More Unbelievable Harm to the World

We've heard bits of this before, but this is just an incredibly upsetting tale. I am speechless. It is just incomprehensible what they have done to the country and the world. Just devastating!

The Secret History of the Impending War with Iran That the White House Doesn't Want You to Know

Banner Night

You know how in the movies they break down doors to get in somewhere? Yeah, I just did that for the first time. Some people were over here at my house today, and it seems one of them was fiddling around the the lock in the doorknob, because when I stepped out to take the trash out a little while ago and lightly pulled the door behind me just to keep the bugs out, it closed. And it locked. So here I am after midnight on the back porch in my boxers with no key and no phone. Even if I wanted to call Mom (who has a spare key) or a blacksmith to come over and let me in, I couldn't. That's okay, though, because I wasn't in the mood to wait around. After a minute of thought, there was really only one choice. Luckily I live in an old house and the wood's not the strongest anymore, so it only took a few gradually building shoulder rams to bust in. boom, BOom, BOOM! and I'm back in. You know, I'm glad I realized how easy it was before the local burglars did. Gonna have to beef that up. Luckily the deadbolt still works, which is all I really use anyway. Just had to stuff some wood and metal back into place and I'm back in business.

Here's how it looked right after the bustup:


This, along with some other disgruntling things, made for a brilliant evening here in fantastic Mobile. The one good thing? The Red Sox won the World Series!

Now back to your regularly scheduled bullshit.

Play of the Day

This is amazing!

Trinity (TX) Laterals Their Way to Division III Win

Sox Win!

The Red Sox beat the Indians tonight in Game 7 of the ALCS. We're going back to the Series! That's what happens when you mess with Papelbon...

Don't mess with Papelbon!!!

Update to Shooting Story (previous post)

There's another story in the paper today about the old lady who shot the clothes-washing intruder. It mentions that the police had to take her gun for the time being as evidence. But fear not, good citizen, for Ethel Sanders has backup:

"In the meantime, there is a hatchet sitting next to her bed."

True dat.

There was this story was on the al.com blog today...81-year-old shoots homeless man in her laundry room...and tonight I happened to catch the same story on the tv news. They interviewed a neighbor, who had the following to say: "She's bedridden but there ain't nothin' wrong with her trigger finger."

Shrimp & Cheese

Tomorrow I'm going to have a couple of adventures in south Baldwin County. In the morning, I'm running in the Shrimp Festival 10K in Gulf Shores, and in the afternoon I'm going to finally drop by Sweet Home Farm in Elberta. I was hoping to maybe get a tour too, and meet some friendly cows, like this blogger did, but I just called and they said they don't really give public tours. Oh well; should still be nice. Maybe I'll get lucky.

In Rainbows!

New Radiohead out today! Name your own price! Help redefine the music industry! My first listen is underway as we speak...

MyRightWingDad.net

Look at this great site I just discovered via Chris Hayes. I've gotten forwards like this from my Dad! Not many or often, thankfully, but a few nonetheless. I've seen even more of them in various email/document review projects for work. Disgusting or pitiful as they are, I love that somebody out there made this site.

Black Swan

Alice Waters' Call to Arms

Some of y'all know how in the last couple of years I've learned a lot about food and nutrition, and tried to get better at eating better. But it hasn't been just about my health, it's really been an embrace of the whole philosophy of a lifestyle that is better tasting, better for me, better for the country, and better for the earth, and a rejection of modern America's food-industrial complex and all its cheap, processed crap. Like milk. I didn't even like milk growing up, and now I like nothing less than the creamy straight-from-the-cow goodness that you can get at farmers' markets and some stores. It makes regular milk seem like milky water, plus it's chemical-free. And you all know how I am about coffee. No brown water for me, thanks.

But aside from enjoying things that are more tasty and more real, it's also about supporting conscientious producers who are better stewards of their animals, their land, their product. Another element is patronizing local producers when possible to support local economies and regional food diversity. I rather enjoy trying to live "off the grid" by not spending my few dollars on commoditized, processed box-food or at chain restaurants (unless they support these ways).

