Egomania Strike

Here’s What’s Cookin’: Pizza on the Grill

2010-09-12T23:02:00.000-04:00

This summer I finally got two things I’ve been wanting: one-on-one cooking instruction from Dan Vaillancourt and a really sweet grill. Last weekend I used the awesome grill that my landlords left at my new townhouse to make grilled pizza, using Dan’s pizza dough recipe. Pizza + unseasonably cool temperatures + the start of a three-day weekend + good company + dispensing gentle shaming on the lovelorn = what a wonderful evening.

Now that I am done with grad school, I can use the time I used to spend sitting in the computer lab being unproductive to do things like make my own pizza dough. Dan gave me a tutorial when we were visiting my family in Japan this summer, so I sort of remembered what I was doing and he was kind enough to send me a thoughtfully annotated recipe. Thanks to the internet, you too can have Dan as your personal cooking instructor via his web-based cooking show Funktified Food with Dan Vaillancourt. (My next Dan dish is definitely going to be his shredded pork tacos.) So, I kicked of my Labor Day weekend making two batches of Dan’s pizza dough, recipe below.

Pizza Dough

Makes two 12-inch thick crust pizzas or 4-8 thin crust pizzas.
3-3 1/2 cups bread flour (or any high-gluten flour)*
1 cup very warm tap water
2 tablespoons active dry yeast (Dan likes Red Star; I went with Hodgson’s Mill because it was on sale at Giant. Also, it took me 10 minutes to find yeast in the grocery store. If I can do this, you can too.)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-4 tablespoons honey, sugar, or molasses (I used honey)
1/4 cup olive oil
More olive oil to coat

1. Mix salt and honey with warm water.
2. Add yeast... mix lightly and let sit for five minutes.
3. Add half of the flour and mix (used a wooden spoon at this point).
4. Then add oil and continue mixing (still mixing with a spoon).
5. Add remaining flour in small increments and continue to mix until the dough is a good consistency (now I was mixing with my hands and, of course, my phone rang). A “good consistency” is something you feel out—-not too sticky and not too dry, but better a little sticky than dry, so be sure to add that second cup and a half of flour a little at a time so it doesn’t get too dry.
6. Knead 2-10 minutes
7. Coat dough lightly with oil, place into bowl, cover and let rise for one hour or until dough doubles in size. (Will it rise? Will it?)
8. Yes! It rose! Punch dough and knead a little more.
9. At this point, you can use it to grill pizza. Or, you can let it rise again for extra credit. Anyone who knows me would guess that I let it rise twice for extra credit. They are correct.

* Dan usually ends up using three cups of flour exactly, but I used a little less than three cups. It depends on how you measure... it could be a 1/2 cup either way. So, add that flour slowly until you get the hang of it. Dan insists (and I want to believe!) that eventually we’ll learn the perfect amount to add but overall it is better to be a little sticky than too dry. If you end up in crisis at the end you can use a couple tablespoons of water (for too dry) or flour (for too sticky) and mix it in with your hands to fix it.

On the Grill
So, you need to roll your dough out in to whatever size pizza you want to grill. I did two batches of the dough above and make six pizzas with thin(ish) crust. I used a rolling pin directly on the counter because my friend Amanda told me I could and her parents own an awesome pizza restaurant in Caruthersville, MO, so she would know.

The most important thing about grilling pizza is you have to have all of your necessary toppings assembled and ready to go next to the grill outside. So, prep work is key. Chop those veggies and gather those meats together so you can throw them on expediently when it is time.

To grill:
1. Get the grill as hot as possible. This is the most important part.
2. Throw a rolled-out-pizza dough directly on the grill. Wait five minutes. DO NOT open the grill (it really needs to be as hot as possible).
3. Pull the dough off the grill, flip it over, and top it. It should have cooked enough to hold together through all of the pack and forth. Amanda recommends using a "peel" and corn flour to slide the pizza easily, but we made a makeshift peel with a cookie sheet and it worked ok.
4. After you top the pizza, put it back on the grill and close the lid. Let it cook for 5-8 more minutes, or until it's done the way you like it.
5. Eat while it is hot. Mmm.

Things I Learned:
1. Do not open the grill lid or the grill won't stay hot enough. As a corollary, it is hard to do multiple pizzas unless you start eating as you go. That is probably more fun anyway.
2. It is good to have a helper to roll out more pizza dough while you were grilling. I tip my hat to my multiple helpers.

City Marketing and Taglines

2010-08-31T09:53:00.000-04:00

One of the funnier and better scatter plot graphs I've seen.

Source

Walkability

2010-08-19T11:54:00.001-04:00

The most walkable place on Earth?

Growing Pains in DC's Gallery Place-Chinatown

2010-08-13T11:31:00.002-04:00

In the wake of a brawl on the Green Line Metro, people in the DC area have begun to assess the past half-decade of economic and commercial revival in Gallery Place-Chinatown. The Washington Post has produced a fantastic feature about the tensions arising from the intersection of all the various contrasts Washington, DC has to offer: prosperity/poverty; young/old; race/ethnicity/religion/sexuality; crime/safety.

Whatever you believe about how much or little this represents dynamics in DC--in a year that has seen rising home prices, rising transportation costs, declining service and satisfaction on the Metro, record snowfall, record heat, record power outages, ugly local and national political battles, and random violence--this piece does an excellent job of painting at least one part (however large it may be) of the story of 2010 in DC.

Fights, teens among challenges as D.C.'s Gallery Place entertainment area matures
(Note: If the site has trouble loading, press the "Print" button in article's Toolbox to view it in printer-friendly mode)

(Article H/T: Lee Stuck. Photo H/T: Wikimedia Commons)

Workday listening: Cigarettes are good!

2010-07-29T10:34:00.000-04:00

I listen to some pretty great stuff but this one is tops. The kind of dark humor I live for but, sadly, this one is not a joke. Some of you might of heard in on This American Life but here is the original. So smokers please keep smoking, it'll financially help the rest of us later down the line.

The Future is in Regional Governance

2010-07-16T13:40:00.003-04:00

Robert Puentes from Brookings's Metro has a cool post on The Avenue, one of my favorite blogs, that makes a short case that the future success of a place near to my heart, the Hampton Roads area (757 represent!), is in regional governance.

Current thought in planning is that the places that we live and work will work better is we coordinate certain functions regionally, rather than at the local or state level. Yes, that's another level of government. Aren't we really good at adding those? Intervening at this scale and less at the local level makes much more sense given how our urbanized areas are organized. What I'd really like to see is less rigidity in zoning and more coordination at a tree-top level.

Transportation is the clearest example of why regional governance is important, since people regularly cross jurisdictional boundaries on their commutes. Planning transportation networks and investment based on the area included in a commutershed makes more sense than a dozen local governments planning their transit, cycling paths, and roads in isolation. Since transportation and land use are inextricably linked, I think some degree of land use coordination at a regional level is also necessary.

It's daunting to think about the logistics of regional coordination, but at least the 757 has it a little bit easier than our own D.C. area--it's all Virginia!

OK, We'll talk about it, too

2010-07-16T13:23:00.001-04:00

I dabble a little bit in the sports blogosphere, and since I've plainly made my Cleveland & NBA biases plainly known on this site, it should come as no surprise to [whatever] readers [we may have left] that I'm a Cleveland Cavs fan, and I've got some opinions on the LeBron James "decision."

After the playoffs came crashing down around the team, I wrote a post about how, even if LeBron leaves, we (as local and expatriate Clevelanders and Cavs fans) needs to not embrace the typical Cleveland sports self-pity and realize that the past seven years of Cavaliers basketball were the best they had ever been.
That was before evidence of tampering, collusion, lying, quitting, teammate-stealing, egomania [haha], secrecy, and throwing-hometown-loyalty-out-the-window surfaced. Then I took a slightly different approach to the matter.

In short, the actual decision of joining friends, taking less money, and moving to another city is not a problem for me. It is cause for sadness for my favorite team, but it doesn't evoke emotions of bitterness and self-reflection. Both that decision was not made in a vacuum.

It has become increasingly apparent that his decision was premeditated to the point where the last few seasons of Cavaliers basketball were put in jeopardy, and that he actually gave up on his team and teammates in the playoffs because of his readiness to move on. On top of that all: the hype, the ESPN special, the information and misinformation–everything made the decision seem cold and callous.

When it comes to grief, I tend to jump around the stages a bit. I’m a fairly positive person, so I like to get to acceptance as fast as possible. I don’t try to tuck away my other emotions, but I try to get past them in a constructive way. Being on Twitter last night was a way for me to see everyone’s reactions to his decision. Maybe I was living vicariously through others’ anger. Maybe I was just feeling numb the whole time and couldn’t feel anything.

Well, I certainly know that’s not true. I know I felt something because when I read Dan Gilbert’s letter, I immediately agreed with everything in it, and then I also immediately agreed (yet tried to deny) any and all criticism of it. My quick thought on Dan Gilbert’s letter: he legitimately felt as duped as the fans, but he also knows that his letter made sure he retained some Cavs fans next season. Even when it’s not about money, it’s about money. Kind of a shame, but that’s how it goes, I guess.

Anyway, as I looked back on my post from May that sang LeBron’s praises as a Cavalier for 7 seasons, one part stuck out to me immediately:

“…we can’t exactly act like this is some shocking surprise when we knew the stipulations surrounding his contract. When he re-signed in 2006, the terms were he would stay a Cavalier if he won a ring or if he was in the best position to win a ring down the road. The Cavs proved they didn’t do those two things. It’s not like the Cavs didn’t try, and it certainly doesn’t mean the city and fans didn’t support him through the process. Thirty teams vie for the NBA title every year (well, usually 24 vie for the playoffs and 6 vie for John Wall), and only 1 can win it. The Cavs tried to stack the odds in their favor, and they couldn’t get it done. He’s not betraying us. He’s doing what a star athlete should do: getting better and putting himself in a position to win championships.”

I still believe that. Except for the betrayal part. That might go away soon, but I think I really have issues with the platform he chose to announce his decision.

But another part of my piece stuck out to me more:

“we as Clevelanders (whether resident or expatriate), need to take ownership of the image we portray to the rest of the country as sports fans, and to some degree we need to change it for the better. We always feel like our backs are against the wall, and we have a pervasive hollow and self-deprecating attitude. We know that Clevelanders have pride, and that we love our city and our sports. We can no longer allow ourselves to be the punchlines and shameful relatives of other sports cities. But that has to start with us. We have to stop being bitter and living in the past. It’s not the curse of the Wahoo, or the Fumble, or the Drive, or the Shot, or the Jose Mesa [and now the LeBron/Decision]. We can no longer let despair and self-pity consume us. We have to stop acting like we are doomed from ever having anything good happen to us. We rail on LA, Boston, and NY for feeling entitled to win rings because “They have before.” But we feel just as entitled because we haven’t. Now how is this perception any different, except that we get to complain and invoke pity from other fanbases and sportswriters who read and write “Top 10 Unluckiest Sports Towns” lists? We had a really great shot, better than most, and we didn’t succeed. We have the money and the smarts to work to get there again.

…I say we can use this as the impetus to change who we are. No more feeling sorry for ourselves….Yeah it sucks, but we need to learn from it and grow. We didn’t hold back at all. Everyone thought we had the best chance. We set up everything the way we thought, but we overlooked a few angles and it came back to bite us. We must take these lessons and learn from them.

We can’t blame LeBron and dwell on the past. We can only look at our mistakes, try to learn from them, and move forward. No looking back to 1964. Only looking forward to 2011.”

Go Cavs.

LOST Finale Discussion Post

2010-05-25T10:38:00.000-04:00

SPOILER ALERT: There are no spoilers in this post, but there potentially will be some in the comments.

Let me start off by saying this: Now that this show is over, I feel like I've lost a lot of my personal friends, and I'm never going to get them back. I spent a lot of time with these people over the years, and I became involved in their lives, so to speak, so whatever emotional attachment I had has now been exposed. And honestly, I miss my friends.

We're going to do something different in this post. Consider it a free-for-all in the comments. Did you watch the series? Did you watch the finale? What did you think of it?

Did you not watch the show, or stop watching at any given point? Any reason? Were you intrigued or annoyed by the level of fandom it had? Were you indifferent?

Do you also watch "24?" Did these shows ending in back-to-back days destroy your TV-worshiping soul?

So go ahead and talk. Theories, general comments, whatever. Have at it.

The Future of the City

2010-05-15T17:38:00.002-04:00

The Atlantic is featuring a special report about cities on their website this month, project of Conor Friedersdorf. Here's his explanation of what he intends to do in a month and why cities are one of his obsessions. Obviously, I've been geeking out hardcore for two hours, but I'll link to some highlights for those of you with a healthier amount of interest in all things urban.

It's not just because you play beer pong on your balcony at 2 a.m. Twentysomethings flock to cities, but don't invest in them, which arguably has a negative effect on urban neighborhoods.
Why technology shouldn't replace local public meetings, but it might improve them. I think we can all agree that DJ Roomba would be a welcome addition to a public hearing. Unless you're a twentysomething who has never attended one.
NYC dominates the discussion of...well, just about everything related to American urban life. Being one dimensional is unhealthy, as Oprah teaches women of all ages. So, America, let's show some love to other cities too. While you're at it, please also purchase these simple-looking but very expensive items that will MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER, YET STRANGELY MORE FULFILLING!
I think that more transit is a better future for nearly everyone. So, it's really short-sighted to try to sell it to Americans as a way to yuppie-fy their cities--a large and vocal contingent won't want that, but could still really benefit from transit. Also, here's one of my favorite ideas: since rail transit stops almost always increase land values, why don't developers build us some streetcars?

Check out this awesome month-long event and I'll keep posting the pieces I like most.

WMATA Back to Basics?

2010-05-11T11:35:00.001-04:00

I am heartened that John Sarles, the new General Manager of WMATA, is taking to the local blogs to answer for WMATA woes and define a plan for improvement.

GGW has the best post about last night's on-the-record chat with Sarles about WMATA and the 6-month plan to improve safety, reliability, and financial stability. Definitely check it out.

Some disorganized thoughts:

Sarles engaging GGW, Unsuck, DCist, etc., is heartening because it indicates that WMATA has finally located their ridership and the court of public opinion. They are starting to get it.
I'm glad WMATA is developing a tracking system and performance metrics--but I'm more concerned that they effectively (re)train the workers who operate trains and run the stations.
Google Transit is a no brainer--WMATA dragging their feet on releasing system data to Google and app developers is maddening. It's another example of how their approach to operations is as dated as the architecture of the stations. We're stuck in 1980.
He lives in Pentagon City? I want to hear why and what he thinks about transit and placemaking opportunities.
I am sooooooooo over PowerPoint

I Can't Stop Listening...

2010-04-12T14:56:00.002-04:00

Gratuitous non-sequitur Teen Wolf photo

...to Hot Chip's version of "She Wolf", aka the weirdest thing ever done by Shakira.

Listen here:
http://www.abeano.com/blog/shakira-she-wolf

It's been pretty busy running a federal agency while trying to finish grad school, but expect some posts on Baltimore in the upcoming week!

Even Regular Reality is Altered Reality

2010-04-07T14:16:00.006-04:00

We saw Desmond at the end of last week's episode, so if you were hoping to reignite your love affair with everyone's favorite Scotsman (sorry, Willie), then this episode gave you your fix, indeed.

I'm not going to go into too much detail about the episode, but a lot of interesting stuff was revealed in this episode (and the last 2) that I've been piecing together in my head in my "What is LOST all about, and what have these writers been doing this whole time?" thought processes.* But be warned, Spoilers ahoy!

