for dad on his 53rd birthday

If you asked a casual observer to describe my dad, here are a few words they might use:

short
loud
likes to talk
karaoke

So all of these things are probably true. But who is he really?

For starters, I've always been proud that he's the kind of person who's never quite fit the traditional male gender role in the home. He doesn't just help my mom in the kitchen—he's her equal counterpart in there. He genuinely enjoys cooking, especially for others. Once he even took a part-time job as a chef just because he was so interested in the culinary arts (and wearing that really cool chef's uniform, I suspect). My memories of Thanksgiving include seeing him bustling around the kitchen with my mom and not having to take instructions on how to make the stuffing (his own special recipe) or how to slice the green beans (he has excellent knife skills) or how much milk to add to the mashed potatoes. He can also bake the best pan de sal that I've ever tasted.

He made my lunch everyday when I was little (including the several weeks in a row that I would eat only tuna salad). Whenever he packed sandwiches he was always careful to put the tomatoes in a separate container so they wouldn't make the bread soggy. He took the time to slice the sandwiches into perfect triangles that were wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and then placed in a sandwich bag so they wouldn't fall apart in transit.

My dad also plays the piano. For some reason, I think that many people who have never heard him play before are surprised by this. He's very good, though.

Another thing I admire about my dad is that he knows how to sew. When he was in the Air Force, he always sewed the various patches onto his own uniforms. He was very precise about this. And then one time, when I was in 9th grade, I had to make a large cloth banner depicting a quote from Romeo and Juliet. This was before I knew how to thread a sewing machine. I arranged the pre-cut letters and the decorative stars, and he stayed up late and appliqued every single one of those things onto the background fabric. Any other dad probably would've said, "Here's the Elmer's glue. Have at it."

Now that I think about it, he probably helped me get more As in school than I give him credit for. Like the time in 7th grade when I had to make an illustrated timeline of the life of George B. McClellan, a major general in the U.S. Army during the Civil War. My dad, who is quite the artist and perfectionist, not only drew a nice little portrait of the guy, but also showed me how to make sure that all of the lettering on the poster was perfectly aligned. Now you know where I got all of my OCD tendencies (like not being able to sleep until I know that all the doors and windows are locked, though I probably won't build a wooden security contraption over the back of the front door anytime soon).

There was a time in college when I moved off campus and had to walk several blocks to get to class, and the one piece of advice he gave me was, "Don't forget to look both ways before you cross the street." I usually tell this story to illustrate the idea that even though I'm a fully-grown adult, I'm still a child in his eyes. That may be so, but I think I finally get where he's coming from. I'm pretty sure that the feeling that compelled him to stay up until 2 in the morning until I got home from a concert or insisted that I sneak a cell phone into girls' camp "in case of emergency" is similar to the feeling I get when I internally freak out when TJ hops on his scooter to go to work every morning because I'm afraid he'll get pummeled by some trucker. It's not that my dad doesn't trust me to make the right decisions or take care of myself, but that he loves me in such as way that he hates the thought of me getting hurt. Instead of getting irritated, I probably could've shown more appreciation for those sentiments.

Anyway, all of this just to say that I love my dad, who underneath his loud, karaoke-loving ways, is probably one of the most talented, caring, and unselfish people that I know. He not only gives much to our family, but always strives to lift up in some way anybody he meets.

So here's to Dad. Happy birthday!

(almost) new year, new blog, new pornographers

I'd been thinking that it was about time that we:

a) changed the look of our blog.
b) posted something new.

So here it is. Also, for anyone who's ever wondered, the name "The Fake Headlines" comes from the title of a song by The New Pornographers, my most favorite Canadian band in the world.

a few reasons why i should hate the NBA

1. David Stern. David Stern has been accused of implementing racist policies and dismissing statistically significant evidence that proves it by saying racism "doesn't exist in the NBA." Not only did he not even look at the evidence that Justin Wolfers presented, but he claimed that the NBA keeps their own better numbers (which he tried to keep private) that proves otherwise. Eventually the NBA's secret data was analyzed and further confirmed Wolfers' original claim.
2. Tim Donaghy scandal. Tim Donaghy (the NBA official who bet on the games he officiated), was labeled a "rogue official" by Stern before any investigation took place. After Donaghy claimed to have evidence that he had first hand knowledge of the NBA (and presumably David Stern) using their officials to rig games, Stern dismissed it by calling him a convicted felon and somehow dodged any investigation into any of Donaghy's claims.
3. The Oklahoma City Thunder. David Stern also has worked with his good friend Clay Bennett to steal away the former Sonics from Seattle. After a long series of threats, lies, and lawsuits, the Sonics no longer exist, and in its place is some team named by a 4 year old, or maybe someone who owns the rights to a certain AC/DC song.
4. Lebron James. His main goal in life is to become the first billionaire athlete. He refused to sign a petition for human rights in Darfur. He rejected Ralph Nader's request to speak out against Nike for using sweat shops. He actually criticized another NBA player for creating $15 shoes, because Lebron is with Nike and "...we hold our standards high," and in the process somehow made Stephon Marbury look like the good guy.
5. The NBA Cares campaign. With NBA propaganda being thrown at me at every commercial break it's hard for me to believe that they care more about getting kids to learn how to read than they do about making sure the cameras are there for their NBA Cares commercial. I'm convinced some of the NBA players involved in the program are doing some good, but I remain unconvinced that the NBA itself cares about anything other than making money.
   

So why do I still watch the NBA? Because it's still the most exciting professional sports league in the U.S. and college basketball is really only good in March.

the day after

You win some, you lose some. It's a bittersweet feeling.

We watched election coverage in hi-def with some friends at a certain dining establishment with "downtown" in its name but which is not actually downtown. The winner of our electoral college pool is yet to be determined. In the meantime, let's hand out some prizes:

A wag o' the finger to CNN, which showed Anderson Cooper interviewing will.i.am...via HOLOGRAM. Honorable mention goes to NBC and its bizzaro digital rotunda. Totally unnecessary/cheesy/creepy uses of technology.

A tip o' the hat to channel 21, which helped us get up to speed on how to fill in the non-Barack bubbles on the ballot by broadcasting forums and debates with candidates for various local offices in the weeks leading up to the election.

A wag o' the finger to Alaska. Ted Stevens? Really? Do you want another reason for us to make fun of you?

A tip o' the hat to John McCain and his classy concession speech—he said a lot of things he didn't have to. Where was that John McCain during the campaign? It seems that in the end, instead of changing the party, the party changed him.

A wag o' the finger (or is it a tip o' the hat?) to presidential historian Michael Beschloss, who appeared on NBC with the best/worst fake tan I've ever seen on network news. It's kind of sad—okay, hilarious—to imagine that all he wanted to do was look good during his big election night moment, but somehow, somewhere, it went horribly, horribly wrong.

And finally, a tip o' the hat to everyone who voted, even if it meant waiting in line for two hours. It was good to see so many people excited about and interested in the political process.

no on 8

Twelve ballot propositions will appear on the statewide ballot in California on November 4, but as members of the LDS church, one has been particularly prominent in our minds during this election season: Proposition 8, which would "eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry."

