Random Links

Breeding the nutrients out of our food.

The Free Help Guy.

The history of food, vertically.

I am a superorganism.  I'm not sure how I feel about that.

2013 National Geographic photos.

The recycled orchestra.

My Uncle's Cabin

This long overdue post is a report on P's new cabin!  I finally managed to get down to see it when dad was in town a couple of weeks ago.  It's quite secluded (four wheel drive required) and just perfect!  But before you get any ideas:

 

I actually don't really have much in the way of pictures of the cabin, as I was distracted by the suddenly thick blankets of greenery which I'm not used to seeing!

The cabin is a little ways above the river, but it's an easy walk (and an even easier drive) to take in the view, and river access just a little ways away.
 

What I Watched -- Ironman 3

T and I often don't share the same taste in movies.  He tends towards special effects, superheroes, sci-fi/fantasy, good guy/bad guy stuff.  I lean more in the direction of indie movies with unclear resolutions.  But every now and then, we find some common ground.

I don't know why, but I've always liked Robert Downey Jr., even when he wasn't really worthy of liking.  I was buried in legal studies when Ironman came out, and I didn't see Ironman 2 for two bad reasons: (1) I hadn't seen the first one, and (2) I didn't have anyone to see it with.

When Ironman 3 came out, I figured there couldn't be much in 1 or 2 that I wouldn't be able to figure out, plot-wise.  I mean, it is a superhero movie, after all; it can't be that complicated.  And it wasn't, although they did make a few references to The Avengers (which I saw last summer and loved), and I was happy to get the jokes.  There may have also been references to the earlier Ironman movies (Ironmen?) that went over my head, but such is life.

Bottom line: good guy/superhero faces internal struggle, has to fight bad guy/villain, good guy wins.  Did I spoil anything?  Not really.  But it's fun to watch anyway.

Rock of Ages

I had no plans to go see Rock of Ages, but my friend H texted me last week and said she had won free tickets.  Her boyfriend isn't into musicals (although I don't think he knew what he was turning down), so he was out.  Did I want to go?

Sure, why not?

And really, what can go wrong when you're watching an 80s-rock-inspired musical? Whitesnake, Joan Jett, Poison, Twisted Sister, Styx, Foreigner, Europe, and of course Journey.  There's not much to the story, but the players are constantly breaking out into great songs.  Who cares what the story is when the show is so much fun?

Goal #21

Goal #21: clean out the freezer.

A freezer is not a complicated thing.  However, for years I viewed it as nothing more than a storage facility for ice cream (which - no doubt - is still it's highest and best use).  Then I started getting better about freezing stuff that might go bad if I left it out or in the fridge: the second half of that loaf of bread, extra soup from when I made a big pot, vegetables, etc. 

Yay for me, I'm using my freezer!

Except you also have to remember to go back and eat the things you put in the freezer at some point, or they just turn into little blocks of ice crystals.  Not so good.

I have lots of stuff in my freezer.  Some of it has been frozen for ages, some for just a few days.  I'm going to dig around and find out what's hiding in there.

Recap of goal #20: I was busy all week, but just managed to get to the apartment cleaning today (which is technically past the deadline but (1) at least I got some of it done, and (2) it's a holiday weekend, so it feels like there's another day in the weekend left).

I still need to vacuum and deal with lots of papers/computer/online stuff, but I'm pretty sure "clean out my email inboxes" has been a goal a few times already.  I also still need to put away my laundry.  But I made significant progress and am feeling much better about not living in filth with a sinkful of unwashed dishes.  And of course I still have some clutter and projects I will get to sometime in the next 20 years, but there was major progress!

What I Watched -- The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a rare beast - it's a coming of age story that holds its appeal with viewers beyond the teenage crowd.

Why is this?  For starters, the main character (Charlie, played by Logan Lerman) is introspective, and not in just a teenage angsty way.  As Patrick (Ezra Miller, as great in this as he was creepy and disturbed in We Need to Talk About Kevin) observes, "You see things, and you understand.  You’re a wallflower.”