So right now, I feel like the LOST writers made us hate Jack and Kate on purpose for a while. they make you commit to emotions and then alter the storyline away from the expected arc, and you have to choose: do you follow how the plot is progressing, or do you follow your preassigned feelings for each character? For most shows, you don't have to deal with that dichotomy, but for LOST, it is right in your face and it is hard to choose one (unless you choose both and let it take you along for the ride). Like Charles Widmore, for example. He's an asshole tyrant. But suddenly we have to trust him and like him because he's the only way we know so far to keep Jacob's nemesis at bay. There's definite 'plot v. character' choices that have occurred along the way. Before last episode, it would've been hard to imagine seeing the plot momentum build behind Widmore. Desmond's on board, so I guess we are too?

I think the show has done a good job of having things feel fairly organic: in Ab Aeterno, explanations made without the actor talking to the audience... now in this episode, they do more of the same, as well as bringing back old characters with a minimal amount of cheekiness. It's possible I'm being generous on that front though, and a less rosy viewpoint wouldn't agree. I was hoping that Daniel pulling out his journal would circle back on the end of 'The Constant', where it shows he has written in his journal: "If anything happens, Desmond Hume is my constant." Oh well.

But back to Jack and Kate. Jack was the main guy from the get-go. He was the leader. He was calm and rational. He had all the answers on an island (and a show) where people only had questions. Then slowly his confidence turned into hubris and chipped away at his ability to lead. That's when we all started to hate him. Same thing happened to Kate. "I can do it myself! I'm a big girl! Also I'm jealous of Jack and Juliet! And sawyer and Juliet! Pay attention to me!" But I think since we don't like her, as we didn't like Jack, the writers can bring her back to us. I like Jack again. A lot, actually. Because he's got his swagger back. Not a pompous swagger, but a calm and collected sense of self (as evidenced with his conversations by Sun in the last episode). I think we can expect a similar rekindling with our audience relationship with Kate. And I for one, welcome it. Don't let the character hate consume you. Whatever happened happened, and the future is uncertain. Keep your love/hate/trust options open.

And a quick piece of trivia I found out recently: apparently the role of Jack in the pilot (doctor, typical hero, etc.), was supposed to end quickly. As in, I think he was supposed to die in the pilot, and Kate was supposed to be a bigger protagonist. However, even if that's true, I think the long-term ramifications of that are fairly watered down, other than a possible rationalization for Kate's back-story.

Last night's episode did veer dangerously towards schlock on two occasions (fortunately, it righted itself quickly):

1) Daniel Faraday (sideways Widmore): "I think I set off a nuclear bomb and I don't want to" metaphor turned actuality. Lame.
2) Charlie's spiel about near death = love. I don't want this to end like Harry Potter, where the answer is love all along. I may riot. Harry Potter's ending was fine and all, but a lot of the readership was also tweeners. If Lost starts to pull that Disney channel shit, I will lose it.

Here's a non-sequitur from Zap2it LOST Recap:

"Given the show's shout-out to 'Back to the Future,' I had this moment of imagining Sideways Daniel try to fight Sideways Sawyer over Charlotte. 'Hey, you, take your damn hands off her...'"

Definitely looking forward to next week, as the show seems to be centered around Hurley. Might we see Libby again? I hope so. And, for what it's worth, my conspiracy theory is that Libby is Jack's ex-wife in the sideways-reality.

*Note: This recap was written with my cousin, Cyrus the Hume-ophile. Any mentions of the word "I" may refer to either myself or Cyrus. Attribute all the good stuff to me, and the lousy stuff to him.

BREAKING NEWS: HUD Names New Head of Community Planning and Development

2010-04-01T12:42:00.000-04:00

This morning, in an astonishing turn of events, HUD announced the appointment of a new Assistant Secretary charged with leading the Office of Community Planning and Development. After hours of debate in a special midnight session Congress approved President Obama's nomination of Katherine/Kate/Katie D. to this critical post. In a Rose Garden press conference President Obama praised the swift action of Congress, "I am head over heels with the bi-partisan approach both the House and Senate took in ensuring this post was filled. I am delighted with the results and am excited to see what the future will hold. Her expertise and dedication will be a valuable asset both to my administration and our nation as we work to bring about the real change that the America people need today." When asked to describe her emotions Assistant Secretary D. was speechless, "Today is an exciting day for the future of America, from this day hence communities will be planned and developed to ensure equitable treatment of all people. I am honored and humbled with this new opportunity and will ensure we efficiently move forward with President Obama's agenda."

Congress worked overnight and at a 2:00am vote of 219-212 approved the nomination. This swift action comes after the sudden resignation of former Assistant Secretary Mercedes Márquez. She quit amongst allegations she passed federal legislation enforcing all new housing be built in single family form and in neo-classical architectural design. Egomania Strike contacted Márquez for comments on this recent turn of events but she chose not to comment. Secretary of the House Nancy Pelosi added, "Without Kate we would be ruined! It'll take some quick action to ensure we increase the density of our suburbs and ensure communities have the amenities for a high quality of life."

Katherine/Kate/Katie D. comes to HUD as new, fresh blood to the agency. Still completing her MURP degree at Virginia Tech, she was awarded the Presidential Fellowship two months ago. She was quickly identified as an extraordinary talent after one interview earlier this week, her rise up the organization has be called legendary and will go down as one of the quickest ascensions to power the Western World has ever seen. The next 100 days will be critical in her new post as she will need to move quickly to ensure the former Assistant Secretary's actions are fixed.

Earth Hour 2010 - The Big Picture - Boston.com

2010-03-30T11:34:00.000-04:00

I had no idea that March 27, 2010 was apparently Earth Hour. For you that are first hearing of this it is a "global" observance where individuals and cities from 8.00-9.00pm locally turn off lights to bring awareness to global warming and how we generally waste energy. Anyway I thought I would share the Boston Globe's The Big Picture series from this year. Pretty astonishing the amount of energy used just to light up buildings, I kind of liked the landscape more w/o the lights. Plus the shots showing how lighting affects the surrounding area (and sky) is staggering.

Earth Hour 2010 - The Big Picture - Boston.com

Posted using ShareThis

If this really hits your button check out the official site: http://www.myearthhour.org/
State governments not signed up to this need to get their shit together (I'm especially looking at you VA, TX, IN, and MN)

I've seen some crazy things in life...

2010-03-29T21:12:00.000-04:00

but this one might be the funniest:

EMBED-Scarface School Play - Watch more free videos

I Saw This Coming When Vests Came Back In

2010-03-29T13:23:00.000-04:00

Everything old is new again, as the song goes. H/T to Amin for this thought-provoking item from the Times Magazine. The comparison between the colonial and hipster capitals is especially interesting since I know so many people who spent the better part of four years complaining about the lameness of Williamsburg. Let's just hope they don't revive the stocks.

Austin Powers' Fasha!

2010-03-24T15:13:00.001-04:00

Austin Powers 4 has the go-ahead. I'm definitely not sighing like The A.V. Club.

My brothers, mother, and I enjoyed Goldmember immensely. More than most people, more than The Spy Who Shagged Me, and definitely more than we should have. In our defense, James and I are freaky-deeky Dutch and my mom has always encouraged us to form connections to our heritage.

So, I'm excited. Excited enough that I figured out how to post this without reading Amin's post below this about last night's Lost, which I need to watch when I get home tonight.

Oh, the Post item notes:

[Director Jay Roach] added that Myers' comical spy character would go "somewhere you haven't thought of" in the next movie.

Who can begin to imagine?

Updated: #1 stepfather just reminded me from his undisclosed location that he, too, loved Goldmember. So much that he was Dr. Evil for Halloween. I wish you all knew this generous, shy, and even-tempered man to fully understand how funny that was. I can't believe I forgot! I blame the excitement about a fourth installment.

What I've Slowly Discovered about LOST's Final Season

2010-03-24T10:56:00.001-04:00

Warning: If you haven't watched the episode from last night ("Ab Aeterno"), then don't read this. There are SPOILERS and theories espoused within.

I started watching LOST week to week during Season 4. I'd watched a few episodes sparingly, then started the DVD catchup voyage in 2007. So with this being the final season, I'm in it until the end. I won't be deterred by slow-moving plotlines. I won't be shied away by burning unanswered questions (such as WHERE THE F*** IS WALT? WHY DID I HAVE TO SIT THROUGH 3 SEASONS OF MICHAEL SCREAMING "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAALT" FOR NOTHING???). I won't be annoyed if they spend more time expanding on a love triangle that really seemed as though it was only useful to bring in viewers in Season 1. Nothing will deter me.

So here we are in the final season. Every promo says, "Your questions will be answered! There are only X episodes remaining!" Well, so far the general consensus has been, "Answers? I'm even more confused than before! And confirming suspicions hardly counts as answering questions."

One question they seemed to answer last night was: Why are the castaways on the island?

And per a conversation with Jacob and Richard Alpert, the answer is this:
The Man in Black believes people to be inherently evil and self-interested. Jacob orchestrates individuals' arrivals on the island to prove to him that people are basically good and know the difference between right and wrong and will inevitably choose right. Jacob is also on the island to make sure the Man in Black doesn't leave. Because if that happens, then the world will be infested with evil (a la Pandora's Box). In the event that Jacob dies, someone needs to replace him. Thus the castaways are the "candidates" to replace Jacob now that he's dead.

You might have known some of that, you might have known all of that. You've probably suspected a good amount of that, at least.

And so far, it seems like the episodes this season have given backstories and "sideways"-stories of each person tied with the "destiny" of the island: Kate, Locke, Jack, Ben, Sayid, Sawyer, and Richard. But what about Hurley? He's been in every episode. But he hasn't been the focus of any story. He's just there, as a facilitator. I don't know if it has been glaringly obvious, but in every episode Hurley has gotten more and more confident in himself, in his abilities, and his role. In previous seasons, Hurley was embarrassed by the fact that he could talk to ghosts, because he thought everyone would think he was crazy. But without him, no one this season would know anything, and none of our main characters and "candidates" would be alive.

What I'm trying to say is: This season is about Hurley. It is, and it has to be. He knows the difference between right and wrong, and no one has had to tell him. He is kind and trusting, but he's not gullible. He stood up to Jack ("I'm not talking to Jacob, Jack. This doesn't concern you!"), he's helped Jacob keep the Man in Black at bay, and he's even proven to be benevolent and helpful in the "sideways"-stories. When given the opportunity to be good or evil (a giver or a greedy lotto winner), he chose good. And he does so again and again and again.

If we have to vote on candidates as viewers, my vote goes to Hurley to be the protector of the island. This show is about him and the innate goodness in people. If everyone else knew that before me, then I guess I'm late to the party. But really I don't care. If the next 7 episodes of this show are just to reinforce Hurley's awesomeness over and over again, I'd say that was worth the 6 season investment.

World Cup Bootcamp: Perspective

2010-03-11T10:49:00.000-05:00

One of my biggest pet peeves, oh and I mean biggest(!!) is to compare the quality and recent form of U.S. soccer with that of the European giants If you want to see me pissed off just say the following: "Ugh, why aren't we as good as England!" or, my personal favorite, "I don't root for U.S. soccer cause we're no good!" I shit you not, I've really had these conversations.

Instead of getting pissed off I should try and relax, keep cool, and educate you as to why that's a piss poor comparison and excuse. Please keep things in perspective, the US soccer federation has really only taken player development and international play seriously since it was awarded the 1994 World Cup. It almost got going during the NASL days of the 70s (that was short lived), 80s were an outright disaster, and we only made it to the 1990 World Cup by beating Trinidad and Tobago away, in the last game of qualifying. That team was essentially a handful of mid-level, European based players and college kids. Guys we play T and T now with our third string and still win by five. As a side note my first US game was in 1990 when the US National team played Ajax (the Dutch club team, that's kind of embarrassing) to a 1-1 tie at RFK (attendance of 18,245).

Compare this with a couple juggernauts:

England: The game was codified here in 1863! Played professionally in 1885 (Basketball was only an idea let alone professional until 1898).
Argentina: There most valuable export is soccer players.

So what happened? Why since 1994 did things start changing for the better. In short two programs imitating the player development processes of South American and European countries were implemented here. Granted at a much smaller scale these programs created the type and quality of player that can compete (not dominate) at the highest. The below video explains those programs much better than I ever could.

Note: Alexi Lalas is a blow hard, don't listen to anything he says. Other than we should expect to make it to the 2nd round of the World Cup, that I agree with.

In addition, the creation and relative success of MLS has allowed for that type of player (good enough for pro, not good enough to leave and play for a European club) to develop. The missing pieces before we can really dominate? Our ability to i.d. talented players at an even younger age is not nearly as good as, well, any other country where soccer is the #1 sport. We're getting there with MLS teams creating youth development projects but they're not as good as the should be or can be. Secondly, there is a huge "pay to play" barrier that needs reform. Thirdly, it's just a reality that soccer will always play fourth fiddle to Football, Basketball, and Baseball. If we had the type of athleticism of Kobe, Lebron, LT, hell you name them, we'd.be.unstoppable.

I guess what really bothers me is that overarching necessity of American sports fans to like a winner. I sort of get it, no one really likes a loser. If you ain't first your last, right Ricky Bobby?!? We are the best at the top 4 sports right? No, right? Wait! WTF!!!!! Now knowing this please keep things in perspective, expect them to compete and play well, expect excellence, but understand the larger picture.

If you are really into this topic here are some great additional readings:
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=614020&sec=us&root=us&cc=5901
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=614395&sec=us&root=us&cc=5901
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=616267&sec=us&root=us&cc=5739
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=620541&sec=us&root=us&cc=5901
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=631463&sec=us&root=us&cc=5901

Reviving Ophelia

2010-03-10T13:30:00.000-05:00

You can't have too many sassy friends, be they gay, straight, male, or female. Here's what might have been...

I Can't Stop Listening...

2010-03-05T21:01:00.000-05:00

...to "Alone" by Heart. I have no idea why, but there you go.

Here's another version for the Glee fans. I think I would totally be a Glee fan, but I am trying to resist watching another show until after I finish school this summer. Parks and Recreation, you may have sneaked in, but Aziz Ansari (and DJ Roomba) is an exceptional case.

World Cup Bootcamp: Introduction

2010-03-05T12:43:00.002-05:00

97 days. That's all I have. 97 days to turn you from this into this. You'll have to be committed, the idea of soccer for many of you is just as sexy (if not more) than actually learning about it. But if you want more than your cursory, nominal knowledge or, while at Summer's (or any other crappy soccer bar), want to impress that international boy/girl sitting all by his/her lonesome, nostalgic for the motherland, then you'll need to listen up! Hipster charm will only get you so far. (Ed. Note from Amin: Jeff, I owe you a high-five)

Objectives and Guiding Principles of World Cup Bootcamp:

You will have more than a cursory knowledge of the game. Yes, the objective is to score goals, but how do you do that? Why do South American teams play differently than the Europeans or any other region for that matter. How do lesser teams compete against the big boys? Nothing will be more impressive to your friends (or int'l boy/girl) than actually knowing wtf is going on!
You will know the rules of the game. "Uh, I soooo don't know what offsides is!" "Why do these guys always fall down like they're getting shot!?!" That will NOT be you.
You will respect, root for, and know your U.S. Men's National Team better than any other team, period! I know, rooting for England (or wherever your long lost ancestors came from) is more fun than plain ol' America. The chances of England actually winning more than one game is much higher than the US, so I understand the attraction. Not saying you can't root for another team, in all honesty, you probably should, but w/o a doubt the Stars and Stripes is priority one!
You will know the do's and don'ts of watching soccer. In short, it's not baseball or American football.
And finally, we'll learn some fun stuff about South Africa, the stadiums, and football culture!

OK syllabus set, class dismissed!

Here's What's Cookin': Butternut Squash Soup

2010-03-04T11:04:00.003-05:00

Last week I spent a lot of time wondering what you do with the rest of a butternut squash if you make a recipe that calls for just the neck. Perusing cookbooks while avoiding a 150-page reading on travel demand modeling, I found upon a recipe for "Creamless Creamy Vegetable Soup" in my How to Boil Water: Life Beyond Takeout cookbook. Creamy and non-dairy? Butternut squash soup it was!