On June 29, the First Presidency of our church announced its support for Prop 8 in a letter read over the pulpit in every Mormon congregation in California that encouraged members to "do all you can" to support the initiative. Since then, members of the church in California—including family and good friends whom we respect and love—have responded overwhelmingly by blogging, making phone calls, canvassing neighborhoods, putting up signs and bumper stickers, and donating millions of dollars in support of the Yes on 8 effort.

Needless to say, it has been very hard and pretty lonely for us to have a different perspective on this issue.

After giving it hours of thought, study, and prayer, we could probably list dozens of reasons why we are choosing to vote no on Prop 8. For one, proponents of the measure would say that its passage is necessary to protect families and children; however, as eloquently stated in these reflections on Prop 8, "Voting 'Yes on 8' will not save one failing marriage or create one more loving home for abandoned children. It only eliminates civil rights now belonging to gay and lesbian Californians. It is painful to me that we have spent an estimated $70 million dollars in this campaign—not to relieve the debtor, or feed the hungry, or house homeless families, or heal the dying, or reclaim prisoners, or show stewardship for God’s creation—but to eliminate civil rights."

For us, that is the bottom line. Some supporters of Prop 8 might say that same-sex couples have nothing to complain about since the rights they desire through marriage can be found in current state anti-discrimination laws and domestic partnership provisions. However, when the California Supreme Court affirmed same-sex marriage in In re Marriage Cases, it alluded to the "separate but equal" conditions preceding Brown v. Board of Education (1954) by pointing out how exclusive usage of the term "marriage" by opposite-sex couples can stigmatize same-sex couples: "[P]articularly in light of the historic disparagement of and discrimination against gay persons, there is a very significant risk that retaining a distinction in nomenclature with regard to this most fundamental of relationships whereby the term 'marriage' is denied only to same-sex couples inevitably will cause the new parallel institution that has been made available to those couples to be viewed as of a lesser stature than marriage and, in effect, as a mark of second-class citizenship."

Previously on this blog we've paid tribute to Mildred Loving, the plaintiff in a landmark Supreme Court case decided only 41 years ago that ended restrictions on interracial marriage in the United States. Because we are an interracial couple ourselves, we feel even more hesitant to prevent any class of individuals from making a legal commitment to love and honor each other.

Additionally, it seems that many Mormons are voting for Prop 8 out of fear that temple marriages will come under legal attack if the measure fails. A document describing "Six Consequences If Prop 8 Fails" has been widely circulated and helped stir up this fear, along with concerns that gay marriage will be taught in schools and church-run adoption agencies will be shut down if they don't place children with same-sex couples. However, these fears are based on dishonest and misleading statements which have been refuted by many legal scholars, including a graduate of BYU law school, who rightly points out that "relying on deceptive arguments is not only contrary to gospel principles, but ultimately works against the very mission of the Church."

If or when the marriage doctrines of the LDS church or any church are at risk, we will be the first to defend their right of freedom of religion as guaranteed by the First Amendment. However, the marriage practices of churches are already protected by the California Constitution as well as the First Amendment, and as very clearly stated by the California Supreme Court in its In re Marriage Cases decision, "affording same-sex couples the opportunity to obtain the designation of marriage will not impinge upon the religious freedom of any religious organization, official, or any other person; no religion will be required to change its religious policies or practices with regard to same-sex couples, and no religious officiant will be required to solemnize a marriage in contravention of his or her religious beliefs."

The last thing we want to mention is that we disagree with some of the questionable tactics being practiced by the Protect Marriage coalition, the latest being sending threatening (verging-on-extortion) letters to donors to the No on 8 campaign. Additionally, it seems that Ron Prentice—the president of California Renewal, the group behind Protect Marriage that is currently prohibited from doing business in California for not paying franchise taxes—has set aside more financial contributions from the public for himself than for his nonprofit's charitable work. Pretty shady stuff.

That was a pretty long post on a pretty divisive and sensitive subject, but these are things that we've been thinking about for a long time and wanted to share. Thanks for reading.

boo

Presenting the annual posting of "Do They Know It's Halloween?" (featuring Beck, David Cross, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, members of the Arcade Fire, Islands, Wolf Parade, and more people we really like):



You can read the backstory on the song in this article from the New York Times. If there's one thing I love more than the elite media, it's the elite of indie rock.

Also, here's a scary story from Slate to keep you awake at night: a study by a group of forensic economists shows evidence that U.S.-led coups didn't just benefit multinational corporations like United Fruit Company in Guatemala, Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in Iran, or American Sugar in Cuba—they also lined the pockets of unidentified government insiders.

Which brings us to Halliburton, the latest corporate beneficiary of U.S. government intervention; when (or if) the decisions behind the Iraq war become public, it'll be interesting to see what happened to Halliburton's stock price in the weeks leading up to the invasion, especially on days when meetings inside the White House took place.

Happy halloween!

les poissons, les poissons, how i love les poissons

Since this might be our last October living on the central coast, we decided that we ought to take advantage of our chance to attend the Santa Barbara Harbor and Seafood Festival on Saturday.

It was really windy, so that was kind of annoying, but the food was fantastic. We had clam chowder from Brophy's, fish tacos, and fresh BBQed albacore. We also had some of Arne's ebelskiver, which I think was my favorite of the items we tasted and it isn't even seafood. I've been dreaming about it...just another reason I need (or don't need) to get the ebelskiver pan that I've been eyeing at Williams-Sonoma.

a mob named gob

Supporters of McCain just took a page out of Gob's playbook. In the Arrested Development episode Immaculate Election, Gob tries to help out George Michael with his campaign for student body president by implementing some dirty tricks. Here's a excerpt from the transcript.

(After Indian candidate's video)
Gob: (hiding in crowd) Go home, you terrorist!
Michael: How stupid do you have to be to say something like that ...?
Gob: (revealed) You're not wanted here!

If you listen closely to the video below, you will hear similar attacks from McCain supporters about Obama.



What's next? Is McCain going to rip up Obama's posters like Tracy Flick did in the movie Election?

Lavémonos los Dientes

We went to the Planned Parenthood used book sale in Santa Barbara this weekend and came home with some interesting books. One of the things I found was an old LDS hymnal in Spanish titled Himnos de Sión. As I was looking through it, I came across a song titled "Lavémonos los Dientes." Here are the lyrics in Spanish:

Los Dientes no me lavaré, Un niño exclamó
Ya me lavé, ya me peiné, con eso me bastó.
Mas en su boca se oyó un grito de placer,
Y los microbios sin temor, salieron a comer.

Dijeron, llenos de placer: Aquí hay buen hogar
Entre sus dientes sin lavar, podremos festejar.
Oyó el niño de su plan y pronto se lavó,
A los microbios él mató, ni uno escapó.

It took a little bit of searching, but I found an old post on Times and Seasons that contains the lyrics to the original English version (titled "Tooth Bugs"), which I'm posting here so all the gringos out there don't have to be stuck reading my own translation.

I do not want to clean my teeth, a little boy once cried,
I’ve washed my face and combed my hair, That's quite enough, he sighed;
Some tooth bugs hiding in his mouth, Began to dance in glee;
At last we’ve found a home,” they cried, We do not have to flee!

