Thursday, May 24, 2007

Dammmmit

The Beastie Boys are playing the Crocodile on Friday night.

http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0F003EB5E3D7E5C3?artistid=702455&majorcatid=10
001&minorcatid=3

According to all accounts, tickets sold out in about 10 seconds. This is the second time I've missed one of these shows at the Crocodile. I was three places away from getting tickets to the Strokes show last year.

The show has set of pandamonium in Seattle, as about 4 generations of music fans are pining to get in. I am now left consoling myself by reading what people are willing to offer on craigslist in exchange for Beasties tickets. One dude is using his companion ticket as leverage for a blind date, complete with requests that applicants send a photo. Another guy is offering his motorcycle. If you have a spare minute and need to feel good about your limits, follow the link.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=beastie%20boys

Seriously. Before you sell your last scrap of dignity to go to this, consider plopping out 50 bucks and the cost of a tank of gas to drive out to the Gorge and see them play Sasquatch. Sure, it's a giant venue without the intamcy, but you might actually see a few other bands you might like. You'll have one fewer thing to atone for in your next life.

Enjoy the weekend whatever you decide brave craigslister.

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Jehovah’s Witness Reveal New Seattle Strategy.

A while ago my Jetta got fed up with my forgetfulness and decided it would no longer make a pinging sound if I left the parking lights on. Now every so often I walk out to start a trip only to discover my battery is dead. This happened about twenty minutes before my IMA playoff soccer game at the UW last night.

I got going early this morning to jump-start my car before Erin left for work. While my engine charged the battery I decided to clean out my car. I was in the middle of sorting the contents of my trunk into three piles on my driveway when a middle aged couple approached me from across the street. They appeared to be dressed in circa 1982 Easter clothing. The man was wearing pleated khaki pants, a metallic blue shirt, brown tweed jacket and a stunningly bright gold and blue tie. The woman was dressed in an incredibly conservative American gothic blue dress, complete with a Victorian neck line covering half her neck and ruffled sleeves extended halfway down her biceps. I was pretty sure whatever conversation we were about to have was going to be extremely awkward.

The man greeted me cheerfully. “Are you going on a trip?” I looked around at the piles of stuff on the driveway that I had intended to bring into the house, and realized that I had my getaway excuse quite literally laid out.

“Well that’s nice,” he said. “It’s is a beautiful day.” I nodded. His partner bent under the hideous green shrub by my driveway nodded. I had accidentally engaged in the ritual of mutual observation and agreement, and was now committed to as short a conversation as possible.

With the pleasantries out of the way, the man cut to the chase. “We’re walking around the neighborhood and talking to people about global warming today. Do you believe global warming is a problem?”

Fuck. I had totally misread these people. Not religious zealots, but environmental zealots. Even more embarrassing to be caught standing in my driveway sorting piles of athletic equipment while my car engine had been running for so long that a pool of condensation had collected below the exhaust pipe. I went to cut off the engine, risking a dead battery in order to save a little face in front of the Mayberry chapter of Greenpeace. I acknowledged that global warming was a problem.

He pressed forward. “Do you think global warming can be fixed?” I was puzzled now. I wanted out of the conversation, but I didn’t know which answer would free me fastest. Were they conservatives advocating carbon trading? Salesmen peddling energy efficient light bulbs?

I answered in the affirmative. This is, in fact, a small misrepresentation of what I believe. I’m not convinced global warming can be fixed, but I think public policy should address carbon emissions and energy use. Besides, I was fairly confident I could rattle off a few of the every-day practical suggestions from the ending credits of an Inconvenient Truth to defend the position

“That’s good.” He said. “I’m a minister, and I’d like to leave you with some literature about our solution to global warming.”

My mood brightened instantly. I have been extremely curious about the alignment of left wing politics and religion taking shape in the fundamentalist environmental movement. Now I had the advanced guard standing in front of me offering a collection of biblical passages supporting environmentalism. For the first time in my life I happily took the readings.

I was sorely disappointed when I was handed a flimsy pamphlet with the instantly recognizable color pencil art of the Jehovah’s Witness on the front. The pamphlet was adorned with an extremely curious interpretation of an autumn paradise—An African American couple sitting in a meadow of the American frontier surrounded by apples, pumpkins and moose.

I soon learned that Gore’s practical approach to global climate change was going to fall far far short of the ultimate solution. From the passage Suffering is Near Its End. “So Jehovah’s tolerance of wickedness and suffering is nearing its end. Soon God will intervene in human affairs by destroying this entire unsatisfactory system of things” (Watchtower 2005, 5).