Aside: I like this cookbook with the horribly cheesy name because it gives a lot of context and background information on cooking. Meaning, rather than giving a bunch of specific recipes that you can learn to make, it arms you with proportions and patterns that allow you to learn how to build soups and sauces and dinners. My mind really enjoys taking things apart and figuring how they work ("oh, you could make this with a squash or with a sweet potato? or even a russet potato? since they are all root vegetables? NICE!"), so it's pretty much perfect for me. Even with the lame name.

I modified this recipe a little bit since I only had the had the base of the squash. It pretty much worked.

Ingredients:
1/2 small onion (or two small shallots)
1 bottom of a butternut squash
1 pinch of dried thyme
1 1/2 tsp of unsalted butter
1 1/2 tsp of kosher salt
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
little bit of black pepper

Directions:
1. Thinly slice the onion (don't dice). Peel, scrape seeds out of, and then cut squash into bite size pieces of about the same size. (I can't believe that was only one sentence of the recipe; it took me, no lie, 30 minutes to do it.) It will look like cantaloupe in a fruit salad, without any gross strings attached to the chunks.

2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat (be sure it's low heat, you don't want to burn that butter). Add the onion, thyme, and salt and increase the heat to medium. Stir occasionally and cook until the onion is tender, about five minutes.

3. Add the squash chunks and the broth to the saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until the vegetables are very tender. This took about 25 minutes.

4. And now for the fun part. You need to puree the soup. One way to do that would be to use an immersion blender and just stick it in and start blending. If, like me, an immersion blender hasn't won out on your list of priorities for spending (new designer jeans beat immersion blender every time), you can use a blender or a food processor. I don't even have a blender, so food processor it was. Let the soup cool a bit by taking it off the heat. Then, ladle it into the processor bowl in three batches and puree each batch until smooth. You can put each batch into one large bowl after pureeing it, then return the pureed soup to the original saucepan to keep it warm on the stove.

Now you have soup!

The positives: It was pretty good and it didn't take that long. Also, non-dairy and savory recipes (I don't count butter since my stomach never seems to) are always exciting for me. Also, it made a big mess, which I tend to enjoy.

The negatives: Man, an immersion blender would have been nice (not as nice as I look in those jeans). I ended up with a bunch of lumps that I had to re-puree. Also, I didn't like it nearly as much reheated three times.

Englishmen or Englishchildren?

2010-02-27T19:23:00.000-05:00

Sorry my English expats, I can't help but enjoy the ridiculous actions of your star footballers. As we get closer to the World Cup I'm hoping this escalates to greater proportions, something like Cheryl Cole storming the field to beat up Ashley Cole while Wayne Bridge drop-kicks the f' out of Terry. But, for now, I'm content with the possibility of this causing the whole English national team to self-implode.

For those of you not following the personal lives of England's star footballers and their WAGs there has been a level of drama only seen in soap opera's and our own top-four sports athletes. Apparently Ashley Cole, England's starting side back, can't keep it in his pants long enough to get home to Ms. Cole. Seriously dude, what are you thinking?!? Apparently you're as big an idiot as Tiger Woods. To add to his troubles, the child injured his ankle and can't play in the World Cup. The saga continues...

Wayne Bridge, leading contender to play in Cole's spot, has "retired" from national team play. Why you ask? John Terry, the (now former) captain of the national team, also can't keep it in his pant's and was caught cheating on his wife with Mr. Bridge's (now) ex-girlfriend! Are you kidding me!?!? WTF are you thinking?!?!

Now with the back story complete you will understand the video below. Man City (Bridge's club team) played Chelsea (Terry's club team) this morning, didn't get to watch the game but this clip from the traditional pre-game handshake was fun to watch. Links a bit slow but it does work.

Thoughts:

I like how Bellamy turned his head and gave him a limb hand and Bridge completely ignores him.
Honestly, it's funny how something typical of our star athletes has impregnated the psyche of England's player. This kind of stuff is pretty unheard off and, in a country where gentlemanly behavior on the field is highly revered, very disturbing. If I was Capello (England's Italian head coach) or an English fan, I'd be a bit worried this could escalate to Germany World Cup levels. They thought it was a good idea to let WAGs stay with the players causing all kinds unneeded drama and hysteria.
Looks like our national team's behavior is more fitting of English football than traditional American shenanigans. As we get closer to the World Cup you'll be learning a lot about the US national team and how (in general) we are a much, much more humble group of hard-working, gritty players with a chip on our shoulder.

I Can't Stop Listening...

2010-02-25T11:49:00.002-05:00

...to Florence + The Machine! Seriously, it's all I am listening to this week. Blue-eyed indie soul hasn't sounded so good in eons. I hadn't heard of her until a friend sent me this video of Florence performing with Dizzee Rascal on the Brits (where she won Best British Album--let the backlash rage) a mashup of her "You've Got The Love" and his "Dirtee Cash." It rocks, so much so that they are going to release it and call it "You've Got The Dirtee Love" (groan, but ok). That beat + harps + that voice = yes, please!

My interest was piqued and now I think I've heard (and, for the most part, loved) everything Florence has recorded. "Swimming" is one of my very favorites and is available on the deluxe edition of her debut album, Lungs. I am also very into "Cosmic Love" and "Howl." You should get this album. For real.

Hump Day with The Beatles

2010-02-24T14:08:00.000-05:00

I'm So Tired

This song couldn't be anymore fitting. I'm barely awake.

John Lennon – vocal, acoustic guitar, lead guitar, organ
Paul McCartney – harmony vocal, bass, electric piano
George Harrison – lead guitar
Ringo Starr – drums

Here's What's Cookin': Root Vegetable Gratin

2010-02-23T23:16:00.001-05:00

With no part-time job secured and post-graduate employment still quite theoretical, I've been making an effort to save money by cooking more. Last Friday that meant trying my hand at a root vegetable gratin.

I modified (which I can do now that I'm becoming a culinary badass) this recipe, which The Bitten Word found in Food & Wine. I had never seen a rutabaga until someone's kindly grandmother pointed me to them in the produce section at Giant. Also, the recipe says to use a mandolin to get uniform slices quickly. I don't have a mandolin. More on that below.

Ingredients:

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled
1 butternut squash neck (two-ish pounds), peeled
1 medium rutabaga (1.5-ish pounds), peeled and halved lengthwise
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
Little bit of Parmesan cheese
1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375°. Slice the potatoes and squash lengthwise 1/8 inch thick. Slice the rutabaga crosswise 1/8 inch thick.
Spray a rectangular glass baking dish with cooking spray. Arrange half of the potatoes in the dish, overlapping them slightly; season with salt and pepper. Top with half of the rutabaga and the squash, seasoning each layer. Repeat the layering. Pour the broth over and around the vegetables.
Cover tightly with foil and bake for one hour, until the vegetables are almost tender when pierced. Remove the foil and pour the cream over the gratin. Bake for about 30 minutes longer, until the liquid has thickened.
Preheat the broiler. Mix the breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese with the oil and season with salt and pepper; sprinkle over the gratin. Broil three inches from the heat for two minutes, until golden, rotating for even browning. Let the gratin stand for 10 minutes, then serve.

The positives: People really liked it! I served it for my book club as a vegetarian main dish since it was a Friday in Lent. Also, now I know I like rutabagas.
The negatives: This recipe is very time consuming in general, and it was especially time consuming for me. It took me 45 minutes to peel and slice one butternut squash neck, two sweet potatoes, and a rutabaga. Because I don't have a mandolin, I did not have uniform pieces (though it still cooked pretty evenly). If I do it again, I will find a mandolin in Eden Center (I hear they are inexpensive there).

Voila! We have gratin!

Packed Powder

2010-02-09T19:26:00.000-05:00

Oh, I'm sorry. Did you think this was a post about the snow demon that has possessed the Mid-Atlantic? No dice. This post is about me. You'll read it, and you'll like it.

So, I finally ran out of my 2-pound tub of protein. It took me a couple of weeks to finish it off, and I think it has definitely made an impact.

I feel like I have more energy when I work out, and now I finally get to relive my childhood days of drinking chocolate milkshakes. But instead, the shakes will help rid my body of flab instead of adding to it.

Of course, drinking the shakes could definitely initiate some sort of placebo effect: Now that I'm drinking this stuff, of course I have more energy and willingness to work out. The more I work out, the better I feel, and the better I feel the more I can attribute it to the protein shakes. But really, working out makes you feel better anyway. Something about endorphins and science and whatnot. Whatever it is, the end result is that I'm working out more. And that's really the important part.

But truthfully, I have enjoyed working out more. I think a big difference has been not treating the gym as a chore and treating it as part of my routine. Once I got over that mental block, I think it really made a difference.

More working out + More weightlifting + Protein Shakes = More muscle = More calorie burning. That's basically what I want. I'm still keeping my carbohydrate intake pretty low, and keeping my protein intake high. The only carbs I've been eating are what people seem to call "good carbs," which are essentially fruits and vegetables. So no rice, potatoes, bread or things like that. And no beer. I've been pretty good about that too. Vodka has pretty minimal carbs, so when I drink, I drink that.

I haven't lost a whole lot of weight, but I've lost some. I know I've built a lot of muscle and muscle weighs more than fat and yada yada yada. But really, I'm ok with that. I feel better, I look better (narcissist), and the difference in feeling has kind of taught me to be patient about the weight loss. I figure if I keep this up, then I'll have no choice BUT to lose weight. Either that, or I drink so many protein shakes that my neck will share the same width as my torso. Baby steps.

Hump Day with The Beatles

2010-02-09T13:27:00.000-05:00

The Long and Winding Road

Every time I leave the house during "whatever you want to call the snow storm" the roads seem longer and, I suppose, windier (sp?).

John Lennon - bass guitar
Paul McCartney - lead vocal, piano
Session musicians - choir, strings, harp, drums (overdubbed by Phil Spector)

Driving in the Snow

2010-02-07T10:03:00.000-05:00

Egomania Strike's legal counsel has asked that I communicate the following with you: Egomania Strike does not condone nor promote unsafe driving techniques/practices that are against the laws of your state. (Always) Drive safely and under control and do not sue us when you run into your neighbor's car, thanks.

OK, I'll admit it, that person you saw through your snow covered window driving like he's in a rally race, dramatically sliding the back end of his car just to get into his apartment building? That's me. Yes, I know it's unsafe. Yes, I know, it's not good for my car. And yes, I know I could get a ticket. Do I care? Not really. These snow storms are great for us grown children who feel, since the snow has removed all the riff-raff pedestrians and the majority of cars from the road, that we can now use public roads as our own playground.

In all honesty, driving on a snow covered streets is great for improving driving skills, especially when the roads get better. I list a couple exercises here, that if you feel like having a little fun, can be useful for understanding car dynamics. It goes without saying that you shouldn't do this on major streets or with lots of people around (parking lots and side streets are great).

1) Braking: Gain a little speed (no more than 25mph), and see how your brakes work. Vary the amount of pressure you apply to your brakes. The moment the ABS kicks in (if you have ABS) is the limit of breaking power before your car loses traction and could start sliding. Try maintaining your foot on the break while the ABS is on, it'll make a vibrating noise but you'll see how the ABS allows the car to slow down while not locking up your wheels. At first it'll be pretty scary, but if you are able to maintain your cool you'll learn a ton.

Advanced: Use your e-brake (pull up and hold the locking button to engage, return to its down position to disengage) to experience all four wheels locking up and how you basically lose standard control. Turning the wheels at this point will most likely cause the back end to come out.

2) Accelerating: To maintain control accelerate slowly, to cause severe wheel spin accelerate harder. Again you'll learn the point where your drive wheels (the wheels that the engine moves) lose standard traction.

3) Turning: Turning in the snow is probably the most dangerous thing. It's critically important to ensure your car is in total control BEFORE you start to turn. What I mean by total control is all wheels facing the same direction and the majority of the braking done BEFORE the turn, this ensures proper weight distribution within the car. If you turn before your car is in control you will experience sever under-steering (where turning the steering wheel more doesn't cause the car to turn more) because the turning wheels have no traction!

Advanced: Now doing all three above at various time will show you how your car reacts at different speeds, turns, and brake pressure. Once you can do all three well and under control you can really start to have a little fun. Try e-braking and slightly turning at once (causing the back end to come out), releasing the e-brake then counter-steering while giving a little bit of gas to get it all back together again. I repeat myself, ONLY DO THIS IN AREAS WHERE THERE IS SPACE AND LITTLE TO NO CHANCE OF RUNNING INTO ANYTHING!!!

A little visual inspiration:

I Can't Stop Listening...

2010-02-04T22:57:00.000-05:00

to Bon Iver's Skinny Love, particularly this live version that The New Millenial sent me. I am about two years late to this party, but so happy I arrived.

I can't decide if he's talking to an old lover or himself. Either way, it's one of the most evocative and real songs about lost love that I've ever heard.

Hands Down Best Name for the Upcoming Storm

2010-02-04T10:48:00.002-05:00

Keyser Snowze

Hat tip to Rudi, classmate of myself and saxophone prodigy Serge, for bringing this nickname to my attention.

We are going to get 16-24 inches of snow starting tomorrow. I don't own waterproof gloves and I just realized that my snowpants and jacket are sitting in luxury storage in Ashburn, VA. I have made just one snowman in my life. My Texas roots are showing more than usual! This is going to be a memorable weekend.

Hump Day with The Beatles

2010-02-03T12:33:00.000-05:00

Good Day Sunshine

I just woke up, I figure this song is fitting since the sun is quite bright after last night's snow storm.

Paul McCartney – vocal, bass, piano, handclaps
John Lennon – harmony vocals, guitar, handclaps
George Harrison – harmony vocal, handclaps
Ringo Starr – drums, handclaps
George Martin – piano

p.s., when will spring be here?

An Ode to Serge

2010-02-02T12:26:00.002-05:00

Our man has had it rough. He's been stretched thin with grad school and more part time jobs than a shopping mall Santa after Christmas.

Recently, he was featured in a Saturday Night Live skit, where he got to showcase some of his non-urban-planning-related talents.

Funny, he kind of looks like the guy from Mad Men....

More Census Ads! With more Ed Begley Jr!

2010-01-28T15:47:00.000-05:00

Ladies and gentlemen, "A Snapshot of America"

World Cup TV Schedule and Landon

2010-01-28T08:45:00.000-05:00

I've intentionally held off from posting too much about soccer or the World Cup because, soon enough, I will be inundating this site with more World Cup info you could possibly want. But that will temporarily change for today, yesterday a couple semi-big events happened that any US soccer fan should be aware of.

1) Landon "Landi Cakes" Donovan scored his first English Premier League goal! Great to see arguably the best U.S. player continue to show well during his loan (where one team temporarily buys the rights of a player for a short time period) spell with Everton.

Donovan's goal at :20

2) U.S. TV schedule released for the World Cup. Every game in HD but they're on either at 9am, 2pm, and some games at 7am. So you cooould easily take a half-day via "doctor's visits," "airport pickups," "closet organizing," "therapy," "personal day," "traffic," "metro accident," "car breaking down," "asteroid," and, ok, you get it.

The Schedule

I Can't Stop Listening...

2010-01-27T17:30:00.000-05:00

to this Passion Pit remix of "Telephone" by Lady Gaga and Beyonce. I hated the original single, which was cruelly disappointing, as I love Lady Gaga and, let's face it, pretty much AM Sasha Fierce. I am already jealous of everyone going to Coachella this year; if this is part of the Passion Pit set, just lie to my face that it wasn't.

Coachella 2011, when I hopefully have a job and disposable income!

Ever want to watch LOST in chronological order?