This boy has such a nice warm mouth, We’ll linger here all night;
His teeth are filled with bits of food, We’ll eat with all our might!
The small boy heard their shout of glee, Get out of there, he cried;
He grabbed his brush and scrubbed and scrubbed ‘Till every tooth bug died.

Two questions: how did this song ever make into the hymn book? And why did they ever take it out?

the trainwreck express rolls on

On Slate's XX Factor blog, E.J. Graff commented on Sarah Palin's discussion of foreign policy and the economy with Katie Couric:

I am speechless. She cannot possibly be this uninformed. You absolutely have to see these [video clips] for yourself to believe them. These are self-mocking; they could be SNL appearances. Tina Fey couldn't possibly improve on this.

This is why they've been keeping her under wraps.

Oh my goodness, I couldn't agree more. No wonder McCain wants to cancel, I mean, postpone, the VP debate. Here's just one snippet from the interview:

Couric: Well, explain to me why [Alaska's proximity to Russia] enhances your foreign-policy credentials.

Palin: Well, it certainly does, because our, our next-door neighbors are foreign countries, there in the state that I am the executive of. And there…

Couric: Have you ever been involved in any negotiations, for example, with the Russians?

Palin: We have trade missions back and forth, we do. It's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia. As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there, they are right next to our state.

Even Miss South Carolina was more coherent.

winner winner beets and chard dinner

After making the beet and carrot pancakes last week, I found myself with two leftover beets. And then after making the mole verde (which I'll probably post about sometime soon), I found myself with a lot of leftover swiss chard.

I figured I could use the rest of the beets to make more pancakes, or roast them and make a salad topping out of them. As for the leftover swiss chard...well, I had no idea what to do with the swiss chard, but I thought I'd come up with something eventually.

Then today, I was perusing the New York Times like I usually do when I came across a new recipe in the food section for "False Mahshi"—a spin on a traditional middle eastern dish made with jasmine rice, beef, and...wait for it....beets and chard.

What can I say, it was meant to be. You can check out the recipe (and accompanying article, related in the sidebar) here.

taco, meet soup

With the first day of fall upon us, I decided that it's a good time to pull out my trusty soup recipes. Exhibit A: Taco Soup.


This is probably one of my favorite fool-proof recipes. No measuring required. The Rotel gives it a nice kick, although I suppose you could substitute a can of diced tomatoes if you like a milder flavor. You can also switch out the black beans or kidney beans with pinto if you prefer.

Taco Soup

1-2 tsp. cooking oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 lb. lean ground turkey
1 can kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 can chopped stewed tomatoes
1 can olives (sliced)
1 packet taco seasoning mix
1 packet ranch dressing mix
1-2 cups water
Salt

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium to medium-high heat. Add chopped onions and saute until tender; mix in ground turkey and cook until brown.

Add the canned ingredients, taco seasoning mix, ranch dressing mix, and water. Give the pot a good stir, lower heat, and simmer for about 30 minutes. Season with salt to taste. Serve with grated cheese and tortilla chips.

news from Bolivia

The LDS church announced recently that all North American missionaries serving in Bolivia have been transferred to Peru temporarily. This is in reaction to political unrest in Bolivia resulting in the expulsion of the U.S. ambassador (or a more leftist take on the events, click here). I found an article in Deseret News about the church's decision to pull missionaries out of Bolivia. Here's a non-random sample of comments from readers of that article.

The first comment, referring to the Bolivian government:

Pray for them, folks; they don't know any better

Yes, it would be so much easier if you just let our government make your decisions for you. A few examples to show exactly what the U.S. government can do for your Latin American country: the 1973 Chilean coup resulting in human rights violations and the Pinochet dictatorship; the 1954 Guatemalan coup organized by the CIA that led to military rule, genocide, and increased discrimination; and the Iran-contra affair, where Oliver North sold weapons to Iran and used the money to fund a bloody terrorist war to overthrow a democratically elected Sandinista government in Nicaragua. Speaking of democratically elected leaders, this next comment refers to the Morales administration specifically:

It is sad to see the loss of democracy in some of these South American countries.

Apparently, these people lost democracy by electing someone in a fair election where Morales received a true majority (53.7%) of the popular vote. After Morales had been in office for a few years, the politicians opposed to him were fed up and were able to finally organize a recall referendum to kick him out, but the people of Bolivia voted against the referendum with a 67% majority. Now the prefects of the rich regions are trying again to restore "democracy" by using violence to physically remove Morales from office and continuing to oppress the poor majority.

He's trying to re-write the Bolivian constitution like Venezuela for crying out loud!

Please, no re-writing of constitutions. That should be reserved for really serious problems like gays wanting to get married.

beets revisited

The last time I blogged about beets, my dad e-mailed me a recipe for beet and carrot pancakes. Sounds interesting, no? I finally tried making them today and they were very flavorful—reminded me of hash browns, but healthier. Plus, they're quick and easy to make (though grating the beets was a bit messy).

I could see how someone would think that they don't look very appetizing based on this picture, but trust me, they're delicious.

The recipe suggests topping the pancakes with sour cream, but we didn't have any, so we just ate them with crema mexicana (they were just as good on their own, too). TJ also added salsa verde on top of his because he puts salsa on everything.

Thanks to dad for passing along the recipe!

Beet and Carrot Pancakes

• 1 1/3-cups packed, coarsely shredded peeled beets (about 2 medium)
• 1 cup coarsely shredded peeled carrots (about 2 medium)
• 1 cup thinly sliced onion
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• Sour cream

Preheat oven to 300-degrees. Place baking sheet in oven. Combine beets, carrots and onion in a large bowl. Mix in egg, salt and pepper. Add flour; stir to blend well.

Heat 1 1/2 tbsp. oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Using 1/3-cup beet mixture for each pancake, drop 4 pancakes into skillet. Flatten each into 3-inch round. Cook until brown and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer pancakes to baking sheet in oven; keep warm. Repeat with remaining beet mixture, making 4 more pancakes.

Serve pancakes with sour cream.

God: BYU's #1 fan

Lauren e-mailed me a hilarious link to some guy's comment about the BYU football team the other day. Here's just a portion of his remarks.

BYU carries the name of the Church where ever it goes, if the players live good lives and they work hard they will be blessed and yes those blessing can include winning football games. Why wouldn't the Lord care? Of course he cares, he cares about everything we do and all the aspects of our lives, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matt 6:3 Have any of you wondered why we are having success, it's because Bronco's got his priorities straight #1 Spirit, remember God and do his will #2 Tradition, remember what is to be a member of this fraternity, this band of brothers and live up to the expectation. Keep the traditional alive through your actions now. #3 Honor, Honor God, your teammates and the community by doing what’s expected, live worthy, do your duty, and keep your promises.

So did God call the excessive celebration penalty against Washington last week? Or maybe cast a spirit of confusion on the Washington special teams unit to allow BYU to go in there untouched to block the kick? God is really making this team successful by allowing them to beat a Div-IAA team and barely win against the worst pac-10 team.

And in case you were wondering why there are rules in football, Coach Bronco explains: "We do have the rules for a reason. They are to teach principles of class and integrity." Apparently these rules are so important to him that he has explained them clearly to all his players. Which is why BYU offensive lineman Travis Bright is quoted as saying, "I didn't know the rule."