And Wallflower is Charlie's story.  He's a freshman in high school, uncomfortable, out of place, the object of ridicule.  But he finds Patrick and Sam (Emma Watson), and they show him he has a place among the outcasts.

From his new seat, he observes the world, falls in love, and generally is okay:

"I can see it. This one moment when you know you're not a sad story. You are alive, and you stand up and see the lights on the buildings and everything that makes you wonder. And you're listening to that song and that drive with the people you love most in this world. And in this moment, I swear, we are infinite."

Bottom line: these three kids are surprisingly fantastic, as is the movie.

Random Links

Trouble on the mountain.

The world's smallest movie.

Baseball's most durable bat boy.

Tetris: the latest cure for amblyopia.

Hyperbole's triumphant return.

The book for "people who can't live without books."

The Monster Strawberry

I was chopping up strawberries to make strawberry ice cream yesterday, and I came across a strawberry which I would normally consider to be a genetic mutant:

The strawberry that could feed an army.

I question it's status as a modified mutant, though, because this batch of strawberries also happens to be delicious - not the flavorless rocks that pass for strawberries most of the year.

Anyway, just thought I'd share.

Goal #20

Goal #20: clean my condo.

The last couple of weeks have been a little hectic, and it shows when you look around my dwelling quarters.  They're a bit of a mess.  I can't take it anymore.

Recap of goal #19: vegetables!  I've been so good!  I ate Brussels sprouts, asparagus, sweet potatoes, spinach, tomatoes...I don't even remember what else.  But it was all delicious!

The Last Symphony

Here's something random that I love about Powell Hall: every hair gets its own armrests - that's right, two of them.  That means that you never have that awkward airplane-shared-armrest thing happening.

You know the one: you manage to find your seat first and score the armrest, so you never want to move your arm and relinquish rights to it to your neighbor.  Or it might be that you're using the front portion and they're using the back portion, but when you start to get uncomfortable and want to move, you find that you're out of luck.  Or you have that moment where you touch arms, then you both pull your elbows in and mumble a non-committal "sorry," but you're really only concerned with whether you'll get your spot back before they do - but you can't jump for it too quickly or you'd be the overzealous seatmate.

But I digress.  Powell has chairs, and each one has two armrests.  That's nice.

The real point, though, is that the musician can play.  And the choir can sing.  And they did Beethoven proud.

It was quite an ensemble.

David Robertson himself, SLSO's music director, conducted the show.  He's delightfully unassuming.  He just walks out, steps onto the platform, and gets to it.  No showiness or need for attention.  Just getting right to the music.

The first half of Robertson's program consisted of Bruckner and Berg; post-intermission was all Beethoven, specifically his Symphony No. 9.  And it was fabulous - moving and fluid and energetic and great.

An Atypical Recommendation

Typically my recommendations are in the realms of the artsy: movies, music, and books.  And of course food.  I've occasionally ventured outside that range, but not often.

Today I venture again, and recommend A.M. Clark & Sons in Webster.  It's an old-school auto shop that does business the way it should be done.

Mike, the owner, can come across as a little gruff.  He's not mean, he's just a no-bullsh** kind of guy.  He'll tell you the truth about your car whether or not it's what you want to hear; then he'll explain it to you again if (like me) you get a little glassy-eyed halfway through his description of what was wrong and how he fixed it.

They do good work at a reasonable price.  It's an unfortunately rare business model these days.

Quote of the Day

"I think of cooking as a political act."
  -- Michael Pollan

Goal #19

Goal #19: eat vegetables.

I've been eating out a lot lately.  I think it's for a few reasons - I'm busier at work, there's a group at work that goes out once a week and I'm expected to participate, it's an easy thing to do when you want to get together with someone, I don't have much in the way of groceries.  Sometimes my menu choices are healthy, sometimes not so much.  So this week, I'm going to try to be good.