2010-01-27T10:44:00.002-05:00

Well here's your chance. This is a video that someone has compiled of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 in real time. It takes bits and pieces from a bunch of episodes and cuts them together like an episode of "24," and basically makes your heart race for 10 minutes. If you haven't watched LOST all the way through Season 5, there may be some spoilers, but it's your own fault. You've been warned.

(H/T: Kottke; @jeskeets)

Hump Day with The Beatles

2010-01-27T10:44:00.001-05:00

A Day in the Life

My favorite Sgt. Pepper's song. Check out the credits. I'd like to have been in charge of the alarm clock.

John Lennon – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, maracas, piano (final chord)
Paul McCartney – piano, lead vocals, bass guitar
George Harrison – maracas
Ringo Starr – drums, congas, piano (final chord)
George Martin – harmonium (final chord) and producer
Mal Evans – alarm clock, counting, piano (final chord)
Geoff Emerick – engineering and mixing
Orchestrated by George Martin, Paul McCartney and John Lennon
Conducted by George Martin and Paul McCartney
John Marston – harp
Eric Gruenberg, Granville Jones, Bill Monro, Jurgen Hess,
Hans Geiger, D. Bradley, Lionel Bentley, David McCallum, Donald Weekes, Henry Datyner,
Sidney Sax, Ernest Scott – violin
John Underwood, Gwynne Edwards, Bernard Davis, John Meek – viola
Francisco Gabarro, Dennis Vigay, Alan Delziel, Alex Nifosi – cello
Cyril Mac Arther, Gordon Pearce – double bass
Roger Lord – oboe
Basil Tschaikov, Jack Brymer – clarinet
N. Fawcett, Alfred Waters – bassoon
Clifford Seville, David Sandeman – flute
Alan Civil, Neil Sanders – french horn
David Mason, Monty Montgomery, Harold Jackson – trumpet
Raymond Brown, Raymond Premru, T. Moore – trombone
Michael Barnes – tuba
Tristan Fry – timpani

Bonus Jeff Beck cover:

Things To Love About Baltimore

2010-01-26T18:08:00.002-05:00

This is a very happy Baltimore-intense week for me, with a site visit today and an upcoming weekend trip to see my #1 local cousin, Peter James. There are so many things to love and report.

Today I fell for this sign, located on a building just north of Penn Station on Charles Street. I am taking an urban design studio this semester, focused on a section of Baltimore near the North Avenue and Charles Street intersection; this morning a few of us did a site visit to get to know the area. How cool is the sign for this club? Individual pieces of wood on nails! It's retro and innovative at the same time.

Actually, while I'm at it, I also feel in love with this window and sign, farther north on Charles Street. "Dawn's Office Supply" had a sweet typewriter in its window that I'm dreaming about owning.

By far the best thing about Baltimore today was that Bill and I put $0.50 in a meter and got an hour and a half of parking. As he said to me, "girl, we definitely aren't in D.C. anymore!"

I Don't Care What You Say, I'm Excited

2010-01-26T15:26:00.000-05:00

The Winter Olympics are going to be pretty sweet. Woo!

(H/T: @jeskeets)

Uncanny

2010-01-22T09:39:00.002-05:00

I've never seen more than 3 minutes of this show. But last night at the gym (because I'm very manly) I was watching the Cavs/Lakers game (also because of my manliness) and the person on the machine next to me was watching "The Jersey Shore." So I found myself looking away from my screen during timeouts at the [insert phrase here that means "hilarious train wreck" but doesn't make me sound like a sadist]. And in all that hot tub debauchery and rippling abdominal show-offery and spray tanner, I couldn't help but notice that one of the characters (who I now know was Pauly D) looks like someone from my childhood. And I couldn't put my finger on it.... until now:

Pauly D and Colonel William Guile from Street Fighter. Father and Son? Separated at birth? I'll never know. Chalk it up to another one of life's unsolved mysteries.

All of My Movie Star Crushes in One Fabulous-Looking Movie

2010-01-21T11:16:00.002-05:00

I was recently lamenting that I wasn't excited about many 2010 movie releases. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I, of course, will be a highlight. Greg from Kibitzers reminded me that Inception should be eagerly anticipated. For a movie lover, though, 2010 felt barren.

Not anymore! I ran across this item on Gawker. James Franco (swoon!) is starring as Allen Ginsberg (Beat poetry!) in a film about his 1956 landmark collection Howl and Other Poems. According to Wikipedia, it's a three-faceted story: part Ginsberg biopic, part historical drama about the obscenity trial that resulted from publishing the controversial Howl, and part (wait for it) visual interpretation of the poem. My ultimate salt-and-pepper crush, David Strathairn, plays the prosecuting attorney in the obscenity trial. Jon Hamm, who is fine in Mad Men but who I love most from his 30 Rock guest spot, plays the defense attorney in the trial. That would be enough to jazz me up, but MARY-LOUISE PARKER is also in the film. Excitement has reached Harry Potter proportions.

This movie is so promising that I am now worried I am going to hate it because I want to love it so much. Clips from the Gawker item reposted below.

Do Your Constitutional Duty

2010-01-20T13:52:00.002-05:00

Also, if you don't know how to rap or skateboard, and your life cannot be viewed in a sepia tint, you are not allowed to fill out the census.

That's what we're supposed to take from this, right?

Hump Day with The Beatles

2010-01-20T10:23:00.000-05:00

Rocky Racoon

Another gem off of The White Album, Beatles give folk rock a try with the story of Rocky Raccoon.

Paul McCartney – vocals, acoustic guitar
John Lennon – backing vocals, harmonica, harmonium, 6-string bass
George Harrison – backing vocal
Ringo Starr – drums
George Martin – piano

Good News for Kate and Serge!

2010-01-19T09:16:00.008-05:00

The first day of classes is a great time to announce: urban planning is a solid career choice!

What does U.S. News and World Report do besides arbitrarily rank things? I have no idea, but I am pleased to see "urban planner" listed as one of their 50 growth careers for the next 10 years. Since I've been a no-income, full-time graduate student for six months and need to get a job this summer to fund my appearances at weddings, I am choosing to believe this assessment of the Department of Labor's job growth projections.

Key points from the article include: planners make more money in the private sector, but there are more jobs (and projected job growth) in the public sector; GIS is a really good thing to know; and working on negotiation skills is essential. Nothing we didn't know already, I'd say, but it is really encouraging to hear similar things from sources outside my program. Sources who might be in contact with someone who'd employ me.

Hold on a second while I pat myself on the back for choosing a good career. Ok, thanks. The anxiety of needing to find a job in my field during a crushing recession hasn't hit me yet, but it will soon enough.

New Year, New Cars!

2010-01-16T13:44:00.001-05:00

This is typically auto expo time of year (DC's will be in late Jan., not that it actually means anything) and some cool new cars were introduced at the Detroit 2010 Auto Show. I've picked out three (sort of) new cars that are scheduled to come out in 2010-2011 that, if thinking of buying a new car in the DC metro area, you should consider. All three have been created in response to consumer trend demanding fuel efficiency through compacting design while still maintaining the accouterments associated with the dreaded, disdainful SUV market (I strongly recommend this link).

Yes, my picks are smaller cars that can still provide some of that coveted space you so desire. Why you need this space, I don't know, maybe for your ego.

Fiat 500 / 500 SS (Boring English: Fiat five hundred s s, attempting to be cool Italian: Fee-at cienquecento esse esse)

Something good from the whole GM mess? Fiat's swooping in to increase their international market share by successfully using existing GM infrastructure. Yaaaa for corporate maneuvering and strategy. Would of liked to see us get Italian design through more honest ways than the nearly apocalyptic fall of GM but it is what is, and we're better for it. I truly think this car can compete with the one-car market of, that's right, the Mini Cooper (and to some degree the Honda Fit). Pricing hasn't come out but it should be lower since it not as strongly powered or as big (in this segment that means even greater control and sport agility) so that's good, plus you can option for a hybrid or a pepped-up engine. Plus it just looks better; the Mini design is much more retro (dare I say a novelty) while this 500 is more of an ode to its older brother. I like it. Plus, if you buy this car now then I have a greater chance of increasing my coolness by getting an Alfa!

Honda Accord Crosstour

Clearly from the web site this design is all about utility, space, comfort, and not being an SUV. Originally, I thought it looked great, then I could see why people would be turned off by its "heavy" design, but in the end I think it's a great addition (I'm a sucker for hatchbacks). I can see people buying this; it's like a cheap man's panamera (ok bad example). The 4WD option is a great for those really wanting/needing that greater control in slicker conditions. Ski trip anyone?

Ford Focus

Another redesign to the good ol' Focus, but this one's gonna stick. The clear winner from the financial mess, Ford has decided to finally bring over a car from their more successful European branch. Great contender in the predominantly Asian compact market, its clearly the best looking of the bunch, will have a variety of engines (full electric, diesel, and EcoBoost gasoline), and will still be keeping the hatchback!

Dispatches from the East, Part 2

2010-01-15T09:52:00.001-05:00

I've been back in D.C. for two weeks now, but I know you are all dying to know how I spent the second half of my time in Japan! It was mainly spent on the couch, not being able to swallow, watching the entire first season of St. Elsewhere with my family (oh man, maybe I do watch a lot of TV). There was a lot of the action below happening, including Christmas Day.

Before we figured out how sick I was, we were able to take a Christmas trip to Kamakura for some eating and shopping. Here's my mom with Peko-chan. The number of Peko images in our house settled the ongoing argument about who her favorite is. Sorry, James.

Kamakura has a bunch of places to buy rice crackers basted with a delicious savory sauce on them.

With my new hat and rice cracker. Matt shared that cracker with me, but he did not get the monster strep. Typical charmed existence for the baby of the family.

After I finally started feeling better, we went to Yokohama for a day trip. This turf field was on top of a 10-story department store connected to the train station. What a fabulous use of space!

That night we had Korean BBQ at More's City in Yokosuka, next to our train station. After Mexican, Korean BBQ is my favorite cuisine. I don't think Matt agrees with me.

We delayed my flight home one more day and went to Tokyo for a little fun. We visited Tokyo Tower and then had dinner and pints at the Asakasa Hobgoblin, a chain of British pubs. Strongbow!

On the 30th, the day of my flight home, we woke and started our day uncharacteristically early so we could maximize our time at the Edo Museum before my mom and I headed to the airport. The 30th is the start of the big New Year's holiday in Japan, the only days the museum closes. We wandered and found a really nice pocket park with a temple and a memorial.

I can't wait until my June trip to Japan for Matt's graduation and warm weather to see more places! Kyoto! Mt. Fuji! No strep!

Slaughterhouse 90210

2010-01-14T15:57:00.002-05:00

I love reading and, as much as I am loathe to admit it, I love watching TV. Not all TV, mind you, I'm not someone who turns it on and flips for something to watch. However, when I find a well-written, scripted show I'm interested in, my love is pure, strong, and complete (sometimes, even in the neighborhood of obsessive).

During the holidays, The New Millenial tipped me off to the blog Slaughterhouse 90210, which marries these two interests in a funny and thought-provoking way. The concept is super simple: a quote from a work of legitimate literature (so, not Nicholas Sparks) under a screen capture from a popular television show. The juxtaposition always amuses me, often makes me think, and I've found a bunch of books that I want to read.

Here's an example from yesterday's offerings:

I was particularly pleased with these because the TV subjects are LOST, which is my current obsession, and the original Beverly Hills, 90210, which is one of my favorite shows of all time. I have to make sure I am not at home on weekday afternoons during this year of graduate student life because I will not be able to resist the reruns on SOAPnet.

LOST fans, how good is that Henry Miller/Ben-ry Gale-nus juxtaposition? SO GOOD! Also, Dylan and Brenda--so volatile, so in love, so immature, so watchable!

Take my advice and add this feed to your Reader. It's a nice respite from the 87 items posted on The Daily Dish every day.

Hump Day with The Beatles

2010-01-13T12:40:00.001-05:00

Back in the USSR

I've had this song stuck in my head for a few days now. Clearly heavily influenced by the Beach Boys ("Ukraine girls really knock me out...") this song is a Russian spy's ode to the mother country after spending too much time in the West. My favorite bit is the last verse: "Show me around your snow capped mountains...come and keep your comrade warm" and the throwback to Ray Charles version of "Georgia on My Mind." Good stuff, hope you enjoy!

Taking a Crack at Lost Easter Eggs

2010-01-12T14:04:00.002-05:00

So news leaked last week that one of the two possible dates for Obama's first State of the Union address could be February 2nd. All you die-hard LOST fans know that it's the same date as the premiere of the final season. According to Gawker, the Wrap, and about a million other places, the movement against setting it on this date has grown tremendously, expanding even to that nebulous sub-internet realm called twitter (fans have begun using the hashtag #NoStateofUnionFeb2 in protest).

Honestly, it doesn't matter to me when they air it, so long as I can watch it. I've waited months, so I think I can wait out another week. But this episode has inspired me to try to encourage Obama to include as many LOST references in his SotU address as possible. A coin originated by video game programmers, including random fun finds in an unrelated place is called laying "Easter Eggs."

So here's my first crack at laying some Easter Eggs (spoiler alert, sort of: partially based on this). They're pretty obvious, but I had fun doing it. If you, dear commenters, feel moved, please add your own LOST-inspired pieces of Obama's potential SotU address. Maybe we can piece it together and send it to his speechwriters.

For the next 108 minutes, I want to discuss the economy. When I began my 4 year term, the unemployment rate was at about 8%. That's the highest in 15 or 16 years. 23 states have seen job loss, while 42 have seen either loss or no growth. I've been working with my advisers to hatch a plan that will enable our economy to grow stronger, but it will involve the American people having faith. Now we can't all see into the future, but I know we'd all be lost without each other.

Have at it, commenters.

I Can't Stop Listening...

2010-01-12T13:38:00.000-05:00

...to this Broken Bells song. Thanks, Lauren Leto. You are my girl blogger crush of the moment.

As Much as I Hate to Admit It, She's Here to Stay

2010-01-12T09:17:00.005-05:00

So the national news scene exploded yesterday after America discovered that Sarah Palin is signing a contract with Fox News and will be fixed feature on the network. My reaction: Good.

Just invoking Sarah Palin's name is going to create intense emotion on the left and the right, and that, to me, must be the only reason that this revelation is a news story at all. She's a charismatic conservative getting a job on a network whose product is based on their marketing of charismatic conservatives. It's not even the first time a political candidate became a TV personality. It's not even the first time a polarizing conservative political candidate got their own show on Fox News.

Honestly, I think this move is a good one for everyone. Here's why:
Conservative media gets to keep her around as the fresh face of a waning party;
Liberal media gets a never-ending source of soundbytes and potential gaffes;
Conservative audiences get to experience her in a more down-to-earth format, away from politics;
and Liberal audiences get to continue to ignore Fox News.

(Seriously liberals (myself included), this is a coup! Palin's views have been isolated to one show on one channel, and get to be picked apart by Stewart and Colbert more consistently. How is this a bad thing?)

Now, I'm not naive in thinking this is the end of the story for her. I honestly don't know what kind of political aspirations she could have after this, but I'm pretty sure it rules out her running for senator of Alaska in the near future. And maybe she won't run for office ever again. She can do many of the politically influential things she wanted to as a TV personality instead. Plus, she still retains a lot of power (in a maintained audience size), and I'm going to go out on a limb and say the pay is a lot better. But maybe she uses this to get more experience to become more versed in national politics and makes another go at it. Who knows?

Essentially, I think the reason why this story didn't surprise me is the fact that Sarah Palin's college degree is in broadcast journalism. She was a sports anchor for many years before she was governor. This seems like the most sensible decision she's made in quite some time. It's not very often, especially in this day and age, where college grads can even get a job in the field in which they earned their degree. So I congratulate her.

