Thursday, June 28, 2007

Who needs a title?

So...I posted the address to this blog on my myspace page, and I know that Kelly read it at least once, because she left a comment, but I'm guessing there still isn't much traffic. Please comment if you are reading this, ok?
I get to go to work tomorrow, just for a day, but hey, it's a little bit of money. Other then that, life plods on. I've been helping out more with the World Trade Center, basically doing my old job, but for free. I'm getting more involved with the Obama campaign, and other then that, I'm really bored.


Food -
I don't have a lot to report in this section...being broke really limits my food options. I haven't had a chance to really try any new restaurants, or cook much at home. I'm going to be helping out for a friend of mine next week, doing some prep work (chopping and peeling and washing dishes), so I'll report on how that goes later. Maybe I'll see if my family wants me to cook something for them this weekend, I could use a good meal!

Sports -
Finally, the Mets seem to have turned the corner and their awful June will soon be behind them. Glavine just won #297 for his career and the Mets have taken 5 out of 6, with one loss to the Cards in extra innings. Carlos Gomez seems to be playing really well while Moises Alou and Endy Chavez are hurt. Gomez is supposed the Mets regular left fielder by 2009, and I'm excited about. The kid has speed (faster then Reyes!) and supposedly some power. A couple of guys are healthy again, so I think that is helping out. We got Valentin, Easley, and Green back. Shawn Green has really contributed and having our starting 2b, plus his backup, back has been helpful. I'm sure that time in majors has been helpful for Gotay, but he just didn't seem ready. So in a few years, he may be a regular part of our team as well.
The NBA draft is tonight and it should be a good one. I'm technically a Knicks fan, but when they discarded Patrick Ewing I got really mad. Although I still follow them, they have been horrible from the top down. In the mean time, I've turned into somewhat of a Kings fan as well. I'm hoping that both of my teams draft well tonight. I'd like to see the Kings take Noah if he's available, because they need a real center so that Brad Miller can play forward.

TV-
I've been watching so much tv lately, it's hard to figure what to talk about! I've been keeping up with so many shows on this blog, it doesn't give me much time to talk about anything else...So I'm going to skip past my regular discussions and talk about something else this time.
The Colbert Report...I think that this is the second half of the best hour on TV. Jon Stewart and The Daily Show are the best, but the thing I like about Colbert is how active he is online. His antics are hilarious. He leaves reviews on Amazon.com and iTunes. He edits wikipedia articles. Posts videos, etc...all sorts of good stuff. So...I'm issuing a challenge. I challenge you Stephen Colbert, to leave a comment on my blog! If you do not, I will consider you a coward! Understood Colbert? Now, I understand that in order for this to happen, he would have to see this challenge, so I'll do my part and go to the Colbert Nation website and see what I can do.
Inferno 3...I haven't commented on this yet, and they are almost at the finale! Paula just dominated final female Inferno and so all that is left is the final challenge. I'm rooting for the Good Guys, because I just can't stand most of the people on the Bad Ass team. Particularly Derrick. He sucks. I just do not like that guy and he's on every damn challenge! Kenny is kinda funny, but Abram is also worthless. I think this is the first MTV show that he's managed to make his way to the end. He got booted off of his original season of road rules and he's been eliminated in every previous challenge he was on. So, go Good Guys I guess.

Politics-
I'm trying to get really involved with Sacramento for Obama, and so far, I seem to be doing well. There is a lot of difficulty because of the FEC rules making it tough for grassroots organizations. So far I've been working with Students for Obama and I'm getting involved in several other committees. Keep your eyes on this section for more updates. The Senator's birthday is August 4th, so we are having a huge birthday party for him. Let me know if you want to attend!

Times almost up in the library, so until next time....

Thursday, June 21, 2007

A detour is a choice between two tasks...