Today I cooked up some Brussels sprouts, asparagus, sweet potatoes, and sugar snap peas - they're all ready to go.  Hopefully that'll make it easy for me to grab a healthy snack or side dish when I need one.

Recap of goal #18: I've been pretty good this week.  Here's a recap:
Monday: running
Tuesday: running (sprints)
Wednesday: running
Thursday: climbing (bouldering, actually)
Friday: day off
Saturday: 57-mile bike ride; 3 hours of climbing
Sunday: 32-mile bike ride

Happy Mom's Day!

What I Watched -- Dead Man Walking

Wowzers, this is a heavy movie - as you might guess by its title: Dead Man Walking.  I remember wanting to see it ages ago when it came out (okay, in 1995), but it was one of the many movies I just never got around to.  For some reason I decided now was the time.

Susan Sarandon plays Sister Helen Prejean, a nun who has dedicated her life to educating the poor.  Sean Penn is Matthew Poncelet, a death row inmate with an unclear story.  He has obviously had a hard life, and he was unquestionably involved in something bad, but you're not sure until the end exactly what his involvement was.  Sister Helen, who is out of her depth when she agrees to act as his spiritual advisor, finds herself torn when she is confronted by the families of Matthew's two alleged victims.

Bottom line: both Sarandon and Penn do a fabulous job, and it's worth it for the acting.  But it is dark.

Quote of the Day

"The revving heart of my hopefulness, kicked into gear anew, is the most precious thing about me, I refuse to vilify it."
  -- Jonathan Letham, Men and Cartoons

Goal #18

Goal #18: cardio.

My rowing buddy is injured!  He hurt his back pretty badly and has been out of the game for a week now.  He's on the road to recovery, but it will be a while longer before he's water-capable again.  I could, theoretically, go out and row without him - but what fun would that be?

I'm trying to do other things to keep in shape, but without the regular morning appointment with C, it's a little more challenging.  I went climbing today, but that's more strength than cardio.  I'm going to go running tomorrow morning, but the rest of the week is still to be determined.

Recap of goal #17: I ran into a dilemma this week, which is that my version of Quicken was no longer supported so I couldn't download any of my transactions.  Fail.

So as of today, I have updated to a new version, but I still haven't trolled back through the records of all the money I've spent lately.  I guess I'll have to get to that this week.

This I Used to Believe

Y'all know I like listening to This American Life on NPR. There is an archived episode from April 2009 called "This I Used To Believe." It's a play on the NPR series This I Believe, which in turn was a copycat of the old Edward R. Murrow series of the same name. In both versions of This I Believe, famous people and average Joes were invited to write short essays identifying and elaborating on some particular thing they believe in.

The "This I Used To Believe" episode of This American Life wasn't good enough in itself to write about, but just the title of it got me thinking about all the things I used to believe which I don't anymore. Some of them are obvious and childish, some are just depressing: Santa, the tooth fairy, that bad things don't happen to good people.

Some of them are complicated, and I'm not even sure about them yet. Like life, I think beliefs are - and always will be - a work in progress.

What I Watched -- The Dark Knight Rises

I had a strange experience lately.  I started watching The Dark Knight Rises - which, I know, I should have seen on the big screen - but I knew I had seen it before.  I couldn't remember when or where or with whom, but I started skipping forward through the movie to make sure I wasn't just remembering a preview or something.

Nope.

Seen that part, seen that part, seen that part.  I stopped paying attention and had been playing on the floor with my dog for a while when I realized that I didn't actually remember this part of the movie.  Or this scene, or this scene.

Back up.

As best as I can figure it, I must've started watching the movie and fallen asleep for about the last 20 minutes, which is a bummer because that's the good part.  I'm a little bit limited in what I can say about it without spoiling it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, especially since I don't remember the early parts of the movie too well.  But basically it's brain candy in movie form.  (I'm big on brain candy lately, aren't I?)

Bottom line: it ain't over 'til it's over.

P.S. I have a crush on Joseph Gordon-Levitt.