Keep Your Laws Off My $600,000 "Blighted" Condo

2010-01-08T15:41:00.006-05:00

OMG, Gawker just reminded me that I, too, sometimes agree with George Will! His column last Sunday dealt with the Atlantic Yards project in Prospect Heights and Park Slope, Brooklyn. My friend Tiffers, an urban planning student in Pratt's program and all-around exemplar of fabulousness, alerted me to the whole Atlantic Yards project and I have been following it since. Proposed (and preliminarily approved) are 16 high-rises and a huuuuge arena for what will become the Brooklyn Nets (what?) on 22 acres in what is currently an area with mostly mid-rise and some pre-war buildings. While some residents and business owners want this project to be built, the overwhelming sentiment is that Brooklynites don't want this project or the Nets in their community. Especially without a public involvement process to guide the redevelopment.

This isn't a one-dimensional story of a money-grubbing, Scrooge McDuck developer tearing old things down and building new stuff that residents don't want. The Atlantic Yards saga reveals the troublesome implications of the 2005 Kelo v. New London case--weakening private property rights and assaulting our, gulp, liberty. In this case, as Will nicely summarizes, the Supreme Court ruled that government "could take the property of a middle-class neighborhood and transfer it to a corporate developer who would pay more taxes to the city government than the evicted homeowners had paid." Government takings are no longer just for "public use" or to remediate truly blighted areas; now the definition of "blighted" can change based on what a government decides is in its best interest. Justice O'Connor (Go Tribe!) knew this would be dangerous in 2005; the Atlantic Yards controversy, with the government proposing to take property that includes condos valued at six figures, is further evidence. While these property owners may be paid fairly to sell, if their property is worth that much how is the area blighted?

Because it connotes a set of ideals I have a hard time with, I don't invoke the term "liberty" often and certainly not lightly. I do today because I find myself nodding along to a George Will column. I believe that governments should have some power to take property for actual public use, like new rail alignments, parks, and water and sewer infrastructure; projects that pass a litmus test of serving the public good. However, I call it an abuse of power when the governments work alongside developers to take property in areas that remain storied and vibrant because it will increase tax revenue streams and make tons of money for developers. This kind of thinking isn't people-centered and I believe that planning and development should be people-centered and economically successful.

Check out these links for information on Atlantic Yards:
http://buildbrooklyn.org/
http://www.streetsblog.org/2006/11/29/what-went-wrong-at-atlantic-yards/
http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/
http://www.barclayscenter.com/
http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2009/12/atlantic_yards_33.php
http://66.39.72.204/brooklynspeaks/

Yes, It is on Top of My Fridge. Why do you ask?

2010-01-06T23:17:00.004-05:00

So I'm officially one of those people. You know who they are. You walk into their house for a party, and there it is, staring at you: an obscenely large container full of what must be disgusting-tasting powder. "How could they possibly consume that much powder? Why do they work out so much? Are they narcissists? I bet they check themselves out in the mirror all the time. Their fridge only has beer and steak, what the hell?"

Yeah so I'm one of those people who has protein on their fridge. But being one of those people has caused me to dispel my previous stereotypes. Protein is good for you, and that stuff is pretty tasty. It's basically like drinking a chocolate shake. I haven't had a chocolate shake in probably 15 years. Now I get to have them until the tub runs empty.

Anyway, you might be wondering why I have the mammoth protein container. Well, it's because I'm on a diet. Now you may be thinking: "Amin, if you look like this, why would you need to go on a diet?" Well, you, even we beautiful people need to take care of ourselves. Beauty takes work, and I'm willing to put that effort in. Ooh $1 hotdogs in the cafeteria at work! Where do I sign up???

Ahem, sorry bout that. For real, though. I grew up pretty chubby and always had issues with my weight. College was the first time I really tried to do something about it, and I started trying to go the gym on at least a minimal basis. After college, I started working out more, and I think I'm the healthiest I've ever been. But unfortunately, I'm also the heaviest I've ever been. Long story short, the only method that's ever worked for me before to keep weight off has been kicking carbs and upping protein. So my big-ass bottle is to help with that: along with my workouts, it helps build muscle, burn calories, and burn fat. And it's pretty cheap, so why not. If you're interested, I'll keep you posted on the results. If you're not interested, then you're just mean and shouldn't be reading this blog anyway, you big meany. Just kidding. But seriously, if you're not interested, I'm going to talk about it anyway, and you'll just have to grin and bear it.

So next time you go to someone's house and see a ginormous jug o'whey, don't judge them. There's a perfectly good reason they have it. Plus people with no neck need more love than normal people.

PS- Real quick shout out to Erin Peck Vaillancourt. She's a long time friend of Kate's, and I just met her this past weekend. Even though we only got to talk briefly, and I totally cornered her in a party and made her talk about work, I am really grateful for the tips and advice she gave me. So yeah. Thanks, Erin. You helped put things I knew into words I could understand and helped me get past a whiny stage. (If anyone lives in the Midland, Michigan area and is looking for a dietitian at a VA hospital, look her up.)

PPS- Another shout out, this one's for Megan. Thanks for keeping me out of my whiny stages and pushing me constantly. You rock.

Shit together.

2010-01-06T09:47:00.004-05:00

To those of you who are still reading and coming back to Egomania Strike, Happy New Year! Apparently two-thirds of our collective took a very long, unplanned break from updating the site. Before I continue an apology to you, the 6-10 viewers who kept coming back to the site during the break (yes we follow you), and Kate who had to threaten to leave the "team" if one of us didn't get our shit together.

Alright, here we go, shit together and post to write. I've decided to go about this differently, no longer will it be just long, winding, boring posts poorly describing a topic. It'll be just short(er), more frequent posts about things I think that you think would be interesting. Got it!?

1) The best video I saw in 2009. Yes I know it was posted in '08, but I saw it in '09. That's good enough for me. If you can, turn the volume as high as possible.

2) When I was in Winchester during the holiday we had one of the most surreal sunsets ever. The air was super warm but we still had snow on the ground causing all this fog. Perfect foreground for a flaming red sunset bankground. My friend Andrew G. had his SLR ready and took this shaweet shot.

3) I'm so freaking excited for this!!! Whose coming with me?!?!?!?! I have nothing older than 15 years so you'd have to bring the super-valuable antique you had no idea was worth something.

Bad Films as Haiku

2010-01-05T19:31:00.001-05:00

I love haiku, anywhere for any purpose. Thanks, BYT, for tipping me off to this.

Dispatches from The East, Part 1

2009-12-21T02:54:00.001-05:00

Greetings from Japan, where we do not have two feet of snow. Since I am reunited with my beloved family and am having many fun adventures, I am trying not to be jealous about missing the snowpocalypse, or, the other name I've heard, The Great Festivus Snowicane 2009.

Nearly a week in Japan and I've finally [FINALLY] beaten my jet lag. Here are some photo highlights from our adventures thus far.

I got to have PEPPER LUNCH with my parents while Mattie was at school.

I also met some really cool Japanese (and American) ladies at Shonan! They all love my mom, so they heaped on the compliments. This is what a half-asleep, recovering stressball needs to hear most.

My mom and I took a train trip to Yamato to go to a shrine sale, which is basically a Japanese flea market. The journey was fun for someone who just unabashedly loves trains.

We walked the shrine sale for hours and Kath found a bunch of stuff she needed. I just enjoyed taking photos.

One of the highlights of the trip to the shrine sale was our mid-morning snack (or, as hobbits call it, "elevensies") at the bakery in the Yamato train station. Perhaps surprisingly, Japan has a bakeries/patisseries everywhere. With DELICIOUS treats! The sweet ones are much less sweet than in the U.S.--which makes me like them more. There are also a ton of savory options available, which makes this girl even happier.

Kath and I met up with Mike and Mattie at the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum. Inside we had delicious ramen and got to see a 1:1 model of 1958 Tokyo. It was random but incredibly cool, which is a phrase that would probably describe most of the experiences I've had during my trips to Japan.

Mattie before his wisdom teeth extraction.

We arrived back in Yokosuka as the sun was setting, which gave us a lovely view of Blue Street, the main drag here in town. While there are not many Christians (mostly Shinto and Buddhist) in Japan, Christmas is celebrated as a secular event. Christmas cakes are brought home and eaten as a small fun thing, but it's a regular workday for the Japanese. Here in Yokosuka, with so many American military women and men, I wonder if Christmas is especially present.

We've now had a lazy Sunday and a Monday of Mattie's widsom teeth extraction, but the adventures will recommence tomorrow and I'll compile another update as soon as I have fun things to report. Also, I want to see some more pics of snow...Sergio?

Study Break

2009-12-09T14:02:00.004-05:00

Ahh, finals week. All three Egos are in the midst of finals, which is why things are so quiet around here. Please forgive us; we will make it up to you with posts during the holiday break. I am even going on location.

Stressful, yes, but finals season also brings about one of my favorite things in the world: computer lab camaraderie. Since I can't do anything productive in my own apartment, I often find myself in my program's computer lab in Old Town. The same was true in undergrad when I lived in Morton during finals. This time of year, everyone else is here too--which makes it a lot more fun. In the past 24 hours I have learned some Spanish words, gotten free pizza from the architects, and schemed about a free or dirt cheap way to attend the APA conference in New Orleans in April. It's the higher education equivalent of being in the trenches, which is to say exceedingly liberal and effete and much less noble. Also, with many more random computer distractions.

Here's a sample of some of these distractions; enjoy them during your own finals week or because you are procrastinating something else.

Chowhound mapped ethnic grocery stores in the D.C. area! Awesome for geeks who love food and maps. Meaning me. [via BrightestYoungThings]
When my energy starts flagging, I just turn this on and I'm invigorated.
Everyone and their music loving brother is counting down the best albums of the decade. I like this list because it includes some more mainstream stuff that I really enjoy. I'm talking to you, Justin Timberlake.
The skating rink at the sculpture garden is opening tomorrow. Ladies, if you are going out with Serge in the next few months, he will be taking you here.
To transition back into academic mode, check this out. I wish my quant presentation on Monday could have been like this. [h/t NewMillenial]
UPDATED: Any song from Glee on YouTube, but particularly this one. I have never seen this show. It doesn't matter.

Good luck to everyone taking finals, as well as you just trying to make it to Friday! I will catch up with you again from the Land of the Rising Sun.

You Don't Know What You've Got 'Til It's (Almost) Gone

2009-12-05T09:34:00.005-05:00

Yesterday DCers were atwitter with the news that Tai Shan (Butterstick) will be leaving our fair city for China by February at the latest. Our mood is dark. We are inconsolable. We love that little panda. Even me, allergic to most animals and hater of zoos (they make me so sad). He's just so adorable!

The National Zoo leases parent pandas Mei Xiang and Tian Tian from China and when Tai Shan was born, the agreement was that he'd go to China to enter a breeding program and make more adorable pandas. Clearly The National Zoo does not read Suze Orman, or they would have known to Never. Lease. Anything.

So Tai Shan will leave and beget more pandas. The lease of Mei Xiang and Tian Tian is up for renewal next year. As a friend so eloquently put it, "Those communists better not take away our panda agreement." Actually, I can't believe that situation wasn't an episode of The West Wing (Aaron Sorkin, you left too soon!). Indeed, I'd wager that the best thing the Chinese can do to improve and maintain foreign relations with the United States is give us PANDAS! We will overlook suspicion of egregious human rights violations and lead in our childrens' toys as long as you keep the pandas coming.

I will be facing my zoo sadness to see Tai Shan in person before he leaves. Just like everyone else. Those of you who can't please enjoy photos linked here, here, and here.

World Cup 2010: Group Stage Set

2009-11-28T21:52:00.007-05:00

Today was World Cup draw day, head of football associations, coaches, celebrities (paid to be there), and VIPS make an event of what is nothing more than a bunch of balls swirling around in 4 pots. What is enclosed in these balls and pots are the hopes and dreams of the 32 countries who qualified for the World Cup final. For soccer fans, this is the critical point where, after a 3 year qualification process, we get to find out who will face who, if there will be a "Group of Death," and which favorites might have a difficult (or easy, I'm looking at you Germany and Brazil) road to the knockout stage. For the more ancillary, American fan, this process is very similar to selection day for the NCAA Men's basketball tournament, except there is no complicated seeding process (pot 1 are seeded teams but there is hardly an argument for who deserves to be there) and it is done live and by lottery to show complete transparency.

If you need a recap on how qualification occurred and/or how the pots were assigned. Follow these links: Qualification Process and Pot Assignment.

I'll quickly recap and give early predictions for each group, in the order of my interest:

Group C: England, USA, Algeria, and Slovenia. The USA, probably the best team in pot 2 (also known as the riff-raff pot with the Asian and North America countries) was hoping for a better draw than the previous two World Cups (remember Italy, Ghana, and Czech Republic?). They definitely got it. England is the favorite but the other three are pretty even. US will most likely lose the opener to England, the following game with Slovenia will be critical, and, depending on how the other games in the group go, will affect what is needed from the Algeria match, but they should go in to each game with a do-or-die mentality.

I still give us a 50/50 chance to get out of the group. You want to get b/w 5-9 points from the group stage (3= win, 1= tie, 0= loss). The US friendly with the Netherlands on March 3 will be a good test. Expect two more US friendlies before the World Cup with teams that have similar styles to Algeria and Slovenia (I'd like to see us play Egypt and Czech Republic).

Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, Korea Republic, Greece. For Argentina, not as easy as it looks especially since they're playing poorly and have a psycho for a coach. Expect them to qualify but to struggle mightily. Second out of the group is a toss up between Nigeria and Greece, the June 17 match b/w those two will decide who gets through. Don't expect much from Korea Republic except for their incredible conditioning.

Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, and Cameroon. Pretty straightforward for the Dutch, the game against Denmark will be fun to watch (I think a rivalry exist) but they should clean up and win all three games. Expect Denmark to be the second team with Cameroon putting up a good fight.

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, and France. I hate this group already, CONCACAF arch-rival Mexico and cheating France had lady luck on their side. Any game with the host country will be super fun to watch but they are so poor at soccer that the home field advantage won't be enough. France gets through easily with the Mexico v Uruguay game on June 22 deciding second place.

Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana. Again, Germany gets an easy group, they'll win every game. Second place will be a toss up between Serbia and Ghana, I don't know enough about these teams to make a prediction.

Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, and Slovakia. Italy shouldn't take this group lightly, they'll most likely win every game but Paraguay is very good this year and Slovakia is no slouch. Still, expect Italy to come in first with the June 20 game between Slovakia and Paraguay deciding second.

Group G: Brazil, Korea DPR, Ivory Coast, and Portugal. This year's Group of Death, Brazil should be ok but Ivory Coast will be super dangerous and, if they get there act together, Portugal should be competitive with pretty boy Ronaldo and twinkle toes Deco. The June 15 match between Portugal and Ivory Coast will be critical to both teams chances.

Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, and Chile. Another good group, Spain will win out but the other three teams are pretty even. Honduras has a great team and I'd like to see them do well. Expect the last round to decide the top 2 (June 25).

Favorite: It pains me to say this but if England qualifies first they'll have an easy 2nd round and quaterfinal match.

Surprise team: If they continue their form Honduras might surprise people, especially since the other teams in the group have probably never seen them play.

First top seed out: Argentina. A surefire way to underperform is to hire someone with no success in managing any team and who tells the media to "suck it."

Review Friday: Cognitive Dissonance

2009-11-27T17:54:00.004-05:00

In my introductory list of topics I'm interested in, I (or, rather, Serge) didn't mention overwrought teen fiction about vampires and werewolves. That would be because I read the first three Twilight books in spite of themselves. I can't explain it. They aren't well thought out, well paced, or well written. There are actual typos. Bella bothers me. Yet, I read the first three in three days and I know I'll read the fourth one on the plane to Japan. Why? I don't know why. But I will read it and I will see these movies, including the latest, New Moon. Maybe this means I believe that passionate love exists out there, but I hope if I find it that it isn't as weirdly obsessive and one-dimensional as Bella and Edward's.