Ok, I had this thing half done, and then screwed up and lost it. So now I've got to start again. I don't know how I did that. Oh well. So here I am at the library again, and all I have to say is...kids are annoying. I'm sure I was annoying when I was a kid at the library, but these kids are truly obnoxious. I guess I'm glad they are at the library instead of roaming the streets or something, but it's not like they are doing anything constructive, like reading here. They are loud, and rowdy. By the way, when I was kid and using the computer at the library, there were two choices, Oregon Trail, or Where in the World is Carmen San Diego. That was it. No YouTube, Myspace, Everquest, or whatever these kids are doing while I wait for my precious hour of internet time. At least Oregon Trail was educational, I bet these kids don't even know what dyssentary is. Oh well, enough of my cranky old man ramblings and on to the regular stuff.

Food -
Dinner for my dad was awesome. I was really happy with how it came out. The only dissappointment was that I overcooked the asparagus. It was still ok, but a bit soggy. The sweet potato fries were great, the steak came out perfect, and the blue cheese with the balsamic reduction was better then expected. The dessert was amazing, I got the recipe from Food & Wine magazine and you can find it here. I suggest you try it out, and it's actually pretty easy. The best part was that my dad not only ate everything on his plate, but had seconds. This may seem like your average dad-like behavior, but my dad is still recovering from cancer treatment and this was the first time he's actually finished a full plate of food, let alone gone back for more. I was truly happy to be able to prepare a meal that he enjoyed so much and was able to finish.
The Firehouse in Old Sac has a new chef. I wish I could afford to check out the new menu because I'm pretty excited by it. I've always enjoyed The Firehouse in the past, it's a Sacramento classic and still one of the finest restaurants we have. However, it hasn't really been keeping pace and I'm hoping that the new chef will instill some life into the menu while maintaining what The Firehouse has always been about. We'll see.

Sports -
I thought Tiger was going to pull it off and win the U.S. Open. He didn't. He finished second. Oh well, he and his super hot wife had a baby the next day.
As for baseball, the Mets finally pulled off a decisive victory and I'm hoping that they are on their way back out of the muck. Of course they lost the next two, so it's still pretty dismal. They still haven't surrendered first place in the NL East, but it's now a really close race with the hated Braves. There are rumblings that the White Sox are going to start selling off some talent, and I think that the Mets really need to pursue Mark Buerle. We need another top level starting pitcher to take some of the pressure off of the young guys. Pretty much all of our starters are struggling right now, which is unfortunate because they had been pitching so well. I wouldn't mind parting with a prospect or two for Buerle. Just not Pelfrey or Humber.
I won in fantasy baseball again this week, keeping me in third place overall. Of course this week I'm playing one of the guys who is tied for first. He's only lost one game this season, but it was to me, and I'm leading right now, barely, so we'll see. I won't be surprised if I lose, but it would be awesome if I won.

TV -
Lots of stuff going on in my TV world this time because, frankly, I've got lots of time to watch tv. I'm trying out new shows that I've heard are good, such as Deadliest Catch, watching plenty of ridiculous judge shows, and expanding my love for reality television.
Top Chef - Top Chef's second episode confirmed what I was thinking from the first episode...other then Clay, all of these people can really cook! There were no disasters, nobody was really in the weeds, the eliminated chef this week was only because she didn't quite follow directions. I guess I agree with the reasoning, I mean, she braised that lobster and didn't really grill anything, but I would have eliminated Howie. His dish was the worst dish. Overcooked, dry, pork loin? And it was his second time in the bottom. I don't think he'll last much longer. Neither will that Joey guy. I'm intrigued by the giant chef, CJ, how does he get along in the kitchen? He appears to be almost seven feet tall, his back must be killing him!
Hell's Kitchen - Well, Aaron had to go to the hospital and was eliminated because he was "very sick". With what? Why didn't they disclose his problem? Was it a nervous breakdown? Lyme disease? What? Other then that, I've gotta give Jen props for stepping up and admitting how badly she screwed up and trying to take Julia off the hot seat. You just can't serve food out of the garbage! Not only did Julia have a really good day and didn't belong on the hot seat, but she's the one who prevented Jen from serving the garbage pasta! Joanne was the right call. She was not very good at all. I'm thinking that Julia will probably go a lot further then she should because Chef Ramsay has taken a liking to her. He seems to have a soft spot for cooks with no culinary training, giving it their all. Remember Elsie from season 1?
Charm School - So they tricked me. Instead of the season finale, it was one of those crappy clip show recaps. Of course there was some "never before seen footage" !!! I don't give a damn. I wanted to see the finale. I'm still sticking with my prediction that Becky will win, but now I have to wait until this weekend. They did have the finale of Celebrity Fit Club, which uses the term "celebrity" loosely. I guess that's not really fair, because I've pretty much heard of everyone that's been on the show. But I'm weird like that. Most people wouldn't be as familiar. Of course this season, I still don't know who the hell Cledus T. Judd is. I think he's some country singer, but I don't have a clue. Anyways, the team with Screech on it won. He acted like a total douche the whole show, and it was obvious he was just being a dick to try to get more camera time and hopefully boost his sad little career. It won't work. He should have gone on Surreal Life.

