote in a brief for the case.

My goodness, how will the poor, poor states deal with the oppressive burden?

How did they ever manage to lock people up in the past?

Hey, wow, this is neat, too:

Last month's Supreme Court ruling emerged from a case in which Luis E. Melendez-Diaz allegedly stashed cocaine in a Boston police car while he was under arrest. The certificate of analysis, determining that the white powder found in the car was cocaine, was entered without a technician's testimony and with only minor objection.

That's right, cocaine in a police car must have been planted. I am speechless with irony.

"I think the effect of this could be very, very bad for public safety," said Fairfax Commonwealth's Attorney Raymond F. Morrogh. "If we are not able to use this evidence, which is reliable, but it's excluded because we can't get the technician here, the guilty will go free. It's a real challenge for us to deal with it."

I see what you did there! "comma, which is reliable". Oh yeah? Because you say so? Justice Alito seems to think that it'd be better if you had to actually prove that it was reliable. You know, like "build a case" around your evidence, not just skip all the way past step 3.

After all, when The Man says technology is reliable, he's always right and has our best interests in mind, eh?

(I'm surprised to find myself agreeing with Alito, but then, I didn't read his full decision. Maybe I've missed an ugly bit.)

while taking a crap in my master bathroom, the discerning crappist can read about bicycles, the ruby programming language, taoist philospohy, or chinese martial philosophy.

whilst crapping in the guest bathroom, one can read about wine.

for the past several weeks, we've been eating a lot of both pizza and froyo. here, then, for your enjoyment, is a brief roundup of your options for pizza and dessert near 94402:

- harmony yogurt (burlingame) : pricey. great texture in the froyo, outrageously expensive toppings, mild flavor. would not recommend.

- toto's pizza: pricey. bewildering sizes: i ordered a medium and a small pizza and they sure looked the same size to me. crust was kinda cardboardy, sauce was mild. toppings were top notch and very plentiful. still, probably would not recommend given other options.

- happy yogurt: cheap, build your own sundae. a plethora of toppings to choose from. exceptionally clean. good flavor in the yogurt, nice texture, but really: the way i pile on the toppings I can't really taste the yogurt. highly recommended if you want a ton of toppings on your froyo.

- zorba's pizza: inconsistent. we've ordered from them twice. the first time the pizza was a cheese bomb like no other, a solid, rubbery, wonderful blanket of cheese over spicy sauce. the second time, same good sauce, cheese not as great. still, though hops doesn't like it, this is one of my favorites now.

- tutti melon: pricey, miserly with the toppings, but damn it if i can't stop going there. wonderful flavor, really outstanding gelato, 15% discount with local dinner receipt. highly recommended if you don't mind paying for a super-dense gelato or a tasty yogurt with minimal toppings.

- new york pizza (in san mateo, not new york): the best place to order from, as far as ease of ordering goes. they apparently have caller ID and so don't have to ask my phone number. brilliant! pizza was not exceptional, not bad. probably wouldn't recommend but wouldn't avoid either.

- yogurtouille: best named froyo place. a huge mess. a make-your-own place, always clogged with soccer teams and snotty kids who throw toppings all over and the staff seems helpless or unmotivated to clean up. pricier than happy. i don't remember how good the yogurt was, but i have no plans to go back given that happy yogurt is so great.

- amici's pizza: we didn't have amici's in the abovementioned pizza craze, but it's still worth a mention: if you want that style of pizza, amici's can't be beat. pricey, miserly with the toppings, thin crust cooked nearly to the point of burning -- and oh so good. yum yum yum amici's. don't forget to get a salad with sundried tomato dressing. nom nom nom.

- sweet breams: not a froyo place, they have soft serve and taiyaki. hops and i are regulars. since i started going there last summer, i think i've only missed one flavor of the week. there is no other place to get taiyaki on the peninsula, at least, not within walking distance of my digs.

- redbrick pizza: didn't go here this week, but it's worth mentioning: cheap amici's knockoff. epic fail. pass. still, their signs tempt me every time i go for taiyaki. you won't fool me again, red brick!

- quickly: they also serve froyo. i was so traumatized by my one and only experience there (ham and pineapple crepe overflowing with some kind of sickly sweet mayo sauce, plus a smoothie that was apparently pre-made in china or malaysia and shipped to the store: ew) that i've not been tempted to try their froyo, especially given the other options.

okay, that's about it for now. the ridiculous part is that i've left out a half dozen of the froyo/pizza options within walking distance of my place. there's an absurd number of pizza/froyo options here. we've even got some weird froyo+designer sunglasses place. i'm too uncool to go in.

EDIT:

- somehow I forgot Romolo's Canolli Factory! I cannot recommend it highly enough. The ice cream is home made and awesome, and the cannollis are made to order and incredible. Definitely go there.

EDIT 2:

- north beach pizza: very well executed pizza. nothing special, but the sauce is tangy and delicious, the ingredients high quality, the crust is very nice. no gimmicks, just a really good pizza and easy ordering. when amici's isn't what i want, i suppose north beach is a good alternative.

no time like moving time to meet the neighbors. so far i've met 3 sets of neighbors, for a total of five people.

unfortunately, that's 3 sets of neighbors at the old place. one of them lived next door for two years, and once asked the apt. management what that thumping, machine-like sound was for 30 minutes every morning. he says they told him it was me, lifting weights.

ha!

the teabaggers were out yesterday, on the corner of El Camino and My Street. They had their idiotic signs, still shiny and legible from April, and a very shrill woman with a megaphone, shouting such winning slogans as:
"Down with the British Empire! Down with the Obama empire!"
"Honk for freedom!"
"Capitalism is good!"

I've given "honk for freedom" nearly a day to reveal its subtle nuance to me, but I guess I'm just too dense to get it. The original members of the Boston Tea Party were ready to die for freedom; all that the modern day equivalent-hopefuls ask of us is to honk. I don't see how honking bolsters our freedom, but then again, I wasn't in a car at the time so perhaps I lacked some contextual framework for getting it.

I came across an article today about the tebaggers, and it struck me with some sadness: dozens, hundreds (if we make it that far), or thousands (fat chance) of years in the future, when schoolkids are learning about Early America, and they use the FutureGoogle to look up "Tea Party", what a tragedy it will be if the insipid, ineffective, ridiculous 2009 version obscures references to the one that helped birth our nation and give my modern-day whinging brethren the freedom to spout their nonsense on my street corner.