And just so I don't seem like a hypocrite if you catch me at Wal-Mart one day, I don't grow stuff, don't really cook from scratch, and do eat some frozen foods (but mainly just Boca stuff and the like). But I do try to enact these principles where I can, in a way that makes sense for my lifestyle and my wallet.

All this might not seem like a big deal to some of you have been at it for longer than I or who live in places where these ways are not uncommon, like in Cali where it's all around you. But down here in Mobile, AL it's not a common mindset and its not simple to fully live and eat this way. After all, Mobile is the chain-restaurant-and-SUV capital of the South! But it is getting better here. But I digress...

The point of this post is really just to call your attention to a nice article in today's NYT, Lunch With Alice Waters, Food Revolutionary. It uses a bountiful trip to the Union Square Greenmarket (which has good milk) and subsequent lunch to talk about Waters' new book and about her ongoing mission to get us to be "a country full of people who eat food that is good for them, good for the people who grow it and good for the earth." I'm all about that. And it you want to go further, check out Michael Pollan's book from last year, The Omnivore's Dilemma.

Bon appetit!

PS...This post does actually relate back to the original subject of this blog, because having pet chickens, learning about chickens, going to their farm of origin a few times, getting excited about fresh eggs....these were some of the many puzzle pieces that came together over time to make me want to "eat better" in the ways described above. Thank you Scratch & Scout!

TimesSelect Dies!

Hooray!

LA Legs

While in LA I went to the big Mary Kristen & Jon engagement party in West Hollywood. They took the opportunity to show off their respective gams...

Sheep Goodness

It's kindof a dreary Monday here in Mobile, so what better to brighten the day than pictures of livestock! The CA State Fair had all kinds of great beasts, one of which was this friendly sheep you see below.


There were also lotsa llamas. Check out this freckled friend:


That's all for now. More beasts to come!

The 'Gump

Today's destintion: Montgomery! What a trip! Maybe I'll see this guy again:




Josh is having a party; that's why I'm going up there for the night. I've still got much to post, though. There are some great photos from California that I need to put up, and there are some other links and things to mention. This week was just a busy week of catching up and exercising. I've been on a good fitness roll and this week I ran every night of the week. Combined with the diet, my summer-long fitness regime has gotten me...amazingly...down to a weight I haven't seen since I was 21. It's rather incredible, and I feel damn good!

Gotta go now, but I'll leave you with one thing I've been meaning to mention. There's a new magazine on newsstands in the south...I heard about it in the Mobile Press-Register a couple of months ago...geared toward the "modern Southerner":

Garden and Gun.

Priceless! Here's a description from the website:

Like the South today, Garden & Gun will be rooted in tradition and history but vibrant with energy and newness.

At the heart of Garden & Gun is a love for the outdoors - upland bird hunting, gardening, fishing, sailing, equestrian sports and conservation. From a look at Jefferson's plans for Monticello's gardens to a trout fishing expedition on the Soque River to a visit inside Hemingway's Cuba, extravagant and lush photography combine with precise and compelling articles to reveal the seductions of the South and the Caribbean.

It reflects the lives of modern Southern men and women and inspires us to enjoy the fruits of the land while preserving the natural resources for the future.

Well, to the extent that shooting the fruits and paving over the resources preserves them...yes!

Busyness

I'm back from another great trip to Cali, and there's much to report! And many photos! Lots going on here at home too. Unfortunately I'm in a depo all day so I can't post much. In the meantime, read here's a fun Mobile story... Nikes and porn seized from Prichard shop ...which includes this quote:

"He's not hurting anyone. How do they know all that porn is his?" she asked. "He could just be a freak, a big old freak. Maybe he didn't want to have it in his home."

Yesterday in Northern California

Good times in Napa, Sonoma, etc.


Nice view from up in the Spring Mountain District of Napa.