But as for real football news, Fresno has their big game tonight against Wisconsin at 10:30 ET on the deuce. It's the first time a Big 10 school dares to come to Bulldog Stadium (even though they reportedly offered 7 figures to Fresno to move it to a neutral site). And Fresno State is so excited they put a 25 foot tall jersey up in the middle of campus.

Kanush!!

moose in headlights

James Fallows wrote the best analysis on Sarah Palin's interview with Charles Gibson last night. Click here to read.

I thought Fallows's take was fair and insightful, not to mention totally scary and frustrating, given the close state of the current national polling numbers. As Mencken said, "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public."

In related news, Politico is reporting that Palin's doing her next interview (and I'm using that term loosely here) with Sean Hannity next week. I'm shocked.

curried tofu + fried rice

I didn't know how to make fried rice until my first year out of college.

I suppose that might sound a little strange for somebody with my ethnic background. But at home, mom and grandma were always in charge of the kitchen, particularly when it came to food of the Asian/Filipino variety. As a result, I didn't do much cooking back then; my job was just to eat, get fat, and make the occasional pie or batch of cookies.

So my first attempts at fried rice were less than spectacular. It didn't taste bad at all, but it probably resembled soggy paella more than it resembled the delicious greased up fried rice I was used to getting at home. Little did I know that I was missing the secret ingredient: cold, hard, leftover cooked rice, rather than the freshly steamed kind. Also, I found that a hot pan is important, and it's a good idea to cook everything separately to avoid overcooking and/or having the juices from the meat or vegetables mush up the rice.

Homemade fried rice has no longer been a disappointment after I figured this out. I also like fried rice because it makes for a quick, no-fuss meal—just use whatever vegetables and/or meat you have and go.

For dinner tonight, we made up some fried rice combined with curried tofu. Here's the method to our madness for anyone who wants to try:

ingredients

• 2 24 oz. cartons extra firm tofu
  
• salt
  
• 1 tsp sugar
  
• 1 tsp curry powder
  
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
  
• 1 tsp ground cumin
  
• 4 cups chopped vegetables (we used carrots and broccoli) + 1 cup frozen peas (I like to load up on the veggies, but you can adjust the quantities to your own tastes)
  
• vegetable oil
  
• cold cooked rice made from 2 cups dried rice
  
• 2 tsp sesame oil
  
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
  

directions

Cut the tofu into small (about 1/2 inch) pieces. Simmer in salted water for about 3 minutes; drain and place tofu on paper towels and blot dry. Toss the cubes in a bowl with 1 tsp salt, sugar, curry powder, turmeric, and cumin.

Heat about 2 tbsp oil in a large skillet or wok, add the tofu, and saute over medium-high heat until golden. Transfer sauteed tofu to a large bowl and set aside; return the skillet to the stove.

Heat about 1/2 tsp oil and saute the vegetables until nearly tender. Transfer to bowl with tofu and set aside; return the skillet to the stove.

Heat about 1-2 tbsp oil and add cold rice (you'll want to make sure that all the large chunks are broken up before doing this). Stir to coat rice with oil and spread rice to cover surface of the skillet. Let sit for about 3 or 4 minutes, then toss to cook the other side for a few minutes. Repeat until all the grains are evenly cooked.

Drizzle the soy sauce and sesame oil over the rice and toss to coat. Mix in vegetables and tofu. Taste and add salt/additional soy sauce if needed.

Makes a lot.

the rules are the rules

In case you missed it, BYU beat Washington after a controversial call (or controversial rule) forcing Washington to kick their tying PAT from 35 yards back rather than the typical 20 yard kick. BYU blocked that kick and won the game, which brings up discussions of whether that call should've been made, whether this rule should exist, and whether BYU would've still blocked that kick if the penalty was not called.

At best, this was a proper interpretation of a rule that almost nobody agrees with, which makes it unfortunate that this call played a critical role in how the game ended. When BYU's head coach Bronco Mendenhall was asked about it at the end of the game, instead of responding with some comment about how it's tough to end a game that way or that you always prefer players to determine the outcome of the game rather than officials, he responded with "the rules are the rules."

Why does this response sound so familiar? Maybe it has something to do with going to BYU and being told that I needed to cut my hair because the length was "almost breaking the honor code." Or not being allowed to play in a BYU intramural basketball game because I hadn't shaved that day (my team eventually got kicked out of league play for making a "mockery of the game of basketball"). Or hearing way too many students say things like "illegal is illegal" when referring to immigration (remember, Cougars don't cut corners). And that the spirit goes to bed at midnight (except on Friday nights when it goes to bed at 1:30).

notes from bizzaro world

I mean, the Republican National Convention.

• Fred Thompson, at the triumphant conclusion of his speech: "God bless John McCain, and John bless America!" Was he trying to equate McCain with God? Or was it simply way past his bedtime?

• U-S-A! U-S-A! Drill, baby, drill! U-S-A!
  

• Finally, a 9/11 reference from Rudy Giuliani about 15 minutes into his speech. I knew he wouldn't let me down.

• Mitt Romney's energy plan: keep Gore's imaginary private jet on the ground. (that one's from TJ)
  

• Sarah Pawlenty, er, Palin: did a nice job of channeling her inner Rove. Talked a lot about her family for a person whose family is supposed to be publicly off-limits.

• First McConaughey, and now this. Poor Levi.

• Actual signs being waved in audience: "Raisin McCain," "The Mavrick." Because proper spelling is so un-American.

• Cindy McCain: campaigning to succeed Laura Bush as First Robot.
  

• What did we learn about John McCain? That he is a POW. And a maverick. Policy? What policy?

Ugh. I feel like I need a shower.

red velvet bulldogs

I made some red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting in honor of Fresno State's opening game against Rutgers.

I have to say that the idea of red velvet cake kind of makes me gag. I don't know...maybe it has something to do with the two ounces of red no. 40 that I just emptied into my mixing bowl? But of course, the taste of delicious cupcakes always trumps any doubts about artificial coloring, and these were really good.

In case anyone's wondering, here's what the green V is all about:

When Pat Hill became Fresno State's head coach prior to the 1997 season, he wanted to reinvigorate San Joaquin Valley pride in the Bulldogs. Because Fresno State is the only Division I football program in the Valley, a 250-mile stretch in California's midsection from Bakersfield to Modesto, Hill wanted to make the Bulldogs the "Green Bay Packers of college football." As Coach Hill often states, Fresno State is not only representing Fresno, its representing the entire Valley.

This representation of the San Joaquin Valley is displayed in the form of a green "V" on the back of the Bulldogs' helmets. The green in the "V" is a symbol to the agricultural community of the Central Valley, which is the world's richest agricultural area in export dollars. [source]

Also, Fresno State won 24-7. It had to be the cupcakes.

two words: dan quayle.

McCain is doomed. So much for his favorite "lack of experience" line of attack against Obama.

I'm kind of sad that Mitt's officially out of the running for veep, if only for the quashed opportunity to post this picture several times between now and November 4:

kucinich power

So we've been tracking the Democratic National Convention for the past few days, and maybe with the exception of Ted Kennedy on the convention's opening night, most of the speakers = major snoozefest.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi: "Barack Obama's change is the change America needs."

Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius: "With Barack Obama as our president—together, we'll turn the page on the politics and policies of the past."

Former Virginia governor Mark Warner: "We need a president who understands the world today, the future we seek and the change we need. We need Barack Obama as the next President of the United States."

Zzz.

But of course, the mainstream media fails to pick up on the most rousing speech of the convention so far:



Go Dennis! Lots of Democrats like to talk about the need for change and shaking up the status quo and how Bush & co. broke the law by authorizing domestic wiretapping and sanctioning torture, but you're the only one with the huevos rancheros to introduce legislation to impeach them.

mayo's and mayo

This past Saturday, we continued our weekend streak of consuming really good Mexican food by going to Mayo's Taqueria y Carniceria, a taco shop (and market, naturally) located on De la Vina Street in Santa Barbara.

The way it works is that you order at the market's checkout counter and then give your receipt to the cooks in the eatery area. TJ ordered the birria (a goat meat dish), but after being informed by one of the cooks that they didn't have any birria at the moment, he went with the carnitas instead—kind of disappointing, but not a huge loss at all because the carnitas was delicious. I seem to be on a torta kick lately, so I ordered a torta with pork adobado filling. The pork had really good flavor, but I think my favorite part of the torta was the bread—soft, thick, and lightly buttered and toasted. Mmm. I'm convinced that good bread is the secret of a really good torta.

After lunch, we went back to Mayo's market side to buy some queso fresco at the cheese and meat counter. Then all of a sudden, while browsing the dried spices, I spotted this:


The elusive Harina P.A.N.!! right in our own backyard. So much excitement over a sack of corn flour. We bought both the yellow corn and the white corn versions to test out with the homemade arepas we plan to (maybe) cook up for Labor Day weekend.

—

For dinner the following night, we decided to try out a recipe from Rochelle's friend Rachelle for Cafe Rio-ish salads. For those of you out of the Utah loop (you're so sad about this, I know), Cafe Rio is a Utah-based chain that serves Mexican-style food. Pretty good stuff. I would recommend it to anybody visiting Utah, except that I'd actually suggest hitting up the Red Iguana instead.

So we tried out this new dish, but with a couple alterations: for the meat, we used our own favorite recipe for shredded pork; and for the dressing, we used three tomatillos instead of one for a stronger salsa flavor. Loved the dressing—you can't really expect anything less from something that's made mostly out of fat.

And as if the meal couldn't get any better, Vivian brought over chocolate cupcakes for dessert.

new adventures in tofu

We've had a couple blocks of tofu sitting in our fridge for a while, so we figured that tonight would be a good time to try out a recipe from This Can't Be Tofu! (an awesome birthday present from Jane and Mike—thanks, guys :)

We decided that we'd try out the cover recipe: Sautéed Asparagus with Curried Tofu and Tomatoes. I'm actually not 100% sure if it's really the cover recipe, but it seems like it could be. If you do a side-by-side comparison of the cover photo with the recipe, you can see that both have tofu, asparagus, onion, and cilantro (which I just realized that we forgot to use). What's more, the platter used for the cover photo is blue, and the recipe recommends serving the food on a bright blue platter. You'd think that would settle it, but then there are these red things in the picture that look like bell pepper slices, and the recipe calls for chopped tomatoes! wtf? I think I've spent too much time stressing out over this.

Initially, we prepared one 14 oz. block of tofu according to the instructions in the recipe (cut in cubes and simmer in salted water, then toss in spices—which we doubled, because you can't have too many spices—and fry). It turned out really nice and crispy. But after the tofu came out of the frying pan, we decided the tofu-to-veggie ratio would be better if we used the second block of tofu, too. So we went about the tofu-preparation process a second time, except that we took the lazy route and cut out the "simmer in salted water" step—no problemo, right? Not exactly. I have no idea if that's the secret to crispier tofu, but I'd say that the second batch was less crispy (though no less flavorful) than the first.

We took another detour from the original recipe by adding eggplant, which I think ended up being a good decision.

Even though the recipe gets an eight-tenths deduction for calling for turmeric but not indicating where to use the turmeric, the dish itself definitely wins the gold medal for being the best tofu we've made at home so far.

viva la gloria

We want to perfect our recipe for arepas, so today we drove down to Oxnard to pick up some Harina P.A.N. (a popular brand of corn flour used to make arepas in Venezuela and Colombia) at a supermercado called La Gloria.

I guess my online source is outdated because there was no Harina P.A.N. to be found at La Gloria, but I loved the market anyway—it carried all kinds of dried chiles, dried beans, meats, seafood, cheese, and produce.

Another thing about La Gloria is that it's like the Swiss army knife of Latino markets—besides the grocery part, you can go there to get your hair done, your shoes shined, your jewelry cleaned, and perhaps most importantly, EAT. Next door to the grocery, there's another area with a panaderia (bakery), a nieves stand (ice cream/sorbet), a tortilleria (tortillas made fresh), a licuado and jugo bar (smoothies and juice), a salsa bar, and a taqueria, where we got the most delicious torta de milanesa, carnitas taco, and chiles rellenos.

That place made me happy. TJ said that it reminded him of being back in Houston.

jambalaya time

Our summer's been fairly busy, so we haven't cooked many exciting things lately. To get back in the swing of things, we decided to spend our Sunday evening making jambalaya from a Destination Dinners kit (a birthday present from my friend Katie).

I have to say that I love the idea of Destination Dinners. Included in the kit was a booklet with New Orleans trivia (if you want to sound like a native, it's called the Crescent City, not the Big Easy) and detailed instructions for the jambalaya. The kit came with all the necessary spices, the rice, and the chicken broth, so all we had to buy were the veggies and the meats.

This was our first time making authentic jambalaya and I think it turned out really well—definitely something to add to the dinner rotation. Thanks, Katie!

beet it

Today I read about beets in the New York Times, which described the root vegetable as a superfood packed with folate, manganese, and potassium. I really like beets, but I'm pretty sure that I've only had beets from a can. I couldn't get this out of my mind, probably partly because it was past 2:00 and I hadn't eaten lunch—but still, I knew that I had to remedy this travesty.

So I picked up a bunch of three fresh beets on the way home from work. The Times article said that it'd show us how to sauté the greens later, but I couldn't wait for later so I improvised and sautéed them with a bit of olive oil, onion, and garlic. They were very tasty.

The actual beet bulbs were roasted according to the directions in the article, which suggested eating them with vinaigrette dressing when cooked. I tried some with vinaigrette and some without, and both ways were great—you get more of a distinctly sweet, earthy taste than you do with canned. I know what I'm adding to my salad for lunch tomorrow...

Team USA vs. The World

I've never claimed that The United States is the greatest best country God has ever given man on the face of the earth, but what about Team USA being the greatest best basketball team God has ever given man on the face of the earth? Well, it's arguable at best that Team USA is the best international team in the world right now. So what does that mean for the Olympics coming up in about a week? Will "Team Redemption" bring back the gold after settling for bronze in the last two world tournaments?

