Tuesday, October 28, 2008

homeless

all the people in that pizza hut commercial who claim the pasta tastes 'exactly like nyc restaurant quality' are fucking homeless people. there is no way that anyone but an actor, or hobo, would agree to utter that statement in nyc.

...maybe tourist.

......maybe anti-foodie.

.............wait... maybe vegetarian.

Monday, October 27, 2008

pb+lazy

peanut butter + nutrigrain bar = instant pb+j

favorite quarter

i looked through all fifty...
the best, by far, is Hawaii's.

butter pear

a spanish nickname for the avocado.



i love it. them. delicious.

"Mr. President, Let’s Talk About Food"

great post on food policy and its effects on our economic security.

Mr. President, Let’s Talk About Food
Author Michael Pollan, whose best-selling books have prompted readers to think differently about food, is now asking the next president to rethink the nation’s food policies.

Author Michael Pollan (Alia Malley)

Mr. Pollan, whose most recent book is “In Defense of Food,” started the conversation in an article earlier this month in The New York Times Magazine in an open letter to the next “Farmer in Chief.”

He had more to say recently on WNYC’s Leonard Lopate show, where he talked about how food is closely tied with some of the biggest political issues of the day, even though it’s not widely discussed.

“It’s true that neither candidate has talked about food policy very much,” Mr. Pollan said. “Some of the issues they have talked about — energy independence, climate change and the health care crisis — I think they will find, as soon as they get into office, that you can’t deal with any of those three problems without dealing with the food system.”

Mr. Pollan notes that food is a bipartisan issue, and that both parties have dismal track records on agricultural policy. Food, he argues, is the ultimate “solar” product, but the current food system, with its focus on the monocultures of soy, wheat and corn, is heavily dependent on natural gas and oil to make fertilizers and pesticides as well as to import and transport food.

One of Mr. Pollan’s concerns is that national policies subsidize the least healthful calories that we eat. He notes that the “building blocks” of fast food are soy and corn, used to make hydrogenated soy oil, the protein and starch in cattle and chicken feed, and high-fructose corn syrup used in sodas and sweets.

“That’s what we’ve been heavily subsidizing, encouraging farmers to grow more of, and that’s what makes fast food so cheap,” he said. “Meanwhile over in the produce section, the head of broccoli costs more than a fast-food hamburger. Why is that? We do very little to encourage farmers to grow what are called specialty crops, which is actual food you can eat. We need to level the playing field between the unhealthy and healthy calories.”

He has also called for a new definition of food.

“What if we had a definition of food that said a food is something that doesn’t just have calories but has a certain amount of nutrients and micronutrients?” he asks. “If your product did not reach a certain threshold of nutrients per calorie, it’s just not food. We’re not even going to call it junk food. We’ll call it junk.”

It’s always a pleasure to hear Mr. Pollan’s sensible take on one of the most important financial and public health issues this country faces. I urge you to listen here to the full 20-minute interview on the WNYC Web site.



http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/24/mr-president-lets-talk-about-food/

Sunday, October 26, 2008

incredible sunset



my badass saturday was topped off with this sunset, followed by other questionable choices.



i stood in a grocery store parking lot for the better part of a half hour, staring and shooting.



i live an amazing life.

Friday, October 24, 2008

buying shit. saving america.

yes. i will be single-handedly saving the american economy this weekend. win. win.

running:
- new balance 903s
- trail running shoes

mtn bike upgrade:
- rear rim/ tire
- bike helmet
- longer seat stem
- black electrical tape
- black acrylic paint
- xacto knife
- paint brush

after a brief reconstruction, my doomsday mountain-crusher* will be completed.

*pictures (and injuries) soon to follow.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

roughing a plan

since recently qualifying for boston i have been doing some soul searching, self-inflection, and pondering of where to take my training next. obviously, boston won't be happening until spring, but do i set a more difficult goal, such as breaking three-hours or back off a bit to a 7:30 pace?

it comes down to a matter of higher risk of injury vs. personal accomplishment.

i'm still torn on the decision (it's only been three days of thinking about it, but normally shit is pretty black or white with me). i do plan to pursue taking down an ironman in the next year or two, pending location and work situation. an injury would be extremely inconvenient and counterproductive.