So as not to make this review as long, rambling, and self-conscious as one of Bella's interminable internal monologues doubting that Edward loves her, I'll organize it into the five points I'd like to make about the movie:

1. If you have a passing thought of seeing this movie but think you should read the books first, don't bother. It's really fine. Just see the movie. You aren't missing much. See Twilight then see New Moon and you'll be set when Eclipse hits soon enough.

2. Taylor Lautner is painfully bad. Whitney and I couldn't stop laughing when he was on the screen. Jacob manages to pull Bella out of her depression, but director Chris Weitz and Kristen Stewart combined can't pull a decent performance out of this poor kid. He should have spent the time he wasn't using to add 30 pounds of muscle to take an acting class. As long as it didn't interfere with the workouts. He is 17. I am officially a creeper. In my defense, I had a lot of time to gather data about this since he doesn't wear a shirt for the second half of the movie.

3. Kristen Stewart somehow looks a lot more attractive this time around, even with all the scowling and self-flagellation. See this movie and tell me if you can you imagine Kristen Stewart doing comedy. I fear she might be a one-trick pony. One that frowns.

4. Question: Why does Bella believe Edward when he tells her that he doesn't want her? Either Edward or Robert Pattinson isn't a good actor (well, possibly both) and doesn't sell that line of reasoning for the Cullens' departure a bit. Answer: Because Bella has no sense of who she is or self-confidence or ANYTHING outside of Edward and her obsessive love for him. I know this. Yet, I am transfixed. Help me. He smolders.

5. The soundtrack is awesome. I don't think it works as well as the Where the Wild Things Are soundtrack, but it's excellent. Muse, Death Cab, Thom Yorke, Grizzly Bear, and Lykke Li (who my friends with much more pretentious taste in music than mine adore) all make an appearance. I am puzzled because the movie is aimed mainstream teenage girls and I can't imagine mainstream teenage girls listening to Bon Iver and St. Vincent. I hope I'm wrong.

I am kind of embarrassed to recommend that you go see this movie, but I really enjoyed it. Despite itself. The smaller roles, like Alice, Charlie, Jasper (although what is up with Jasper's hair?), Carlisle, Jessica, and Emmet are often quite funny, if underutilized. Learning about the vampire world and werewolf world interests me (although, the books are much better for that, truth be told). I will continue to want to see these movies, even though I am totally aware that they are inherently problematic. Cognitive dissonance.

Thanksgiving Strike

2009-11-25T14:26:00.002-05:00

Thoughts on Thanksgiving from us:

Sergio:

Of all the holidays, Thanksgiving is by far away the best one. Similar to how most people argue its superiority, Thanksgiving has the simplest, most universally acceptable objective: No religious declaration, no independence from tyranny, and no stress of making sure a ball drops at the right time (and, lets be honest, a squeeze for that moment). It is simply a moment to reflect, be with family and friends, and give thanks for that which we have. Both during "trying times" and when the nation was "in the money," we've consistently failed to understand the important things in life but, then again, I do feel this is slowly changing. So, for what its worth, a few things I'm thankful for:

The Argentine "I can fix anything" attitude. Say what Serge?!?! Sounds ridiculous, I know, but it exists. In a moment of enlightenment, my father once declared that Argentines have a knack for making do with what's around and fixing something (arguably) back to its original function. This is versus an American approach, he argues, that quickly replaces the broken item to benefit from improved efficiencies and longer life span. This might sound ridiculous but I feel like there is some truth to it; any male relative of mine has at least one item in the house, car, or work where things are jerry-rigged to "work normally." Anyone who knows me well knows I do this too; instead of just replacing the mechanism I've now tried at least five different ways to stop my toilet from running (all five have failed in some way), the A/C in my car should but just doesn't work and, because it doesn't affect to main objective of my car (you know, to move me far distances), I just live w/o it, and finally, multiple arguments with tire shops when they won't patch a hole in your tire and instead instruct you to get a new tire when you know damn well that patching the thing would be cheaper and work just fine.*
Freedom. I can write whatever I want, say about anything, read anything, vote (elections and with my wallet), and pretty much do anything. So many people in the world don't have this ability that it bears repeating, I can do anything I want. This is the main reason I get so irked when opponents to health reform pull the freedom card, I have a hard time swallowing that an increase in taxes to provide health insurance for everyone is a violation of your freedom. Shutting down the media, curfews, and fudging elections are what we call violations of freedom.
Mass transit. In one hour I can go from my apt to downtown DC then all the way to Bethesda and barely lift my head from my book. I find that utterly amazing and very thankful to have, otherwise I wouldn't be able to get to this job of mine.
The egg. I'm so thankful that the cavemen didn't freak out when the decision to eat an egg was in front of them. It's such a cheap item and so versatile that I'm not sure I'd be into cooking if it didn't exist. Fried, scrambled, poached, hard boiled, omelets, in quiches, tarts, cakes, and breads. All so delicious and I could go on and on.

*As an fyi, this comes from growing up in a blue-collar environment were it was typically too expensive to replace big things or parts were usually unavailable, and a prevalent machista attitude existed.

Kate:

Things I'm thankful for:

The food processor my beloved parents got me for my birthday in August. Owning this + being a student and having extra time = a shocking love of cooking that I would never have thought possible. My hummus is really good, y'all.
The awesome potential for a "Dave"-type switcheroo revealed by this photo.
The recent covers of "Poker Face" and particularly this mash up, which never fails to make me laugh out loud.
The free-range turkey I'm eating from Great Country Farms, and that the Coopers didn't introduce me to him during the Pumpkin Festival last month.
My best friend Jana, who is selflessly, lovingly, and graciously watching our family cats for three weeks until my holiday trip to Japan. I say many great things about her, all deserved but never quite enough.

Amin:

I don't necessarily agree with Serge that Thanksgiving is the best holiday, but I do love me some gluttony and lethargy. As for the things I'm thankful for.... well I'm thankful for a lot of things (like Google, democratic political reform in developing countries, my friends and family, etc etc), so I'm going to pick 5 themed things. In honor of Thanksgiving, here are all the food-related things (yay gluttony!) I've become thankful for this year, in no particular order:

Panang Chicken. My new regular favorite from Thai restaurants. It's spicy. It's sweet. It's tangy. It's basil-y. Freakin' delicious. If you want a curry dish from a Thai place, I recommend this above all else.
Chop't. Fast food salad. It's a little pricy, but for less than 10 bucks you get a salad that's bigger than your head. And if you choose wisely, it's a super healthy dinner that will fill you up and won't make you feel like garbage for the rest of the evening. A new takeout staple.
Momiji Sushi. I plan on writing a review of this place later on the site, but for now just know that this is by far the highest-quality, best-priced, best-service sushi restaurant in DC. It's a block from my apartment, and every single thing I've eaten has been amazing. How they can get sushi-grade fish this far away from a real body of water (sorry Chesapeake Bay) is beyond me. And they also have the best hibachi I've ever had, because you don't smell afterward, and it's not super-greasy. Oh man, such a good restaurant.
Barbecue meat (all kinds, all styles). I've eaten BBQ before. But last August, my friend Anais (whose birthday it is today HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANAIS WOOOOO) introduced me to Texas BBQ at Salt Lick in Austin, Texas. That amazing introduction opened the door to all kinds of BBQ and sides: pulled pork, brisket, sausage, cornbread, baked beans, cobbler, ohmygodsogooddrool. Carolina, Texas, Upstate NY, whatever. It's delicious. I love it. And always good to alternate days you eat BBQ with days you eat Chop't.
Newman's Own Low Fat Asian Salad Dressing. It's awesome. It makes every salad taste better. And not only that, it makes everything taste better. I use it in my cooking constantly. Asian chicken breast, with peppers and onions and rice? Yes please!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Thanks for reading!

Of Parents and Pictures

2009-11-24T11:31:00.003-05:00

A while back a very good friend of mine, Kate S., turned me to this simple blog called My Parents Were Awesome (I realize I'm a bit late to the game on recommending this, but nonetheless, I was inspired to share). Nothing really to it, people simply submit pictures of their parents and the good ones get posted. Its simplicity is its genius though, every time I browse it I get this nostalgic glee and my mind starts pondering all kinds of things. I wonder if others think this way too so that's my main reason for sharing.

1) Reality check: our parents at one point were young and, clearly, awesome (look at this guy!). We as children mostly see our parents as authoritative figures, so its only when we grow up a bit do we realize they too were in their twenties and, most likely (like I'd bet the house on it) they did some dumb things (my favorites are the pictures of Mom/Dad and "Unknown," yea right Mom, I'm sure you don't know with that smile on your face...awkward silence).

2) Style, style, and style. They looked good (for the ladies), dressed well, and had fun. No matter the decade (sigh, even the 80s) looking good for the time period was important. Which makes me then think: "damn, its all my fault, rearing me sort of took priority over the leather jacket, which I understand and am grateful for but, damn, that sucks." Then again, the majority of parents manage to maintain their style.

3) Photography as an art and finite luxury. Did we all seem to forget that cameras used to be bulky contraptions, with rolls of film, and actual settings you needed to be aware of if you wanted a decent picture to come out! Remember focus, aperture, lighting?!? I mean pictures took skill, they were kind of expensive (buying the rolls, developing the film), and you only had so many chances (do overs were kind of a big deal). A certain level of stress of making sure it came out right, that you loaded the film right, that the film itself wasn't in the sun too much are all memories of mine. Now, it seems, we have either a multitude of as-realistic-as-you-can-get pictures showing every minute of every occasion or highly scrutinized, edited, and self-selected pics that threaten the genuine feel and style that I think older pictures have.

4) I can't not think of people who didn't have stellar relationships with their parents or didn't have them at all (be it cause they died or are suffering/ed from a mental/physical disease). You realize that not all stories have happy endings but you hope that most can either find one or, at least, one that is palatable.

Cross-Referenced Shameless Plug

2009-11-23T14:54:00.001-05:00

So I write for another blog, The Ol' Leather Pumpkin. It's a blog devoted pretty much entirely to the NBA. I don't write there too often anymore, but occaisionally I'll hammer something out. Today, I wrote something DC-relevant, in that my post is entirely about Gilbert Arenas and the Washington Wizards. So if you fancy Gilbert, the Wizards, the NBA, or sports, head over there and check it out.

Happy Reading!

{The Ol' Leather Pumpkin: On Gilbert Arenas}

Review Friday: No Jews Were Harmed in the Making of this Film

2009-11-20T16:11:00.011-05:00

Last week I saw A Serious Man at E Street with my best friend Robin. We had intended to see An Education (Nick Hornby screenplay + Peter Sarsgaard in period clothing = can’t miss for this girl), but finding it sold out we instead saw the latest and most biographical film from the Minnesotan masters of the absurd and ironic.

The Coens have constructed a (very) loose retelling of the biblical story of Job, but set in a Jewish community in 1960s Minnesota (where the Coens themselves grew up as Jews and sons of two academics). In the Book of Job, God and Satan make a bet that the ever-faithful Job will deny God when put to extreme tests. Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) is a physics professor who is up for tenure and whose main goal in life is to be a good man. This good man is tested and driven to a breaking point by, among other things, his wife, Judith (Sari Lennick), leaving him for family friend Sy Ableman (Fred Melamed), an unpleasant and strung out son with an impending bar mitzvah, a self-involved teenage daughter who is stealing money from him for a nose job, an unemployed and mentally unstable brother living in his house, unfriendly and too-friendly neighbors, and a student who is blackmailing him because of a bad grade. We watch Larry’s downward spiral and grapple with a crisis of faith. I swear it’s funnier than I’m making it sound.

Actually, A Serious Man is seriously funny, but in that really awkward way that Michael Scott is funny (but not this season). The kind of funny where you’re laughing and cringing at the same time. At a few points I was physically tense from frustration, especially when Sy and Judith were on the screen. They essentially create an alternate reality in which they haven’t done anything wrong, Larry is at fault, and the Gopnik marriage will end with no collateral damage. The completeness of this parallel unreality and the fervor with which they defend is incredible; it made my jaw clench and my hands turn into fists. This reaction was immediately familiar, as it’s the same reaction I have daily when I hear or read insights into the alternate reality that Sarah Palin has created for herself.

This film had wonderful performances, particularly by Stuhlbarg and Lennick, memorable smaller characters, and a heavy helping of Jewish-related jokes and references that went over my head but were hysterical to others in the theater. I liked that the cast was filled with actors you thought might have seen somewhere, but weren't quite sure where. The story was tightly constructed without superfluous or gratuitous scenes. It raised important and interesting questions about omnipotence and our relationship to a higher power. It was a great concept and perfectly executed, but I found myself missing the joy and ridiculousness of other Coen movies. This particular version of their irony and absurdity taxed my patience and frustrated me, though it was technically flawless.

In my research for this review, I was amped to discover that the Coens’ next project is a film adaptation of Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, which is a fantastic genre-bending novel that combines a detective story and a history of an alternate reality, all with a distinct comic book feeling. Pairing the Coens with Chabon never occurred to me, but it’s just so right, especially this novel. While I admire A Serious Man, I guess my heart belongs to a Man a little more out on the fringe.

I Just Saw it on CNN: Mustachioed Sergio

2009-11-20T09:10:00.004-05:00

We've just learned that video footage of Sergio from his epic Rock, Paper, Scissors weekend is now appearing on CNN. Check him out here, at the 47-second mark. I'm only sorry we didn't have an Egomania Strike shirt for him to wear for some free publicity. With that camera presence, they may want him to take over for Lou Dobbs instead of John King. Nice, Ritacco.

The first installment of Review Friday drops later this morning. Get excited.

Rock Paper Scissors via Toronto

2009-11-18T08:23:00.000-05:00

Ever so often an opportunity comes across my virtual/social/figurative desk that, for a number of reasons (be it peer pressure or illusions of grandeur), is impossible to decline. So when my friend and Ron Burgundy Football Club teammate, Dan J, petitioned for a coalition of the willing to drive 10 hours to Toronto to participate in the 2009 Yahoo! Rock Paper Scissors World Championships how could I say no. I mean it has corporate sponsorship (I kid you not), a legit purse ($7k to the winner & $1k to the "street" winner), and most importantly an opportunity to experience something completely new and fun in a new city.

Toronto is a pretty awesome place. Drew (who joins us from RBFC as well), Dan, and I had about 12 hours to check out the city with a population size comparable to Chicago. A vibrant Chinatown, large downtown, a well located university, and three mass transit options (light rail, subway, and bus) are some of general highlights. As far as the "vibe" of Toronto, the best way I can explain it is a little edgy in its style (some artsy/hipster a la brooklyn), cosmopolitan, and international (lots of English, French Canadians, Italians, Chinese, Irish, etc etc). No one was rude or pompous, every person I met was super nice and helpful which, in my experience, is so different from any other city I've been to.

The 2009 Yahoo! Rock Paper Scissors World Championships organized by the World Rock Paper Scissors Society (I wish I could make this up) was a very legit tournament. Waiting line, registration, promo girls, assigned tables for early rounds, and overpriced booze sponsored by the venue (which also happens to be a delicious brewery) were all well organized and planned (it did run a bit behind schedule but that is expected). I mean there was even media covering the event (at least 3 camera crews and a PR rep, for some ridiculous reason I failed to pitch her our "story" and my social media "credentials").

The main event was a single elimination, best of 3 sets, best of 3 games (think tennis) set-up. Be one of the two to get out of your 6 person table and you qualify for the round of 128 (so, lets see, that would make about 500 participants). That set-up continues on for a couple more rounds until you are left with the final 8, who are then hoisted to the front stage and continue the RPS battle. How did the Ron Burgundy coalition do? Both Dan and Drew (here and here) managed to be eliminated in the 1st round (I believe Drew won the first game in his group, you will see my memory gets hazier as the night continues) and yours truly, after being down a game in both matches, managed to come back and qualify for the 2nd round (and yes, I will take this moment to boast myself as one of the top 128 RPS players in...the world, link here here). In the next round I failed to listen to my sub-conscious and lost in the first match, no matter what you think, there is some pretty serious strategy going on at these games (but I'm not sure anyone had a clue to what it was).