If Team USA plays anything that resembles last night's exhibition game against Russia they will not win gold. If they play as good as they have in the other exhibition games I would probably give them a 40% chance of winning gold (which is better than I would give any other single team). Team USA is the most talented, but not respecting opponents and not implementing any offense or defense that takes advantage of the FIBA rules allows other less talented teams to take advantage. If you watch Nike's documentary on Team USA you might believe that as long as everyone on the team is gets along, has fun, and works hard, then the gold medal is theirs (for a good analysis of the documentary see truehoop). I remember reading an interview with Coach K after they lost to Greece in 2006 and he mentioned that he was surprised at how tall the Greek players were. If you don't know the height and weight of your opponents you probably don't know how effectively they run their pick n' roll. Did no one give Coach K a program? Was the metric system too difficult for him to figure out?

The things Team USA needs to change to actually be unquestionably the best team in the world are first, learn how to scout effectively (not just learning their own game but adapting to different teams). Second, change the arrogant attitude and don't say things like "let's show them how to play our game" because it's not our game, it was invented by a Canadian, and everyone has a right to play it and there's always the possibility that they will play it better than us. Third, give credit to Puerto Rico, Italy, Argentina, Lithuania and Greece for beating us and stop claiming that we had organizational problems etc. that imply that we would've beat them if we didn't have those problems. Fourth, get rid of Coach K and hire someone who has some FIBA experience, maybe even a European. Just make sure he's sponsored by Nike.

Oh yeah, and don't forget about this. (I just wanted an excuse to show Kobe getting crossed over by some unknown on the Mexican team.)

movie of the year?

herb garden update

So I'm into week six of the Chia herb garden experiment. The basil sprouted quickly and is looking like the most robust of the lot (I was thinking that I should thin the sucker, but the Chia instruction booklet says that the magical growing sponge allows the plants to thrive with little, if any, thinning). The parsley doesn't seem to be doing too bad, and the cilantro is kind of jaundiced-looking but it least it grew—unlike the chives. I'm not sure what I did wrong with that one—according to the instructions, to grow chives you have to slice open the growing sponge and plant the seeds inside, rather than just sprinkle the seeds on top—so maybe I overestimated my ability to pull off a more advanced technique.

shake shake shake

5.85.4 earthquake rocks L.A. area

Initially I thought the rumbling was the result of coworkers stampeding into the break room for leftover cake. Then my mom sent me a text that said, "Did you feel the earthquake in LA?" Followed shortly by, "Are you hiding under your desk?"

The LAT is reporting that the jolt was felt in San Diego and Las Vegas. Definitely felt it here in Santa Barbara—I'd say it was a mild, rolling rumble that lasted about 10 seconds.

Thinking of songs for an earthquake mix as I type this.

Fans Ruin ESPYs

The ESPY awards are a joke because the winners are decided by the fans. Fans in general are not informed about their choices so it turns into which name they recognize or who is their favorite regardless of the category. If you need more evidence of this, compare this list with this list. Let's start with the category of Best Breakthrough Athlete. The nominees are Adrian Petersen (Minnesota Vikings), Stephen Curry (Davidson), Kyle Busch (Nascar) and Ana Ivanocic (Tennis). And the winner is Adrian Petersen! From the little known school of Oklahoma. Seriously, people couldn't stop talking about how good this guy is since he was a freshman and now he's a breakthrough athlete? I admit that I know nothing about Nascar and as a result I have no idea if Kyle Busch should be considered. Ana Ivanovic did finally break through and win a major, but she's been knocking on that door for a little while now. But Stephen Curry is the definition of a breakthrough athlete. From Davidson, single-handedly made a run in the NCAA tournament, and was really the only thing interesting in the entire tournament (just because the final went to OT doesn't make it a good or interesting game).

Next category, Best Championship Performance. Nominees, Venus Williams (2007 Wimbledon), Josh Beckett (2007 Baseball Playoffs), Rafael Nadal (2008 French Open) and Tiger Woods (2008 U.S. Open). Of course the winner is Tiger, because everyone loves Tiger. But I don't know how you can vote against Nadal, he beat Federer in straight sets and the guy has never lost a match on the clay in Paris.

Best Play: Mississippi Miracle (Trinity College's 15 lateral play), Super Bowl: Eli Manning To David Tyree, Big 10 Stunner (Minnesota's Blake Hoffarber scores on a length-of-the-court pass to upset Indiana), Columbus Blue Jackets' Rick Nash Shoots And Scores Game Winning Goal Against Phoenix. The winner is Eli, possibly the least impressive of the 4 options. I don't know how you could vote against 15 laterals to win a game, and Rick Nash's game winning goal is much more impressive than Eli avoiding a sack and completing a pass.

Then the worst of all: Best Upset. Appalachian State: Stuns Michigan In College Football, Da' Tara: Wins The Belmont Stakes As A 38-1 Longshot, New York Giants: Beat Patriots In The Super Bowl, Fresno State: Beats Georgia To Win The College World Series. The Giants won the ESPY. Obviously I'm biased here, but Fresno was the lowest seeded team to ever win a championship in any sport. Enough said, fans shouldn't give out awards.

fire it up

Well, it's day four since the Gap Fire started and it shows no signs of letting up. The Santa Barbara Independent reported earlier this evening that the fire has spread to almost 6,000 acres, and orders for mandatory evacuation has expanded to include 1,700 homes. We live across the street from a high school that's serving as an evacuation center, and the parking lot definitely looks more full than it did a couple nights ago.

Besides the power outages we've had every night since then, we've been doing okay. It was pretty scary driving up the 101 on Wednesday night and seeing an amazingly huge stretch of mountains ablaze...and I got kind of worried on Thursday night that our house was going to go up in smoke (probably didn't help that our neighbor was being slightly hysterical and packing up her stuff to leave because she heard this and that, and the power was out so I couldn't connect to any source of real information). The worst thing is the air quality, though...I looked outside last night and the blanket of ash on the rooftops made it look like it had snowed here. We've also had to leave the windows shut to keep the smell of smoke out, so it's been extra warm and stuffy inside our apartment lately. I guess it's good that that's the worst thing we've had to deal with so far, though.

And just like every other notable holiday and/or special event in our lives, we made a mix dedicated to the Gap Fire of 2008:

1. "We Didn't Start the Fire" - Billy Joel
2. "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" - The Arcade Fire
3. "Volcanoes" - Islands
4. "Trimmed and Burning" - Built to Spill
5. "El Scorcho" - Weezer
6. "Keep on Breathing" - Delgados
7. "Strawberryfire" - The Apples in Stereo
8. "Fiery Affair" - Figurines
9. "Cinder and Smoke" - Iron and Wine
10. "Natural Disaster" - Headphones
11. "This Heart's on Fire" - Wolf Parade
12. "Streets of Fire" - The New Pornographers
13. "Tiny Cities Made of Ashes" - Modest Mouse
14. "Smoke" - Ben Folds Five
15. "Promise" - Pedro the Lion
16. "Ashes of American Flags" - Wilco
17. "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" - R.E.M.
18. "Freakin' Out" - Graham Coxon
19. "Waitin' For a Superman" - The Flaming Lips

Let us know if we can burn (heh) you a copy.

head, meet desk

From the Washington Post this morning:

"I think Obama would be a disaster, and there's a lot of reasons," said Pollard, explaining the rumors he had heard about the candidate from friends he goes camping with. "I understand he's from Africa, and that the first thing he's going to do if he gets into office is bring his family over here, illegally. He's got that racist [pastor] who practically raised him, and then there's the Muslim thing. He's just not presidential material, if you ask me."