Politics -
So the big news recently is that NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg has quit the GOP and become an "independent", whatever that means. While I applaud his decision to finally quit the charade of his GOP membership, I think this whole "independent" thing is also a farce. His political stances line up completely with the stance of the Democratic Party, so the only thing I can see that he's doing is setting for a third party run at the White House. Why? What is the point of all this? Honestly, do we not have enough choices yet? The Democrats have EIGHT declared candidates, the GOP has TEN. These are just the actually declared candidates. Waiting in the wings are still Al Gore for the Dems, Newt Gingrich, Fred Thompson, Chuck Hagel, and George Pataki, for the GOP. I'm sure that Greens will run somebody. So will the Libertarians, the Peace and Freedom Party, etc...do we really need an independent candidate? What does Bloomberg offer that I can't already find in the field? It's absolutely ridiculous.

Ok...that's it for now. Thank you Kellyfor my first comment!

Sunday, June 17, 2007

A day for dear old dad

Happy Father's Day to any dads who happen to be reading. I know you're not, but I'm still writing as if somebody might be reading. Eventually I'll figure out how to get people to read the drivel I'm writing, but right now I'm not too worried about it. For now, I don't really have the time on the computer with internet access to write about everything I'd like to. Plus, I'm a little pre-occupied with looking for work. So we'll see what I've got today.

Food -
It's nice knowing how to cook. A well-cooked meal always makes for a nice gift, plus I usually get to eat as well. So for tonight's gift I'm doing steak of course. Father's Day calls for beef. So I'm doing steak with blue cheese and a balsamic reduction, sweet potato garlic fries, lemon steamed asparagus, and strawberry shortcake with meyer lemon cream for desert. Sounds good right? I hope so. I'll let you know how it goes. The desert recipe comes straight out of the June issue of Food & Wine, back page. Turns out my parents have a Meyer lemon tree in their back yard. I knew there was a lemon tree, but I didn't know it was Meyer lemons, which are all the rage right now.

TV -
Lots of good stuff on television lately, lots to discuss. The season finale of Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School is on tonight. I was dismayed that Brooke (aka Pumkin) got the boot last time, but she really kinda deserved it. So now it's down to Leiline, Becky, Sapphyrie, and Shay. I'm thinking that Becky is going to win, but it's a close call.
Pirate Master is a show I'm kind of liking, even though I don't think it's going to stick. The new captain, Azmyth, instantly destroyed his credibility with the crew when he took on some weird sort of english accent. WTF? Of course, most of these people are pretty weird. I think his strategy of generously dividing the loot will actually pay out for him in the end, because who is going to get rid of the guy giving out a lot of cash? As the show goes along, the evenly divided shares will get bigger because there are less people to split it. We'll see.
So I've mentioned that I've been staying up late at night to watch old seasons of the Amazing Race on Game Show Network. They just finished Season Five, which I think was probably the best season of all. I wish they would bring out more of these seasons on DVD, but especially season five. This season had some of the best and most memorable teams of all...Charla and Mirna, who just finished 3rd in All-stars, Chip and Kim, Colin and Christie, Bowling Moms, and the twins Kami and Karli. PLUS, it had the early flameout of Big Brother's Alison and her boyfriend Donny. Season six started last night at 2am, the teams aren't as great, but they make up for it in total hotness. This is the season that has a former playmate, plus about six women who are much hotter then her. So there's that.

