Michelle Malkin is rounding up  up all the looting reports.  Thanks to InstaPundit for tracking all these sights down for everyone.

 

While I have Malkin’s page up, I might as well say a few things. First, a quote:

 

Looters swarmed the Wal-mart on Tchoupitoulas Street, often bypassing the food and drink section to steal wide-screen TVs, jewelry, bicycles and computers. Watching the sordid display and shaking his head in disgust, one firefighter said of the scene: "It’s a f---- hurricane, what are you do with a basketball goal?"

 

So what’s he going to say when everyone gets back to the block, and Dude’s got a brand new, if slightly rusty, Basketball goal in his front yard?   

            “I got so bored sitting around by myself while all-y'all were hanging out in the Superdome, or drowning, sorry 'bout your daughter Joe, I bought this from the United Nations’ envoy.  They had truckloads of'em.  Basketball goals and Accordians, gotta love the U.N.”.   Or Does he , as a friend of mine suggested, live in a neighborhood where there won’t be a stigma?The latter doesn’t ring true, because even then somebody, maybe the guy’s mother, has to be thinking “dumb-ass coulda stole me some pearls, but now I got this lousy Basketball Goal messing up the front lawn.  Shithead didn’t even steal any tools to put it together, so it won’t raise past 7 feet high.”

 

 It too easy to say "shoot the bastards" though, and while I certainly believe people have the right to sit out front their store with a shotgun, I can't get behind some guy on a rooftop shooting the bastards as they try to run off.

 

  "Winged another one! that Guy shoulda stole some kevlar"

 

But then again, I guess the line starts to get fuzzy real fast. 

 

 Gonna have to think about it some more I guess, in the mean time I hope these looting-pricks drown, tangled up by the cord of  the stolen  tetherball-set they tried to run off with.

 

 

Dave fianlly posted his thoughts on the football season over in the football thread's comments sections. 

 

I have been fighting off a flu for a week. It has got my number.  It hits me for only a few hours each day, then leaves me alone long enough for me to think that I’m over it. So I go workout, and then it comes back twice as strong.  Never more than one symptom at a time, and usually symptoms I have never had before, which also makes me want to deny the Flu’s existence: “If this was a fever, I would have a headache!”  I would say, as I fiddle with the electric space heater while hiding under three comforters  , “Therefore, I don’t have a fever”.   Must be something less than a fever, a Dever maybe. You can pass with a D some places.  (That shit's funny when your freezing cold, fetal ,  and sweating)

 

I was listening to Coldplay’s Rush of Blood album on the Bus. I think thiis album is much better than Parachutes.   One thing though, he mentions ‘Drawing a  Line!”  In pre-parachute-explosion days I told Lauren to check these guys out. She said “Oh, I know them, everything’s always about  a Line with them”.        There you go.   Its  like Andy’s (?)  complaint about Dave Mathews: “They always use the word ‘These’.  Well, I’m not going to post examples, cause I have a lot to write today, and I have another point to make about both bands.      I was thinking about their fan bases and how they overlap. The Venn Diagram ends up a bit like the Phish-Pot Venn Diagram, which is that “Its possible to Smoke Pot and Not Like Phish, But its Not Possible to Like Phish and Not Smoke Pot”.     In  this case I think Dave Mathews is the fish.

 

My Olympic rings showed up on Thursday.  So Friday I crawled out from the feverish cocoon I had made, turned off the space heater and went to the park to test them out.  I bought them to do  Muscle Ups, and was pretty sure I was going to look foolish. I figured I would be able to sacrifice form, cheat a bit with momentum, and maybe pull off one.       Boy was  I wrong. I didn’t look foolish at all.  In fact, I was so far away from being able to do one,  you couldn’t even tell how miserably I was failing.  It pretty much looked like I was just hanging out half way through a pull-up.   You know, like I was hanging from a vine over a pool of crocodiles.     Not foolish at all.

 

So I did about three sets of zero muscle-ups.  I thought I might squeeze out one more set but then I remembered that zero times any other number still equals fag.  So  I did some dips, and pullups and then tried to dunk a basketball.  Fairly close in that venture at least.

I stopped by the gym on my way home  long enough to hear a trainer tell her pupil to “put more head on the ball”,  which isn’t a slip of donut proportions, but is notable still. I gave them both a nice slow applause.   Wait, I was there a little longer than that—long enough to get a call from Masha inviting me to see Tom Petty later that evening.  Sweet! 

 

So I rushed home and took a shower.   We were going to meet some friends at Roy’s for dinner beforehand. Its summer in San Francisco, you are fighting off a Flu, you are going to Roy’s and then Tom Petty, what do you wear?     I don’t know, I’m asking.   I was the guy in the corduroy jacket. 