The article also mentioned a false rumor that's circulating about Obama being "possibly gay." First of all, who cares. And second, wow. That's one I actually haven't heard before.

Someone point these people to Snopes, stat.

Kanush!

I've never really been a big baseball fan, but I've been watching the College World Series regularly the past week or so. It took the Fresno State Bulldogs to make it into the CWS for me to care about anything in college baseball. They weren't supposed to be there, but they won the WAC tournament, then went on a long run of upsets over teams ranked in the top 25. They beat Long Beach St., San Diego (twice), Arizona St. (twice), Rice, North Carolina (twice) and Georgia (twice) for the championship.

This makes Fresno State the lowest seeded team to win a NCAA National Championship in any sport ever. They also tied the record for total runs in the CWS with 62 including 14 home runs in their 7 games. And all I can say is it was the first time I've really enjoyed watching baseball.

the basil sprouteth

ch-ch-ch-chia

Last Christmas my friend Lynda gave me the Chia Terra Cotta Gourmet Herb Garden, which is the embodiment of my childhood dream of owning a Chia Pet (never came true) and my adulthood aspiration of becoming a top gardener (also probably will never come true) all rolled into one.

I figured that this would be a good time to try it out, especially now that I've got the space and a sunny area to grow the plants. The kit comes with four terra cotta pots and six herb varieties; I chose sweet basil, chives, parsley, and cilantro. I planted the seeds on Saturday morning (i.e. sprinkled them on top of the patented "Chia Growing Sponge"—hey, every top gardener has to start somewhere), gave them water, and covered them with sandwich bag greenhouses, just like the instructions said.

The basil is supposed to germinate in five days (Thursday), but when I checked it yesterday it looked like it was already doing something...meaning that the seeds were looking kind of slimy and growing something that might be roots. I have no idea if that's what they're supposed to look like or if they're being smothered by some kind of disease. Maybe I should do some research on this.

If I can manage to get anything to sprout and stay alive for a few days, I'll consider this project a success.

Soy What!?

Now that we've moved into a better apartment with a bigger kitchen I've made a summer goal to become a top chef. In order to do that I thought I should learn how to make foods other than Mexican. For my first attempt, I chose crispy breaded tofu with vegetables. I know you're thinking that Lauren probably just did it all and now I'm taking credit for it, but she was merely my sous chef. She made the rice and prepared a lot of the vegetables, but I didn't let her touch the tofu. And to prove that I actually did most of the cooking, Lauren took pictures. I even did the plating of the food.

The recipe turned out pretty good. I improvised and used soy sauce instead of teriyaki sauce. I also used slightly larger amounts of soy sauce and red pepper for added flavor.

out with the old

Dear Ex-Apartment,

I'm so happy it's over. I remember the day we first met—the whole arrangment was so full of promise, especially in comparison to our last place: you had an extra bedroom, a shower with good water pressure, a garbage disposal, and several well-placed windows for ventilation during the summer months.

However, it wasn't long before your true colors started to show and our relationship became strained. You were either cold all the time or too hot. You always let worms in the front door during rainy days. You harbored mold and ants and were composed entirely of dust. You were impossible to clean. I blame you for the endless rash of allergies and eczema that plagued us since we moved in.

Maybe I'm being too hard on you. Maybe one day I'll look back on our time together and laugh. After all, I had similar feelings of frustration towards the perpetual toaster oven of an apartment we lived in before you came along, and I tend to look back on those days with affection. However, that apartment did have the nostalgic distinction of being the first place in which TJ and I lived together since getting married. You might call that an unfair advantage, but life isn't fair, is it?

I feel sorry for the people who will inhabit you next.

Lauren

did not see this coming

So I'm here at my desk pulling my hair over a subpar submission I'm working on when I click over to the New York Times and see this breaking headline at the top of the page:

Tim Russert is Dead at 58

I'm feeling so jarred and sad over this. I didn't always agree with Russert, but he was a pro, an icon of American political journalism, and the one guy on cable news who at least tried to be decent and fair.

I think one of the saddest things about this — apart from the shame of dying so young and leaving behind a family, obviously — is that he was so passionate about news and politics and seemed particularly excited about this historic election season, and I just wish that he could've had the opportunity to see it through.

Wow, the upcoming election coverage is not going to be the same.

good grammar costs nothing

So, where do I sign up?

When I graduated from college, people would always ask, "So, what do you want to do with that English degree? Teach?" Ha, yes, because teaching is the only thing you can do with an English degree. Students of the world should be glad I'm not an English teacher, because I would dock 15 points for every typo.

Also, on Sunday, TJ and I watched the premiere of Recount, HBO's made-for-TV drama about the Florida ballot mess during the 2000 presidential election (starring Kevin Spacey as former Gore chief of staff Ron Klain and Laura Dern as Cruella de Vil, I mean, Katherine Harris).

I didn't even know we got HBO, so that was a nice surprise. If you can call reliving the memories of the time you first learned about the horror of hanging chad and witnessed the nation go down in flames right before your very eyes a "nice surprise." It was like watching Dale get kicked off Top Chef all over again — in the end, you're left with the same feeling that you'd been swindled and the public was cheated, but there's nothing you can do about it.

And in case anyone was wondering, chad is the plural of chad.

no way!!

HOW IS WHINY MCGREASE FACE STILL ON MY TV!?

They had the chance to get rid of Spike or Lisa, and they chose Dale?! Seriously, Bravo? Uh, excuse me while I pick my jaw up from the floor and never watch Top Chef again.

only in Japan

A friend sent me an email fwd the other day about Japanese farmers developing a technique to grow square watermelons. My first reaction to the pictures was to covet the mad Photoshop skills of the person who made them. Then I realized that we're talking about Japan, the country that brought us Human Tetris and made mole v. jet pack possible...so it had to be true.

After a little Googling I found out that the square watermelon story dates back to at least June 2001 and that the square fruits were developed (by growing them in a cube-shaped plastic case while still on the vine) to take up less room in refrigerators. How about that? Adorable and functional.

Somehow, this was a lot more inspiring to me than, oh, the one about the lovable hard-working handicapped kid who prevails in the end thanks to the abundant outpouring of love and generosity from a group of truckers on Thanksgiving Day — and despite the fact that I'm incapable of growing anything or keeping alive anything that is even already pre-grown (is this a good time to break the news about your lovely Christmas mini pine tree, Jerry and Vivian?) — I found myself bookmarking this page for future reference.

Thanks, Mildred

The Washington Post is reporting that Mildred Loving passed away on Friday at the age of 68.

Just wanted to take some time to pay tribute to this woman, to whom I personally owe a lot of gratitude. She and her husband Richard were at the center of the 1967 Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia (aka one of the most important civil rights cases probably no one has ever heard about), which resulted in a landmark ruling that broke down laws prohibiting interracial marriage in the United States.