I started repacking the trunk with my bags of recycling, trash, and tennis equipment. “Sorry, but I’ve gotta get going on that trip…”

To my amazement the couple seemed entirely happy to let me go. As they walked down the street towards my neighbor’s house they were followed by two unbelievably strange looking adolescents dressed like Malachai from the Children of the Corn. I have no idea where these children had been lurking, but it freaked me out. To my relief, my car started up immediately and I was left to collect my thoughts as I drove aimlessly around the neighborhood.

This is a brilliant campaign move for the Jehovah’s Witness in Seattle. When I lived in Baton Rouge, the conversation would start with some question about whether or not I believed Christ would deliver us from sin. But that line won’t fly in Seattle. Here our common cultural value is environmental. Like all good organizations the Witnesses have adapted. Beware all you the earnest greens working in the yard today. The conversation you are about to have about carbon emissions is going to lead to the same uncomfortable discussion about your eternal salvation. Knowing is half the battle..

A moment of reflection on this exchange has raised a number of interesting questions. I wonder if the Jehovah’s Witness view global warming as an indicator of the approaching last days. If so, I am now doubly committed to taking the bus and replacing my incandescent light bulbs. This will not only work to preserve the polar ice caps, but also delay the day that something comes to collect my eternal soul.

More importantly, I think I can add their concern for global warming as ammunition for conversations with those who continue to insist that global climate change is neither occurring nor caused by man. In the past, I have remarked that prominent Republicans and leaders of industry have come to accept that the global warming a problem. I have pointed out that insurance company actuaries have been forced to revise the risk of flooding based on projections of global climate change. Now that the Jehovah’s Witnesses have gotten on board, I think the case is closed.

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

The Greens and the Beer

Greendrinks Seattle
http://www.seattlegreendrinks.org/

In most areas and issues, the environmentalists and the corporate world are at odds. However, apparently there exists some common ground. I am speaking of the benefits of networking and of beer. Once a month, socially responsible and environmentally sustainable organizations host a happy hour for people in the green business (or just people who recycle) so that they can mingle, talk, hang out, listen to music, and have a few beers on the house. Kind of like a business networking event without the business cards, suits, and pretension.

Populated heavily by students and graduates of the UW in departments such as the Evans School (not surprisingly, the founder of Greendrinks is an Evans School grad), landscape architecture, and environmental studies, these events are also a great place to meet other 20-30 somethings who have some free time during the week and have the same "values". The events are all free and recent locations include the SAM Sculpture Park Pavilion and the Sightline Institute. The organization has just recently started a website where they post job openings, local events, and even member blogs (I don't think I will make the cut). It's worth a look and a visit.

Tonight the event was at EVO in Fremont - a business that appears to be a skater shop (I don't know, I'm not cool enough to shop here). Sierra Nevada donated the beer, Herban Feast catered, and there was a band for an 8:30 party afterwards. People are friendly enough but it pays to go with a few pals- the green circles in the city are pretty tight and I got the feeling most people knew each other from outside circles (such as grad school or the Sierra Club).

More Bush Lies and Denials coming to Light

As many of you know, I work for a news media organization, so every morning I read through the daily headlines. I can't get past one of the articles this morning, buried in the international news section, regarding child mortality rates in Iraq. It can be pretty easy, and very tempting, to bypass these articles to read up on, say, the newest details of Paris Hilton's impending incarceration - especially since it appears that articles of this nature never receive front billing in our news. I can't help but hope that many of our leaders will be forced to admit that they have been purposefully lying about the true cost of this war and the price innocent Iraqis are paying for our mistakes.

A contributing factor to my strong reaction at this news is the fact that last month one of the co-authors of the Lancet report was denied a visa to speak at the University of Washington - reportedly because of the information on Iraqi civilian deaths contained in the paper. For those who aren't familiar with the report - it suggests that civilian deaths are higher than what has been reported and that children in particular are dying at an alarming rate. The report also suggests that unlike other wars, where the majority of civilian deaths are usually caused indirectly by conflicted related issues (such as decreased access to medical care, clean water, etc), the Iraqi war fatalities are, in high number, caused directly by military violence. President Bush denounced these findings, both the numbers of Iraq civilian casualties and the cause of the casualties, and called the report "politically motivated". The methods used to collect the data by researchers is particularly fascinating, as the researchers went door-to-door to collect their information and sometimes found themselves in dangerous situations.