That was definitely the beginning to our night. The second "street" tournament was an entertaining and different approach. When one registers you are given 5 RPS "dollars." Throughout the night, while you wait to play your round or support a friend, you can challenge others with a wager. At the end of the night, the person with the most of these "dollars" gets a $1,000 prize. In typical Ron Burgundy fashion the three of us hit the pavement and worked the crowd. I on a double-or-nothing bet lose all my money pretty early, Dan did quite well for himself and ended up getting a decent stack going, and Drew became a man possessed and nearly ends up being our golden ticket.

In comparisons to others we were doing so-so (consider us a mid-level posse instead of these 5-8 person gangs that were eating up a lot of the money). Though in the final 30-60 mins before the "street" competition closes a lot of activity was occurring and Drew ends up doubling up a few times over, getting himself in a position to be considered one of the top. This part of the night is super hazy, some people give us money, one guy (who Drew ends up losing to in the final) tries very unsuccessfully to convince us to not play certain people (who we end up siphon all their money), and we get in a little tiff with a typical drunk girl (the same girl Drew ends up beating) and her husband.

At the end there were 4 people with the majority of this cash, after a negotiation session that looked like a boxing press conference the decision was made to play it out b/w the four. As you'll see below, Drew ends up beating the crazy girl (here and here, that was really entertaining) and faces the guy who was telling us to quit. In the end, he ends up beating Drew (this was the 3rd time in a row he won it), so we were a bit disappointed in losing but so glad to experience something so surreal.

And that's about it, the drive back gets a little interesting (we end up following a crazy GPS and take beautiful back roads nearly the whole way back) and had a pit-stop at Niagara. I strongly recommend this trip and want to go back next year with an even larger group of people.

Do I Need This?

2009-11-16T23:05:00.003-05:00

Currently, I'm in the market for a new phone. And by in the market, I mean my 2 year contract with Verizon is up, and I'm planning on paying them for another 2 years so that I can conveniently reach, and be reached by, anyone at any time. Or I can see who's calling me and choose not to talk to the person until a time of my choosing. Presumably when I call that person back, they will have the same thought process and a cycle of Caller-ID tag will ensue. Here's my current dilemma: I don't know if I should get a Blackberry Tour, a Motorola Droid, or an HTC Eris. Or, should I not get a smartphone and stick to a regular phone? And by regular phone, do I mean a flip-phone, or a phone with a flip-up keyboard so I can send text messages more easily with my phone? You see my dilemma: I'm wasting my time and brain energy trying to figure which one of something I should buy, that 7 years ago very few people owned.

Above is what phones used to look like. Rotary. Spin the wheel for every number you want. Then touchtone phones: press the button for the number you want. Then cordless. Then corded carphones. Then cellphones (gigantic). Then cellphones (less gigantic). Ad infinitum.

In his Philosophy of Right, GWF Hegel spoke a lot about freedom. One aspect of freedom he implied was the ability to choose; free people are free because they get to exercise choice. That may not seem too profound, but let it sink in for a second. This would also imply that freedom is always evolving, always growing, and that we as free peoples will be able to choose to have one thing and not another, and this choice will beget another choice and another and another and so on.

So I guess rather than being an old coot, I'll appreciate the fact that I live in a society that gives me the opportunity to pick and choose any option of anything I may ever possibly consider wanting. With technology, comes choice, and with choice comes freedom. By embracing technology (and a new 2 year phone plan), I'm tying myself down to freedom.

Now, will someone help me pick out a damn phone? I cannot tell those things apart!

PS- I'm considering the non-smartphones, too, because of my slight addiction to the internet.

Hometown Pride

2009-11-07T19:08:00.004-05:00

I consider DC my home. I'm not from here, but I live here. And, for better or for worse, I like it here. But, like 85% of the DMV population, I am a transplant.

I was born in Iran, grew up in Cleveland, and went to school in southeastern Virginia. So I consider myself "from" all of those places (DC included), but since I spent my formative years in Cleveland, I take particular allegiance to the "Mistake on the Lake."

I've realized that I've taken bits and pieces of my personality from all of these places. My allegiances to sports (a fairly recent obsession of mine) are firmly planted in Cleveland. I love the Cavs*, and I even care about the Browns and Indians (though I often deny this). I have a large interest in politics, which is what brought me to DC. I've been interested in Iranian politics for a long time (I got that from my family, natch.), and I even enjoy following the nuanced political culture that comes of out William and Mary and all its various administrative victories/blunders.

Here's the thing, though. All of the "parts" of my personality I listed from my various homes are in utter disarray.

While sports may seem the most superficial of the bunch, for a city like Cleveland, sports are the last thing it has left in which to pride itself. The Cavs have been great in the LeBron James era, but they haven't been quite great enough. "No Ring for the King," as they say, so Shaquille O'Neal was brought into Cleveland to fix that. The result? A mediocre start to the season, panic about LeBron leaving next year, and calls for the Cavs' coach's head on a platter. Not to mention another one of their stars being indicted on 6 counts of weapons possession. The Indians? Apparently they decided that after losing in the American League Championship in 2007, they were going to spend the next 2 seasons having a fire sale. They let go 2 Cy Young award winners, and the best player on the team in Victor Martinez. Oh, and they also hired a new General Manager: the former failed manager of DC's own Washington Nationals, Manny Acta. And the Browns. Oh, the Browns. Just a sad, sad franchise. Just read this, and you'll see what I mean.

Then we have politics in DC, aka the reason I do not want to go into politics. Partisan bickering isn't new, but it sure seems like it is. Maybe it's just magnified living in this city. Whatever the reason, it sucks. William and Mary? Who follows college politics? Well when you have one liberal school in a state that's not-so-liberal, it's an interesting topic to follow. Last year, there was the fallout from President Nichol's resignation. This year, WM hasn't been popping up in the news like crazy, but students at the college have been up in arms recently. Apparently, WM just began using its state-of-the-art new business school, and because it's so fancy, every student is being charged extra tuition for its upkeep. That's fine, I guess, except the building does not allow non-business school students to enter the building after hours. It's one thing if they chose not to use it after hours, but specifically being banned from using it? That's a different animal entirely.

Then there's Iran. There's really too much to go into here, but I've been following the post-election protests since they started in June, and while part of me is excited for some sort of organic change to be brought about in Iran, it's still pretty scary. The violence, the repression, the media blackout. Pretty crazy stuff.

You know what, though? Even with all the bad, I still think of myself as "from" all of these places. I used to think that I really didn't have a home, per se. But I do. I have lots of homes. I like that I'm "from" all of these places. I'm proud to be associated with them. They're still part of me, and I wouldn't change that if I could.

*I also really like the Wizards... just not when they play the Cavs.

Union Square Greenmarket

2009-11-04T14:33:00.005-05:00

I happened upon the Union Square Greenmarket during my NYC Saturday afternoon. Having come directly from eating a generous helping of post-night-at-the-club Chipotle, I wasn't at all hungry. What a disappointment! This was the largest market I've seen outside of Paris and all around me apples, grapes, breads, and cheeses called my name. "Kate! Kate! Why did you eat a 453-calorie burrito bowl when we were just up the road?" (Also, tangent: I had forgotten that NYC publishes calorie counts for all fast-food menu items in plain view. I certainly don't think that this alone will solve all of our obesity and food-related health problems, but, anecdotally, this was the healthiest incarnation of Chipotle I have ever eaten. My opinion is that it doesn't hurt, it will impact some people, and I'm all for it as part of a larger mixture of strategies to promote healthy eating.)

So, as Christian Lander would guess, I love farmers' markets and visit them frequently. I'm only just starting to get into cooking, but as a budding foodie/foodie poser I do like to troll the farmers' markets. We have quite a few good ones in in D.C. and Arlington (I'm talking to you, Eastern Market and Clarendon and Court House Farmers' Markets), but this one was larger and more varied than any that I've seen locally. There were farmers and specialty food merchants from Vermont (my favorite state) and Maine. Apparently, it's the granddaddy of Greenmarkets in NYC, which started in the 70s. There are nearly 50 markets operated by the Greenmarket organization throughout all five boroughs. I think that is pretty sweet, in terms of providing healthy eating choices, supporting local and regional farmers and small food businesses, and enhancing street life.

Maybe because it's harvest season or maybe because the local food movement is really freaking trendy, but walking around the market in Union Square was the most pleasurable 30 minutes I've spent in ages. Fresh food, crowds of people, cool architecture nearby, children in Halloween costumes, and adults ambiguously either dressed in Halloween costumes or their regular clothes--it was heavenly. I highly suggest stopping by the next time you are in the center of the universe for the weekend. Also, The Strand is mere blocks away if you want to complete your journey into Kate's perfect afternoon.

Baguettes

2009-11-03T20:33:00.000-05:00

Yea yea yea, I've been m.i.a. on this blog...sorry, sort of. I mean really, it's a blog. For a couple weeks now there have been some pressing matters affecting my participation; unemployment, school, then a new job all took priority. Trust me I'd much rather of been dong this. That's my apology, onwards to the post!

One of the things that attracts me the most to cooking (I mean real cooking, not this half-ass attempt people think is cooking, you know what I'm talking about) is taking very raw, basic ingredients and making something awesome and delicious. Through specific and equally rewarding steps of prep (mise en place for the foodies), process, and technique one can basically make anything (assuming basic kitchen equipment and creative improvisation). Please, no excuses, cooking/baking is not hard, it just takes practice and accepting the fact that, at some point, you will fail miserably. Failure only leads to experience and greater concentration to detail. Think of it as this way, we as a civilization exist because we cook so, at some level, it is instinctual.

Bread, specifically the baguette, is exactly the kind of mini-project I'm talking about. Comparison to others breads its not too hard, the final step (actually baking) can be a little tricky and takes some MacGyver-esque skills (who the hell has a spray bottle in their kitchen?!?) but, really, all you are doing is mixing dry and wet ingredients, kneading, waiting, kneading, waiting, kneading, waiting, rolling, waiting, baking. From start to finish it did take about 5 hours but only for 1-1.5 hours was I actually in the kitchen (the rest of the time I was putzing around the apt.)

Use this recipe. For full disclosure I bought the wrong kind of flour (bleached versus the preferred unbleached and wheat versus cake), what I did then was 3 cups of all-purpose bleached and a cup of whole wheat. That's why I think my bread turned out a little denser than I'd of liked, c'est la vi. Great video on how to knead dough. Rolling your dough into baguettes. If you see pictures of my final product you'll notice how I pretty much failed at this, I need to figure out how to create a better seal while not compromising the airy structure of the dough, for next time! In my opinion, the final product was absolutely delicious, had a crunchy exterior and perfect level of doneness on the inside.

I mentioned how baking got a little tricky, the recipe asks for you to "mist" the oven and the bread during the first (and hotter) bake. Yea I didn't really prepare for that, instead I basically took a small bowl of water, dipped my hands in it and started vigorously flicking it all over the place. Did well enough but I suspect a spray bottled would of helped out a lot.

OK so you don't have 5 hours to bake bread, understandable, so what do you do? Because the great majority (and I mean 99.5%) of supermarket bread is crap. FYI: All that "fancy" bread you see in the bread section is refrigerated (possibly pre-frozen) dough that gets pre-cooked at some distant locale, shipped in, and then warmed up for the affect of freshly baked. Overpriced (and really good) bread can be found at many farmer's markets and wine-o shops, expect to spend like $3-4 a baguette. Buy a bunch and freeze that which you won't immediately use (to defrost place frozen bread in 200-250 degree oven until thawed, then increase to 350+ if you are looking to toast or eat warm).

Another option is (gasp) your local latino market. All of you who won't (or maybe will) admit to being intimidated by such a task need not worry, it's a wonderful place for all kinds of delicious things (not to mention cheaper cuts of meat, different kinds of sausages, and offals). If you need help everyone (pretty much) speaks English or can communicate with you (earn bonus points and learn some basic Spanish, please). Anyways I just got some french bread there that's been really good, it's not from a top notch bakery but it's much better than supermarket stuff. To top it off I bought 4 huge rolls for what you'd pay for a supermarket baguette ($2.00). Sounds good to me! -Bon appetit!

Bolt Bus Haiku

2009-10-30T14:43:00.001-04:00

Greetings from a Bolt Bus in Central New Jersey. I'm in transit to NYC with good friends and my Halloween costume for what I've annoyingly named "21st Birthoween" weekend. I am only disappointed the name didn't occur to me in enough time to make t-shirts for everyone. En route I composed some haiku to share with you my innermost thoughts on my journey.

Riding the Bolt Bus.
Internet sketchy at best,
But nice foliage

Thank god we made it!
Kevin held it down for us--
Jana Chavers time.

Turning twenty-one!
No need for that fake ID!
We miss you, Denise.

Delaware is small
Yet their tolling charge is large:
Dave or Goliath?

I like Joe Biden...
And Sherman Patrick too, so
Why not Delaware?

Tiny, tiny state
You make me so suspicious.
Unjustified scorn.

Now we're in the Jerz,
Robin's least favorite state.
It's kinda pretty.

Andrew Sullivan,
I want to read "The Dish" but
There is no signal.

New Jersey is fine
Why the haterade? I mean,
It's not Delaware.

Been friends for 10 years--
I am lucky to have had
Jana Chavers time.

I want some pizza.
Mushrooms and pepperoni.
Yeah that's Mm! Mm! good.

What is going on?
Greg's phone just started talking--
Dirty looks abound.

I have to stop this!
I'm a haiku machine, but
Totally nauseous.

The Raveonettes - 9:30 Club - 10/16

2009-10-29T12:57:00.001-04:00

Our good friends Mervdiddy and Stuck went to see the Raveonettes a while back at the 9:30 club. Check out Merv's take. Apparently, the Raveonettes are Danish. You learn something new every day.

{The New Millenial}

PS- You should probably check out Mervdiddy's blog regardless. He's over there in the links --------------------->

Handshake Twister

2009-10-27T14:44:00.002-04:00

Ed. Note: Our first guest post is by Gareth, British expatriate and future planner. Gareth lives in the District and enjoys good music, soccer, American football (well, tailgating), speaking on behalf of all of Europe, and spreading the good news of the full-time graduate student lifestyle. He also has more experience with the American healthcare system than Kate, Sergio, or Amin, having injured himself severely enough to require a visit to a doctor no less than four times during his first nine months in America. This has nothing to do with healthcare.

So when I was asked to contribute a guest post to Egomania Strike, I was pretty excited. As the only limey in the group, I had little doubt that I had been headhunted to offer a uniquely European insight into some major issue or another. What would be the ramifications of the Irish “yes” vote on the Lisbon Treaty? Is David Beckham actually any good at soccer? Is the American version of The Office as good as the British original? How awesome is tailgating? (For the record: don't know, yes, not quite, very awesome). As it turned out, my services had been sought to dissect the mystery of the handshake.

Yes, that's right, the handshake. Though one might assume there would be very little to say about this humble, time-honored staple of Western civilization, one would be assuming wrong. Growing up in England, a young man only needs to worry about the firmness of his handshake. Too strong and you might come across as overbearing. Too weak and, well, you might be seen as a bit of a girl. Also, you will never get a job. Admittedly, then, the stakes are high, but a quick lesson from your father or a well-intentioned friend is generally all you need to render the handshake a non-issue, an everyday activity as natural as breathing.

When I arrived in America a little over a year ago, I learned quickly that handshake etiquette is a far more complicated affair in the land of the free. In formal situations, such as the workplace, there is no problem; the good, old-fashioned English handshake will serve you just fine. Start getting friendly, however, and things begin to get tricky. You see, the handshake varies according to how familiar you are with your intended target. I have encountered at least five different versions in everyday usage (not accounting for regional variations), and the real problem is that you have to always remember which handshake you need to employ for any given friend. This process is bound to go awry at some point, unless you only have one friend—in which case you should probably stop reading so many blogs and hit the bar.