According to the Census Bureau, there are about 4.3 million mixed-race married couples now sprinkled in cities throughout the country, me and TJ included, who are able to travel and live together freely without fear of arrest or interference from the state. And for that, many thanks to Mildred Loving, who was quiet and humble and never considered herself a hero, just a girl who fell in love with a boy.

NPR has a good story on the 40th anniversary of the Loving decision last June. Also, reprinted here is a wonderful statement made by Mrs. Loving on the 40th anniversary of the ruling. As a bonus, listen to the Supreme Court's oral argument of the case here and read the full written opinion here.

in defense of my former stomping grounds

There's an item in the NYT's City Room blog about the 1972 New York City subway map by Massimo Vignelli, which is going to make a special updated appearance in this month's issue of Men's Vogue.

I love, love, love that map. It has since been replaced with more geographically-accurate versions because people were too confused by its abstractness, which I don't really get. Like the City Room writer notes, the map for the Tube has been abstract for a while, and Londoners don't seem to have any problems with it. Same goes for the Paris and Tokyo maps, to name a couple, and the DC metro map, which the writer just had to knock as "Playskool." Heh, sorry for having a map that actually easy to read. Buster Bluth could design a better subway map than your current noodle-like monstrosity, and he thought that the blue on the map was land even after $80,000 worth of cartography lessons. Oh, snap.

the lost art of the jingle

As we all know, television commercials have become the radio of hipster music — it's the medium that made Feist a star and ruined my fondness for the Postal Service. Four or five years ago it kind of shocked me to hear Modest Mouse selling minivans to soccer moms (not that I have any problem with that, you've gotta pay the bills somehow) but now I hear Stephin Merritt's voice on Volvo commercials and it doesn't even phase me.

Which is why I say thank goodness for the Subway $5 footlong ad! TJ will tell you that I am transfixed by it every time it comes on television. Like many jingles that have come before it, I could see how it could irritate some people, but to me it's so strangely refreshing in comparison to all those other current commercials ripped from the OC (don't call it that) musical playbook.

I haven't thought about at all today it until I saw it deconstructed by Slate, and ever since then it's been in my head. Not since the "keep those balls in the air" song has anything had such mental staying power.

all the news that's fit to print...on a t-shirt

Today I was cruising CNN for some useless sensationalist fun (which I am apt to do after hours of pouring my brain into writing serious, numbingly long reference pieces at work) when my eyes zeroed in on a headline that said "Synchronized swimmers faint in unison," with a little t-shirt icon next to it. Apparently, this is part of CNN's latest money-making scheme...when you click on the icon, it brings you to a page that invites you to buy the shirt with that headline on it.

I'm not sure if CNN did this on purpose (are they just really PR savvy or really stupid), but several bloggers have discovered that you can easily hack the CNN store's URL to create your own shirts. Here's my favorite, courtesy of Gawker:

I wonder if this will cause CNN to write headlines that are even more tabloidy than they already are in order to sell more shirts.

childhood obesity in a box

This week in Photoshop we were introduced to CS3's new and improved vanishing point filter, which lets you create multiple perspective planes in an image and then wrap text, graphics, whatever around them. For the assignment, we had to create packaging for any kind of product, so I put together a box for a made-up sugar cereal:

I think this was my favorite project of the semester so far.

Speaking of Nerd

So the NBA playoffs are starting so I've been reading up on some playoff predictions when I found this. It's probably too long for anyone else to want to read so let me highlight the worst part:

In fact, while much has been made of Utah's home/road splits in a negative light, I don't think enough has been made of the positive implications that has for their chances. Think about it. They were 37-4 at home, which is a winning percentage of over 90%. On the road they were 17-24, for a winning percentage of just over 41%. Not to state the obvious, but 90 is a lot closer to 100 than 41 is to zero. In other words, isn't it far more likely that Utah will win all of its home games in a given series than it is that they will lose all of their road games? Which scenario would you rather bank on?

- A team with a 41% chance of winning road games going 0-4 on the road
- A team with a 90% chance of winning home games going 2-1 at home
- A team with a 90% chance of winning home games going 3-0 at home and with a 41% chance of winning road games going at least 1-3 on the road

I know I'm a stats nerd, but does this guy really think any of this makes sense? According to his logic, the Utah Jazz have a 90% chance of winning in Utah and a 41% chance of winning in Houston, so if we treat those as independent Bernoulli random variables with p=0.9 for home games and p=0.41 for road games, that means Utah has a 78.5% chance of winning the series against Houston. Which by deduction would mean that Houston has a 21.5% chance of winning the series. So Houston, which has a better overall record and home court advantage are now somehow heavy underdogs in this series.

The problem with this logic is that we're assuming that Houston's odds of winning a game in Houston is 59% and winning a game in Utah is 10%. But if we reversed the logic and naively looked at just Houston's home and road records, they would have a 75.6% chance of winning in Houston and a 58.5% chance of winning in Utah. Which by the same statistics I used above, the Rockets have an 85.5% chance of winning the series. And last time I checked Utah can't have a 78.5% chance of beating Houston in the series at the same time that Houston has an 85.5% chance of beating Utah.

regaining my nerd cred

Based on a few conversations I've had with single friends, I think a lot of people tend to think of you as less of a nerd because you've miraculously started up and maintained a functional relationship with a human being who isn't, well, a fictional character on television. You know, as if marching band, Latin Honor Society, and winning prizes for answering obscure trivia questions at an X-Files convention never happened.

About those X-Files. I'm not sure that TJ really knew what he was getting into when he bought me all 9 seasons of the show on DVD for my birthday last year. Getting those DVDs sparked an old feeling that was lost and forgotten — forgotten like the archive of VHS tapes buried deep in my parents' basement containing the episodes I recorded when the series was still on the air (taped at the slow speed with edited out commercials, naturally).

I think my love affair with the show kind of burned out in the eighth and ninth seasons, partly because I never had TV during the first half of college (it was like two years of dealing with a lost appendage) so my viewing record was spotty and discontinuous and it was hard to get an overall picture of how things were unfolding; and partly because I was losing patience with the mythology and Mulder disappearing and being replaced by T-1000 and his flake of a partner who had the worst Spanish accent ever for someone who was raised in Mexico.

But rewatching the show on DVD made me remember why it was the best thing on television in the 90s and made me realize that the last few seasons weren't as bad as I thought. T-1000 grew on me, I must admit. His partner's still a flake, though.

So here we are, six years after the show ended and nearly 10 years after the feature film premiered (wow, I'm old). A couple days ago I was sitting here at work scrolling through the headlines on CNN when I saw this:

X-Files movie title revealed

Yeah, between that and Martha's dog dying, CNN's on top on all the hard-hitting news.

Anyway, it's like a bubble of joy every time I get pieces of new info on the sequel. It comes out July 25. Premiere party at my house!

nooo...

Ok, I'm not sure how this merited top headline status on CNN, but Martha Stewart's 13-year-old dog Paw Paw (full name: Kublai Khan Paw Paw Chow Chow Chow — awesome) died on Saturday. She's got a tribute to him up on her blog.

This makes me sad. I had a dog just like Paw Paw, back when I was small and not allergic to everything with fur on it. His name was Pepper and he was quite good-natured and sweet and always happy, even when my mom banished him outdoors.

RIP, Paw Paw. I will miss seeing you in the magazines and on television.