for now, all attention will be turned to boston and determining what time to aim for. yes. i do know boston is much harder then cbus, and has notoriously destructive hills towards the end. no reason to accept defeat before the race even starts though.

game on.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

honey mustard chicken recipe

...now you can too!

after eating a semi-delicious sandwich at pj's last sunday (i was still hungry from the marathon. it was probably really gross and i was just delirious.) i came to the realization that i fucking love honey mustard.

inspired by my rediscovery, i began to search for a recipe to grill up monday night. most recipes over complicate. same case here. i don't have the time or money to buy fifteen ingredients when the recipe really just needs three or four. this also goes back to the cooking logic i learned in parma of simplify, use less, and cook poor.

i found a ratio recipe that followed those guidelines exactly:

1/3 butter (i used whipped for a creamier taste)
1/3 mustard (i bought a course-ground dijon)
1/3 honey (i used a local producer, $2.20 a bottle!)


if you use the 1/3 ratio to 1/3 cups, 1 cup will cover 1lb of chicken, though i like to make extra because i like my shit saucy.

i marinated the chicken in a light coating of kalamata olive oil, sea salt, and fresh ground pepper. i always throw in some paprika for good measure.

start the chicken on the grill. when the first side is beginning to look done, flip it and the spread the honey mustard mixture upon that cooked side. then once the other side looks close to done, do the same. re-marinate the first side with the hm. close the grill, give it a minute to get sexy. plate and serve. or refrigerate. or freeze.

mother also recommended that next time i try adding some minced garlic to the mix.

simple. easy. cheap.

sony high def

this site is sick....

http://www.highdefinition.sony.eu/



watch the high def promo videos.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

poor phrasing

i can not stand when restaurants/ fast food places/ any eating establishment describes their portion size as a 'generous helping'. the connotation i gather from the phrase is that i am either too greedy in how much i would serve myself or that really they are just trying to justify an average amount of food served.

an example (found while researching for a work assignment) -
subway's description of their meatball marinara:

"Meatball Marinara. A generous helping of Italian-style meatballs bathed in Subway’s own tangy marinara sauce (our founder’s mom’s secret recipe) served hot with your choice of fresh vegetables and condiments on freshly baked bread. Mangia!"

first of all, subway's meatballs are the furthest thing ever produced by any italian. ever. second, the credibility of the founder's mother is greatly in question for letting her son serve such cheap excuses for 'fresh subs'. third, the bread. soggy and foul.

pay more. go somewhere that they don't discuss how 'generous' they are to give you some shitty mixed-meat, in a processed sauce, on a carb-counters bun. fuck that.

injury of stupidity

once upon a time, i was carving a turkey-pumpkin (kill two holidays with one cucurbita), and decided to get aggressive with the details. i thought it would be a great idea to thin out the wing portion of my turkey by using the terribly dull kroger paring knife.

i held the vibrant orange chunk, which had been purposely separated, in my left hand. i began to run the paring knife, in my right, just below the soft inner-skin of the pumpkin. the knife caught, then shot through the remainder of the wing. the blade continued into my hand, slicing the skin, and grazing the muscle. this caused an uncomfortable amount of blood to flow.

two stitches later...



here life lessons i should have remembered from cub scouts:
1. never cut towards yourself
2. never use a dull knife
3. apply pressure to wounds
4. never carve pumpkins ten hours before a marathon
5. always make sure you have at least one cromp on the scene so they can save your ass, call 9-1-1, and take you to the hospital to get repaired

Monday, October 20, 2008

old news

common's finding forever is badass.

great beer is delicious.
(taking two-weeks off from drinking for race prep brings quite the refreshing perspective to downing some of one's favorite brew)

6am flights are overly ambitious and should only be taken when absolutely necessary.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

boston qualifier

just ran the c-bus marathon with a time of 3:09:15 (7:14 pace).

here's the training plan i made up to accomplish this (this plan is a combination of my knowledge and experience of triathlon cross-training and reading a ton of marathon training plans):

sun - off
mon - (90 - 100 min) med pace
tues - (50 - 60 min) strength
wed - (50 min) tempo
thurs - (30 and 30 cycling and pushup regiment)
fri - (30 - 40 min) strength
sat - (120 - 160 min) med-slow run

when starting off, cut all the run times in half, and then increase them according to the time until your marathon.

tuesday's strength training session is focused on upper-body with low weight and high reps. also a set or two of light leg lifts.

thursday's strength workout is leg and core focused.

let me know if there are any further questions.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

stocked and locked

my mother is the best mother of all mothers ever to be a mother.

she stocked the fridge, for my return to ohio, with:
- prosciutto di parma
- kalamatta olives
- parmesan reggiano
- bacon-wrapped filet mignon

badass.