For me, the confusion reached a whole new level recently when a good friend came to visit from England. I had been in the States for a year already, and had most of the common handshakes at my disposal. My friend had lived in America until a few years ago, and so was in the same situation. Unfortunately, our time as friends had been spent exclusively on British soil, so when I went to meet him off the bus, chaos ensued. We both instinctively felt that an American handshake was in order, but we had no reference point as to which one was appropriate. In the end, what should have been a simple and enthusiastic greeting between two old friends turned into an exceedingly awkward game of Twister. After a couple of minutes, we gave up, headed to the bar to drink away the embarrassment, and later agreed on the handshake that we would share for the rest of our days.

When I later spoke to my American friends about the incident, it soon emerged that I was not alone with my handshake troubles, and I wondered what should be done about the situation. Well, I am sorry to say that I have not yet come up with the answer, so I continue to live precariously, never sure when I am next going to leave an unfortunate friend punching thin air. But as you have stuck with me for this long, I feel that I should at least pass on a couple of pieces of advice I have recently come across. The first, courtesy of a couple of well-meaning countrymen of mine, is a how-to guide to “homie handhakes”:

General Etiquette:
How To Give A Homie Handshake

Now, as useful as this video may be for raising awareness about handshake difficulties, I fear that it may actually exacerbate the problem. I, for one, have never once come across "The Power Ranger" and I suspect it could backfire dramatically. Perhaps it would be best to heed the advice of Julian Casablancas, lead singer with The Strokes and cultural icon extraordinaire. On the opening line of the sublime first single from his forthcoming solo album, "11th Dimension", he confides, “I just nod; I’ve never been so good at shaking hands.” If the ubercool Mr. Casablancas still hasn’t figured it out after all these years, maybe the rest of us should admit defeat and follow his lead.

Best Commercial Ever? Best Commercial Ever.

2009-10-22T08:13:00.002-04:00

This is a brutally honest ad for mobile homes. It is so fantastic that I couldn't not share it.

"A bouncer in Birmingham hit me in the face with a crescent wrench 5 times, and my wife's boyfriend broke my jaw with a fencepost. So if you don't buy a trailer from me, it ain't gonna hurt my feelings.

Amazing.

[via Adfreak, via Gawker, via @JohnKrolik (ain't the internet grand?)]

Pearls of Kitchen "Wisdom"

2009-10-22T01:01:00.001-04:00

Another Ed Note: When time allows I hope to continue on the cooking/food/restaurants subject with a weekly post, we’ll cover cool, and very cheap, places to eat as well as the successes and failures of some fun recipes. But as a first post I felt really compelled to share this.

If you have not read Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain I strongly recommend you pick it up. Not even a third of the way through and I can safely say no other book has made me laugh so hard nor has an author been so “eloquent” in his opinions. To illustrate I will share two short passages. In this one he describes how to choose a heavy sauté pan:

“Let me stress that again: heavyweight. A thin-bottomed saucepan is useless for anything. I don’t care if it’s bonded with copper, hand-rubbed by virgins or fashioned from the same material they built the stealth bomber out of. If you like scorched sauces, carbonized chicken, pasta that sticks to the bottom of the pot and burnt bread crumbs, then be my guest. A proper sauté pan should cause serious head injury if brought down hard against someone’s skull. If you have any doubts about which will dent–the victim’s head or your pan–then throw that pan right in the trash.”

And here he muses on his “favorite” kind of customers:

“‘Saving for well-done’ is a time-honored tradition dating back to cuisine’s earliest days: meat and fish cost money. Every piece of cut, fabricated food must, ideally, be sold for three or even four time its cost in order for the chef to make his ‘food cost percent.’ So what happens when the chef finds a touch, slightly skanky end-cut sirloin that’s been pushed repeatedly to the back of the pile? He can throw it out, but that’s a total loss, representing a three-fold loss of what it cost him per pound. He can feed it to the family, which is the same as throwing it out. Or he can ‘save for well-done’-serve it to some rube who prefers to eat his meat or fish incinerated into a flavorless, leathery hunk of carbon, who won’t be able to tell if what he’s eating is food of flotsam. Ordinarily, a proud chef would hate this customer, hold him in contempt for destroying his fine food. But not in this case. The dumb bastard is paying for the privilege for eating his garbage! What’s not to like?

Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn. To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living. Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food. The body, these waterheads imagine, is a temple that should not be polluted by animal protein. It’s healthier, they insist, thought every vegetarian waiter I’ve worked with is brought down by any rumor of a cold. Oh, I’ll accommodate them, I’ll rummage around for something to feed them, for a ‘vegetarian plate,’ if called on to do so. Fourteen dollars for a few slices of grilled eggplant and zucchini suits my food cost fine…”

And it goes on and on. This man clearly had an interesting past. –Bon appétit!

Them Crooked Vultures - 9:30 Club - 10/14/09

2009-10-20T14:43:00.003-04:00

Ed Note: Things have been pretty busy for me lately; the only two things I did last week were work on a presentation on Iranian Politics and go to this awesome concert. So maybe next time, I'll write up a summary of my PowerPoint.

I'd first heard about Them Crooked Vultures in passing from my friend Stuck. He told me "There's this new supergroup forming, with a guy from Led Zeppelin and three guys from Queens of the Stone Age." Luckily for you readers, I will not turn this review into an ode to my Zeppelinophilia (much like this post was in its first draft).

So Them Crooked Vultures plays hard rock. Like really loud, hard rock. I'd never been to a concert that had my ears ringing for 2 days after. And I didn't actually mind that they were ringing, because it was a reminder of how incredible the show was. I'd heard from others that Dave Grohl was a great drummer. I never really doubted it. But it's a completely different experience watching him go. He was tucked away at the back of the stage, but you knew he was there the whole time. The energy he put into those drums was enough to wake John Bonham and Keith Moon from the dead. In England.

Josh Homme and and Alain Johannes from Queens of the Stone Age were phenomenal. Alternating between lead and rhythm guitar during each song, Homme and Johannes absolutely electrified the room with their big hits Caligulove, Scumbag Blues, Elephant and Nobody Loves Me (and Neither do I). But my absolute favorite performance of the night was Interlude with Ludes, where Josh Homme dropped his guitar, grabbed his mic, and started gyrating around the stage like a deranged lounge singer, against a soft purple-lit backdrop, beautifully accompanied by John Paul Jones on the keytar (previously thought to be an extinct species of musical instrument).

Ah yes, John Paul Jones. The man is a genius. You know how I could tell? Not only did he play 9 different instruments during this 15 song set (including a slide guitar/bass, piano, and mandolin), but you could tell that everyone else on stage was amazed to be playing with him. Dave Grohl is arguably one of the best drummers in the history of rock and roll. And every time I looked at Grohl's face during the show, he was staring at Jones (way off to his right) and smiling. I could only imagine that he was thinking "Wow. I can't believe I'm playing with John Paul Fucking Jones. This is awesome."

Yes, yes it was. Here's a little glimpse into last Wednesday's performance (Watch your ears, folks):

Abandoned Places in the World

2009-10-19T14:31:00.002-04:00

A friend tipped me off to this blog earlier this year and I just found it again while looking stuff up for a midterm. It is one of my ultimate time sucks because reading about each of these places leads to Wikipedia searches for more historical context, which then leads to at least an hour of Wikipedia tangents. So, I give you the link to enjoy for your own procrastination purposes.

http://www.dirjournal.com/info/abandoned-places-in-the-world/

Hyperlinks: exacerbating Kate's ADD tendency since 1998.

USA Completes World Cup Qualifying

2009-10-15T11:42:00.002-04:00

In front of a respectable attendance of 26k the US completed World Cup qualifying for South Africa 2010 last night at RFK. Though the US had already qualified for the world's most important tournament (I'm sorry but no one really actually cares about the Olympics) Costa Rica had what amounted to a do or die situation. In essence win and automatically qualify, tie and hope Honduras loses to El Salvador in the co-current game, a loss or tie and a Honduran win would send them in a home-and-away (two game competition where the total goals are cumulative) with the 5th place South American team.

The game was very entertaining and the crowd was especially raucous (for the US). In the past when the US plays a Latin American country its mostly 50% support for the away team (usually the rowdier half) and 50% support US. Not the case, I'd say it was 75% US and 25% Costa Rican with a great contingent of sauced-up 20-somethings doing their best "ole, ole." To their credit, the Costa Rican support was boisterous but respectful.

If you need help with your Spanish or are just unable to reason through the images, the US fell behind in the 1st half to a determined Costa Rican side (the second goal was spectacular) but in the second half the US rallied from behind and in the very last minute of play scored the tying goal (video I took). Every Costa Rican went into dreadful, soul-crushing despair and I think I saw one or two start crying. To add some perspective, after what accumulates to be 18-months of preparation and competition Costa Rica lost their automatic bid on the last minute of the last game to a team that for all intents and purposes was using this game as a send off.

All the while Honduras was playing against El Salvador and managed to win 1-0. Some more images to drive in the point of how intense yesterday was. (Scroll to minute 2:50 of video below) They had to wait and get news that that the last moment the US tied Costa Rica and gave them the automatic berth, their first since 1982.

Save as Draft

Though not the most important thing going on in the world it's critical to note that yesterday, in basically every corner of the globe (even in snow) people were sweating out the last game of World Cup qualifying. The popularity of the sport and the passion people put into it cements it as the world's game. Once better images from the South American games are produced I'll share with you South America and how Argentina by what appears to be the grace of God qualified for South Africa.

Things To Love About Baltimore

2009-10-13T21:06:00.000-04:00

One of my personal missions is to get people to up to Baltimore. So, I will post from time to time reasons why you should go there. The aquarium will never be one of these reasons.

In the interest of full disclosure: My family lived in Baltimore (Butchers Hill--why, WHY no apostrophe?) for my sixth grade year and I hated it. Virginia Beach to Baltimore was a total culture shock and my mother loves to remind me of all the complaining I did and rude things I said about it. She’s right. Fine. I ask you, though, am I still responsible for opinions I had at age 12? Should I also still crush on JTT, pore over Delia*s catalogs, and listen to the song “Never Lie” by Immature on repeat on my boombox? Ladies and gentlemen, it’s not 1995 anymore; I can now see why Baltimore is aptly nicknamed “Charm City.”

So, Baltimore. It’s a real place with real segregation, poverty, and crime problems. It also has cool neighborhoods, weirdly terrific bars, and much better sports teams than ours. However, the most compelling reason I’ve found to visit lately is that I bought a round of six drinks in a bar last Saturday night, including one with liquor, for less than $18. Go.

Go to Ben's!

2009-10-10T14:20:00.010-04:00

Ben Ali, who opened Ben’s Chili Bowl with his wife, Virginia, in 1958, passed away on Wednesday. For the two of you out there who don’t know about Ben’s Chili Bowl, check out this, this, and this. Ben and Virginia Ali had vision and this vision created something that endures.

The last time Ben’s was in the news was when President-elect Obama went there the day before inauguration. I like thinking about that because I remember how excited everyone was in January. This both sustains me and makes me even more livid at Democrats in Congress.

I can’t be angry for long, though, because I love Ben’s. My love for it is heartfelt, pure, and all-consuming—I’m like a Star Wars fanboy for this icon of processed meat, historical significance, and community stewardship. Now, loving Ben’s is like loving the fall or Michael Jackson’s hits—a whole lotta people do and it certainly doesn’t establish my individuality.

That being said, I realized while reading about Ben Ali’s passing that my love of Ben’s works out to be an approximate sum of my other interests, many of which I’ll be writing about in this blog. Like: old movie theaters, adaptive reuse projects, hot dogs/smoked sausages/portable meat in general, small businesses, urban redevelopment, cute old couples, and dignified humility in the face of success. Basically, if Ben’s also sold designer jeans and guacamole, I’d have everything I care about most in one package.

If you’re in DC, stop by and get a chili half-smoke this weekend in Ben Ali’s honor.

Mr. President: We need more cowbell

2009-10-09T11:14:00.002-04:00

Today President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." This announcement has already received praise, bewilderment, and a large dose of criticism.

This criticism has been boisterous and we find it totally valid. Nominated two weeks after taking office and awarded nine months into his presidency, can anyone really say significant improvements have been made in improving world peace? North Korea becomes increasingly alienated from its neighbors, Iran and their megalomaniac leader still affect regional relationships with their rhetoric and nuclear development program, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Palestine, Guantanamo, Chavez, Russia. Holy shit the world is going to implode.

So, if not based on concrete accomplishments then what? Effort, yes? What we have seen in the past nine months is a 180 degree change in the strategy and tone in American international diplomacy. The administration is desperately trying to remove radicalism from the world's hot-spots not by "shoot first and think later" mentality but through responsible coalition-building efforts and, well, if that doesn't work then shoot (Afghanistan).

This alone, in our oh so screwed-up world, has changed the world's perception of the United States from quasi-imperialist warmongers to more responsible (still heavy-handed) diplomatic members of this world trying to do right. Not to mention the historical significance and racially uniting power of an African American President.

We are heading in a much better direction than the previous administration. Just seems like doing things right takes longer than doing things quickly. So Obama you've earned it on the basis of doings things right, now graciously accept your award as an imperative to go get something done.

Welcome to Egomania Strike

2009-10-08T15:16:00.008-04:00

Egomania Strike is the brainchild of three DC-based, 20-something, hyphen-loving professionals. We aim to amuse, entertain, and provide insight to subjects that DC Metro area people (and our indulgent friends and family) will enjoy. We’ll explore topics that have a direct impact on your future, from important events in the world to the latest WMATA Woes. We'll get you to try something new, from restaurants to recipes to new areas of the DMV and beyond. We'll discuss movies, music, sports, and pieces of pop culture we like and hate. The Egomania Strike team also reserves the right to use this platform as our virtual soapbox, a medium to rant, criticize, and praise anything from politicians to food personalities to social norms. So sit back, relax, and procrastinate at work with us.

Amin

Amin lives in Chinatown and spends his days making demographic projections that he then analyzes in his graduate school homework at night. Amin comes to DC from Iran by way of Cleveland, giving him interest in both freedom and ~~LeBron James~~ the Cavaliers. He attended William and Mary solely because Jon Stewart is an alum. Amin loves social media, music, 30 Rock, Gilmore Girls, hanging out with his academic advisor on weekends, not owning a car, and macing Kate with his asthma inhaler.

Kate

Kate comes to Egomania Strike poised to continue her blogging career from the meticulously updated Overly Verbal. The most liberal person to come out of Texas since LBJ, Kate is also an ardent supporter of pedestrian friendly, livable communities and multimodal transportation. For example, she is a resident and expert of the famed Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, as well as their official spokesperson. When she's not working tirelessly to make America's built environment more functional, Kate (aka the Welfare Queen) can be found at her local coffee shop doing her best starving full-time student look.

Sergio

Winchester, Virginia is known for three things: being the Apple Blossom Capital of the World, housing the smelliest lard factory in the Mid-Atlantic, and Sergio. As it also houses the largest Argentine expatriate community in the world (Spoiler Alert: it doesn't), Sergio's parents decided to move their family away from Buenos Aires to this familiar, yet quaint, hamlet outside the DC metropolitan area. It is in this environment that he was able to keep his ear fluent in his mother tongue of Spanish.

Recently freed from the purgatory of the DC Beltway, Sergio strives to make the world a better (and less sprawly) place by pursuing his Master's in Urban and Regional Planning. When he's not playing with Google Sketch-Up, he's probably sitting shirtless on the sofa watching the US National Soccer team try to qualify for the 2010 World Cup; Argentine futbol; or Antiques Roadshow.