Articles:
Today's headline- Child Tragedy: Infant Mortality Soars in Iraq
Seattle pi - Iraqi doctor who disputes official death tolls is denied visa to visit UW
NPR interview with Dr. Gilbert Burnham, co-director of the Center for Refugee and Disaster Response at Johns Hopkins University; lead author of the study- discussing research methods and findings

Back in the Saddle

PCC Cooks

With burn marks still visible on my hands and wrists from the unfortunate Cinco De Mayo tart debacle, I bravely attended my first PCC cooking class last night. With the kicky name of "Spring Fling" and an instructor that reminded me of the perky doctor on Greys Anatomy - I couldn't pass it up. Besides, I had pre-paid and God knows I need some instruction in the kitchen.

The menu for the night: Lamb Shanks with Pomegranate sauce, Sweet Pea and Mint Risotto, Fresh Corn Salad, Mediterranean Lentil Salad, Roasted Veggies with Feta, and Strawberries with a Balsamic Reduction and Cracked Pepper. We were split into teams of 3 and I luckily got placed on the "lamb" team - lucky because we received the lions share of the instruction and because I am even worse at cooking main courses than I am at deserts. The instructor mentioned that she brings her class from the Seattle Culinary Academy out to a farm in Washington to learn how to slaughter lamb - to better understand their relationship with the food they prepare. I momentarily thought how cool this would be - wouldn't it be so "Omnivores Dilemma" of me, so in now with the food awareness wave - then I woke up and realized that I wouldn't make it one minute in a slaughterhouse. As soon as the knives came out - I would hitching my way home.

The class was made up of mostly people in their 40's+ with a couple 20-somethings that appeared to be the children of some of the other students. This is not one of those cooking classes you go to if you want to meet people or get a date- but everyone was nice and pretty knowledgeable about food and cooking. We finished all the dishes in about 2 hours and then sat down to enjoy the meal. Afterwards, I hit the store to stock up on groceries - well, actually I stocked up on all things delicious mentioned in the class, not all of which went into the dishes (hazelnut smoked blue cheese from the Oregon Rouge Valley, french mustard, ice cream)- and the $10 coupon towards groceries you receive from the class helped me out a bit.

I made it out of the 2 hour class with no cuts, burns, and with my pride intact - so it was a pretty successful night.

Sunday, May 6, 2007

I fought the good fight...and lost

When Cinco de Mayo officially took a turn (for better or worse) and became an American drinking holiday- I'm not sure. All I know is that it is a pretty good marker of when it is time to put away the red wine in favor of summer margaritas. As a pretty big fan of margaritas (the tuna margarita at Agua Verde my personal favorite in Seattle, runner up is the blackberry margarita at Rays boathouse), I was pretty excited to attempt creating my own margarita mix for the occasion. However, I was also in charge of making a Mexican desert for the party/dinner I was attending that night.

Those who know me know that I am not a cook, and I don't pretend to be one. Making margarita mix from scratch might even be pushing my culinary skills to the limit. However, I felt particularly ambitious on Saturday and decided to attempt a lime tart (after ruling out flan - is there anyone who doesn't think this desert is gross? I mean, the texture alone is unappetizing). My thinking was that lime = margaritas = tart. I dug up a Barefoot Contessa recipe - she seems to have easy recipes and I have seen an episode where she made a lime tart - it appeared doable.

The crust was the easy part - four ingredients. I make it through the mixing and baking ok, but when attempting to take it out of the oven, the removable bottom from the tart pan jumped off, burning my arm and causing me to drop the tart crust. Turns out it was salvageable, but at this point, I should have thrown in the towel. However, I had already put in too much effort to give up - so I continued (actually, I went to my hair appointment and I pawned the custard-making off on Graeme).

Turns out - custard is really hard to perfect. I returned home to a very sad tart. It was brown. Not the crust. The custard. The custard is actually supposed to be lime green (think key lime pie). It was carmel brown - and gooey. Poor Graeme had attempted to spiff it up by adding fresh lime slices as a garnish. It didn't work.

We ended up picking up a pre-made pie and ice cream at PCC on the way to the dinner party - which was actually pretty delicious. We did attempt a bite of the tart after arriving home, which just re-enforced that is was, in fact, completely inedible.

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Congratulations!


Last Friday Nathan asked my sister to marry him, and she accepted. I am so excited for them and couldn't be happier that they found one another and have made the choice to make a lifelong commitment to each other. Congratulations Leah and Nathan!