Religulous and W.

Religulous was a great movie. 'blasphemy' has never been presented in such a inquisitive and humorous way. bill maher questions the purists of a few of the major religios from orthodox jews to baptist christians to muslim anti-extremists. he challenges the heart and souls of these religions in a succinct and witty documentary-esk format.

i recommend it for anyone who has ever doubted organized religion.



W. was a bit boring. since the conversations were all 'based on' real life, most could have been imagined by the average person after just watching the nightly news. the movie would have been much better if it had focused on the beginnings of bush's life, before he enter the national spotlight. half the movie did take place in the past, but there was no real take away from it.

watch it if you feel the urge, but i'm sure there are much better documentaries or books that cover more of the unknown's of his life.



the movies do pair well. while Religulous focuses on how religion has driven mankind into such conflict, W. then gives a shining example of a mind misled by its 'calling from god.'

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

palin meltdown!

... it's coming.

both spears and palin have a folksy tone to their speech...
both are/ were under extreme pressure...
both have/ had pretty hair (?)...

britney melted down.

how long will it take before sarah palin follows suit if voted in as our country's vp?



Tuesday, October 14, 2008

one flag




The human heart's main function is to revitalize the blood by pumping it through the lungs and the rest of the body. The refreshed blood keeps the body living.

The same can be said about the heart of design. Many claim there is no such thing as an original idea, and while this may be true, new perspectives and interpretations of the past bring forth the cutting edge of today. The creative mind keeps that pulse alive.

moonlit skies

a stressful day is best broken by an intense run.

i was very lucky that tonight happened to be lit with a full-moon.

if you ever get a chance to run under the dimmed bulb, while it casts an erie glow on a bracing fall night, do it. the adrenaline and endorphins kick in at a higher rate when all you can make out is the silhouette of the path and each gasp of air stings the lungs.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

pork barrel


(my morning warmup at work)

market trends

the market reflects the inverse trend of how fucking sweet my life is.



(the graph has been flipped for you... so my life's quality isn't the inverse of the already inverted visual... life is great.)

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

needed: new approach

both candidates talk of how, on some level, every american needs healthcare. how they accomplish that is a bit different. neither one is addressing the issue of prevention.

america severely needs to change from a society based on fast food convenience and filth to one that has an ounce of health-conscience decision making.

eat a carrot instead of some french fries. scratch that... just don't XL the fries. won't a medium do? get the people to start making some of their own food. why do you think europeans are so much healthier and happier then us? they go to mc donald's once a month, if that. to them it is an american novelty - a summarization of our gluttonous culture.

strip the immoderate accessibility from the fast food market. stop cutting children's phys-ed classes. start providing introductions to alternative sports to gain a greater interest in physical activity. kids should not be limited to just basketball, football and dodgeball during their awkward years.

diversify. think back to simpler times. kill the clutter and take a moment to focus on what is being consumed. the amount of chemicals in even the 'cleanest' of foods is baffling.

... or we can continue on our path of disgusting over-consumption and pay ridiculous premiums for healthcare.

Monday, October 6, 2008

once upon a gus chiggins

when i was getting the illegal version of microsoft office, i decided i didn't want to register with my real name (surprise?)... instead i rolled with 'Gus Chiggins.' today i got entourage from work on my computer (because my illegal failed), and the name all emails go to and leave from is, you guessed it, Gus Chiggins.

The last name is Chiggins!

C – h – I – gg ins. Chiiiigins. And I thought my hearing was bad.


go watch it if you dropped the fucking ball and have no clue what i'm talking about.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

portfolio update


i just added to the 'chelsea smile' section in the portfolio.
check it out.
check them out.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

invest in

cutlery.



yesterday i bought a Zwilling Pro S 8" Chef's Knife. the difference between this blade and the fifteen-dollar piece of trash i was using is ridiculous. think go-cart upgraded to ferrari.

put your money where your knife is. the market is fucked anyway.