Sports -
Now that basketball and hockey are done, baseball has the sports world pretty much to itself for while. Of course my team, the Mets, are playing awful right now, but they are still clinging to first place in the NL East. There is also the U.S. Open, but I don't pay much attention to golf. It's usually Tiger plus a bunch of guys I've never heard of. Nothing new this time either, Tiger had a great round yesterday to get him into the final pairing and he'll probably win, but really, I don't care. What I do care about is what the hell is wrong with Tom Glavine? He's stuck on 295 wins and he's been throwing really bad lately. I have a friend who is a Padre's fan and it's getting annoying that the Mets no longer have the best record in the NL. Worse yet, his girlfriend is a Red Sox fan, which is awful. They go 86 years between titles and all of a sudden their fans are saying stupid stuff about how long it's been since your favorite team won a title. The ONLY fans that Red Sox Nation should be allowed to taunt in this way are Cubs fans. That's it. That is the only team that has logged as many years of futility as the Sawx.

Politics -
When the hell did Jeff Sessions get to be so influential? Honestly, this guy has come out of nowhere and now I see him making some asinine comment or another almost every day! The junior Senator from Alabama has been in the Senate since '96, but he seems to really be getting some press recently. I don't know why. I would think that with all the problems the GOP is having with it's loss of popularity, they'd keep this guy out of sight. I mean, honestly, he's pro-torture, anti-civil rights, pro-KKK, and a not very well concealed racist. In fact, his only problem with the KKK was when he found out a bunch of them smoke pot! It's not the racism and history of lynching that he objects to, just the pot. Thanks for giving us this douchebag Alabama!
In state politics...I'm not a fan of the Gov, he's tolerable for a Republican but I'd still rather have Angelides or Westley, however I don't get the most recent controversy. Apparantly he was asked about how Enlish-learners could improve on test scores and he said they need to turn off the Spanish tv. While I don't generally agree with his assimilationist policies, in answer to this particular question, he's right. I hate saying it, but it's true. Immersion is the best way to learn another language. If a student is constantly falling back on the native language, it takes longer. So just for now, lay off the gov, he's right on this specific thing.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Elaboration

So yeah, blog number two. I know that nobody is reading this, I'm not sure even how people would find this if they wanted to read it. I guess that's a project for another day. Right now I just feel like writing it. It's starting to get hot here in Sacramento and the denizens of the library aren't exactly fans of deodorant...so this may be a short post.

Food -
I went to Michelangelo's last night for dinner, it's on I street between 17th and 18th. They have a pretty good wine selection there, but I think the food needs help. Maybe it was just my dish, or my personal taste, but I wasn't impressed. I had the spaghetti and meatball and get this, there were raisins in the meatball. Raisins. I'm not a big raisin fan, particularly hot raisins. They certainly don't belong in my meatball. Not to mention the fact that it was overcooked and dry. It was like one of those bad cafeteria meatloafs where they try to stretch the meat by adding too much breadcrumb and you get this really dense, flavorless meat. Except this had raisins.

Sports -
Well, the NBA finals are a total snooze. I'm not surprised. The Cavs just have nothing for the Spurs. It will most likely be a sweep. People insist on calling the Spurs a "dynasty" now, which irritates me. They're not. Neither are the Patriots. Or any other team that happens to string together a few championships within my lifetime. Four championships in 9 years isn't even really dominance. It only SEEMS that way because the other championships were split up amongst different teams. If the Spurs had won 4 of 9, and someone else, like the Kings or something, had won the other 5, would the Spurs be a dynasty? I don't think so. So why are they now? The Bulls won 6 of 8 and could probably be considered a dynasty. They could have won 8 straight, or even 10 straight, if Jordan hadn't tried to be a baseball player and they kept the team together. The Celtics were a dynasty back in the Bill Russel days. The Chinese had a dynasty or two. I'm going to declare anything less then 5 championships in 10 years as not dynastic. Plus, you should have to win at least two consecutive championships.