Lucious grapes!


Can I pick these? Mmmmmmm....


Clearly, it was a good day of wine tasting for Ms. Morales & friends.


Ending the day at Berkeley Pier. Dan enthusiastically points out the amazing scene.

Out of Gas

Blogging live from a parking lot on Montlimar Drive. I just ran out of gas. Right in the middle of Mobile. Yes, I like to push it sometimes until I can make it to a preferred gas station. Didn't make it this time. The engine started sputtering and when I was sure I couldn't make it to a station, I pulled off into the nearest parking lot. Ironically, it's Baehr's Auto Shop. Too bad nobody's here. But their parking lot has wireless! So here I am, waiting for AAA...

Heat Wave

It's hot in Mobile! The whole southeast is sweating under a nasty clump of high pressure, and it's made for two weeks of hot, hazy, beige skies. Temps have been around 95-100, with the humidity making the heat index around 110 most days. Our nice summer afternoon thunderstorms are gone, and now it's just dirty and sweaty! It's August in Alabama!

Going back to the recap, not much has been going on here. Weekdays are pretty mundane and monotonous...just working. Every now and then I might go down to the river in the evening or have a pint at Callaghan's, but basically weeks are pretty slow.

Weekends have been a little more interesting. I've been down at the beach a bit; went to the Blue Angels show off Pensacola Beach a few weeks ago. The following weekend I had a CLE in Birmingham and spent a leisurely weekend up there and in Montgomery. Not a bad getaway, it turned out. The weekend after that I went to DC for a couple of days then to New Orleans for a friend's moving-away party. The last month or so has almost been like living in Mobile is my Day Job and getting out on the weekends is when I live my real life and eat good food.

Not that I haven't been trying to enjoy being here; I go out to eat once in awhile and try to find new, interesting people/places/things, and it's great to be by the water, and I'm glad to see downtown improving. But it's still fairly bleak people-wise. You know, there's basically nobody here to do much with. I see Trev from time to time, and my family, but not having a dynamic, interesting community is a drag. So it's energizing to get out when I can to places where I do find such a community.

Alas, the sedation here just means I have more time to work on projects and try to figure out my next move. Good self-improvement time.

I leave you for now with a site we all can enjoy: Manboobs.
Back again soon for more backlog-clearing.

Been Awhile

Hey hey. Long time no post. Well, June wasn't a great month and July was a bit up and down, and I just never did feel like sitting down and writing much. I did keep a running list of things to post about, though, many of which are now not so pressing. Some topics were:

- That series in the Post on Cheney entitled Angler, which I found via Chris Hayes, and which Dan eventually posted on too.

- Another disgusting example of big business trying to ruin something good. In this case, good ol' chocolate. See Chocolate Fake.

- iPhone...the mania continues. It's amazing what hackers have got the thing doing already. And a new iMac came out last week. Up next: new iPods!

- Gordon Brown came to America! That was excting! See also, Beckham!

- David Pogue posted on how bad US cell carriers are. No surprise, but still, their gall is impressive. Get a load of this quote Pogue recounts:

As longtime Pogue’s Posts readers know, my biggest cellular pet peeve is the endless recording you hear when you reach someone’s voicemail: “To page this person, press 2 now. You may leave a message at the tone. When you finish recording, you may hang up. Or press 5 for more options”—and so on.

At the conference, I asked one cellular executive if that message is deliberately recorded slowly and with as many words as possible, to eat up your airtime and make more ARPU for the cell carrier. I was half kidding—but he wasn’t fooling around in his reply: “Yes.”

And finally, one more disgusting bit of news from last month. It seems that the former Surgeon General was frequently gagged from addressing important public health issues if they didn't accord with the current administration's political considerations. And to boot, "Dr. Carmona said he was ordered to mention President Bush three times on every page of his speeches." Brilliant!

That's all for now. Just wanted to clear some backlog. But I'll be back soon with more on what's been going on here in hot-and-humid-land.