Television -
Summer season is upon us. This means no Survivor, except my DVD's, which I've watched a lot already. It also means no Amazing Race unless I stay up until 3am to watch it on the Game Show Network. I really need tivo so I don't have to do that. The good news however is that we get new season's of Hell's Kitchen (crying asian cowboys!!), Top Chef, and soon...very soon, Big Brother.
The first two episodes of HK have been good. As is normal for this show, there is way too much voiceover and summaries. It's as if they are paranoid that you've forgotten everything that happened while you were watching the commercials. In case you forgot, Aaron went crazy. I'd like to say he's a terrible chef, but since he hasn't managed to keep it together long enough to actually cook anything, it's tough to say. He does make for good television though. I've never seen a giant, blubbering, 50 year old, asian cowboy before.
Top Chef had it's first episode of season three last night, and it was good! The first cut seemed pretty easy because dude couldn't cook. At all. The quickfire challenge was to make an amuse, and dude carved out an apple and filled it with other chopped fruit. I'm sure it was a delicious fruit salad, but an amuse is supposed to be one bite. ONE BITE. Not an entire apple. Other then that, all the chefs look pretty solid this season.

Politics -
Not a whole lot I want to talk about on this subject today. I'm annoyed about the Alberto Gonzalez vote and how it went down. Not that it would have made much difference because Bush doesn't really care about trivial things such as democracy, but come on. The AG is a scumbag, and a criminal, and he needs to be booted, but the Senate couldn't even pull it together to pass a no-confidence resolution. I think they should have forced the filibuster. We haven't seen a good filibuster in a long time and I'd like to see them try it. Please? Other then that, I'm looking into getting involved in the Obama campaign, so we'll see how that goes.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Blog is a dumb word

It really is. You know what is worse? Blogosphere. Who came up with this concept? Stupid stuff like this has kept me from being a "blogger" for a while, but I finally decided to give it a try. I have a lot of random thoughts I'd like to share and plenty of time to do it now. Of course, I'm limited by the fact that I don't have the internets at home and have to go to the public library to do this. Let me tell you, if you haven't been in the public library in a while, things have changed since I was a kid. Strange things are going down amongst the stacks, but that is a story for a later date.
I figured I'd start by telling you what my favorite topics of discussion are, up front, so if you don't want to read about those things you'll know to leave right now.

I like food. I like cooking food, eating food, watching shows about cooking, reading recipe books and magazines. I talk about local restaurants here in Sacramento, recent things I've tried cooking, questions I have about food, and my favorite cooks.

I also like sports. Almost all sports. I'm kind of a sports nerd. I like to play fantasy sports, I watch the drafts, pay attention to minor league prospects, college sports, and obscure sports as well. Except Soccer. I don't get soccer, and I don't care to try any more. It bores me. I'd much rather watch the Spelling Bee on ESPN2 then a soccer game.

I'm really into TV. I like lots of different shows and I like to talk about them. Mostly, it's reality tv. Some shows that I follow fanatically...Survivor, The Amazing Race, Top Chef, Hell's Kitchen, Lost, Big Brother, Real World/Road Rules, VH1 Celebreality, Nip/Tuck, and many more...but I'm running out of time here at the Library.

Politics. Love it. I'm a junky. I'm trying to find work in the field, so if you're hiring, let me know. State Politics, Local politics, National, global, everything. I'm a democrat, liberal, bleeding-heart, whatever you want to call it. I'd like to see Gore get into the race, but until then, I'm supporting Obama.

So anyways, just a brief intro. More later.