 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Suck it! .     I once wore a  corduroy Lands-end overcoat to MJQ and got called out for it.  That was a legendary piece of clothing.   If I could have retired it, I would of.  Instead I gave it to Kate on the condition that she stop smoking. She did, for a year or so I think, then started again. People nodded sagely and said to me with their eyes, “what could you expect. Its Kate”.  Yeah,  but they were shocked at shit when she joined the ATF.

 

Roy’s was great.  Ken asked Masha who the opening act was and she said “”Black Something”.     “Black Crows”, I told Ken, “Which is why I was surprised you guys wanted to eat at Roy’s instead of catching the opening act”.    

 

Well Ken hadn’t known that little fact, and we plowed through dinner with singular purpose in order to catch a bit of the Crows  (Remedy and two other songs).  That’s cool though, since they have never done it for me live.     

 

Petty came on wearing a velvet sports coat, so I didn’t feel out of place.  This was the best Large Venue show I had ever seen, we was genuinly overwhelmed by the crowd's enthusiasm.   The musical highlight was Breakdown.   I got the impression he doesn’t play that one a lot.   He played most all of the classics:  Mary Jane, Great Wide Open, Don’t Come Around Here, closing with American Girl.      Alex, you need to go see  this show.

 

I ran into Heather later that night who was working the Beer Garden  at the show. She was excited that she ran into, and chatted it up, with the lead singer of the Counting Crows [sic] and his wife Kate Hudson. 

“What’s his name?” she asked me. 

“Adam Duritz” I said, “Is he still overweight”? 

 

Duritz  once  hit on my girlfriend. Long time ago, before he got fat, but still.   Hudson is a babe, and I think It would have been appropriate to put my mac on her had it been me who ran into the two of them.   My mind playing with all the karmic ramifications of such an action…

 

 

Later that weekend I was hanging out with Heather and some of her friends. She was telling them this story, how she met the  lead singer of the Black Crows [sic].   And this point I realized what was going to happen, but could see any way to avoid the impending catastrophy.     “Yeah, Adam Duritz!”, she says…..

 

 And her friend jumped all over her. She in turn jumped all over me:

 

 “You told me the lead singer’s name was Adam Duritz!?”.

 

“You told me you ran into the lead singer of the Counting Crows!”.

 

“Why would he have been there!?”

           

              “Same reason 10 thousand other people where there!”

 

“That guy wouldn’t date Kate Hudson!”

This just in:  Zab Judah and Busta Rhymes got a in a fist fight (bottom of article).   I don't think either of them owns vinyards, so its hard to figure who won.  My thinking is that vinyards people, at least the old-school type, can handle their business. As evidence I offer the Godfather, and this smack down by  Victor David Hanson.  (The link is about the war. Skip it if bores you, but do read the last paragraph of this post)

In another war  article Lowery offers a succinct rebuttle of the "Chicken Hawk" argument. (The 'Chicken Hawk'  attack is the one that goes "how dare you support the war without fighting in it yourself).

Its logic, if taken seriously, actually would boost the hawks. If only members of the military — who are overwhelmingly conservative — were considered competent to decide the nation’s posture on matters of war and peace, we would have an even more forward-leaning foreign policy. I’m comfortable letting the 82nd Airborne decide what we do about anti-American rogue states. Are opponents of the war? I’m guessing that even if you let only mothers of fallen soldiers in Iraq direct our Iraq policy, the result would be stay-the-course rather than the immediate pullout favored by Sheehan.

Well thats a lot of politics this week.     Maybe I should end with something we can all agree on: Breasts Rule!

Wait, that came out wrong. What I meant to say was Breast Cancer Sucks.     So everyone go do something about it!   If you can't think of anything, follow this link to help my cousin raise money for the cause.   I know a lot of Ginas, but of all of the Ginas I know, she is the most closely related.

 

 

 

The latest of  Nordlinger's Impromptus proves that Couth is a word.   And here Alex and I thought we made it up standing in the line for Ghost Bar: "Just got Couth, Don't got Thumbs!".     I don't remember the context though. Probably Alex was making fun of someone's outfit. 

Okay, sports fans, we're going to close with some milkshakes. I know we did milkshakes last summer, pretty thoroughly. But we're doing just a smidge more — and no more.

A reader says,

Jay,

I was intrigued by your milkshake story, and wondered if you knew how to properly order "the spillover in the silver canister," as you put it. [The reader is referring to Monday's Impromptus, here.] Next time you order a homemade milkshake, ask for the "dividend," in addition to your order. That is the proper term for the spillover. Now they know you have couth, and they don't toss the "spillage," as they normally would.

Glad to have the tip. Couth! Me!

 

Hey! I just followed the link in that Nordlinger graft and found this

More nuttiness from Britain? I'll simply quote from the Daily Telegraph:

The word "fail" as a verdict on children's exams and other school work should be abolished and replaced with the term "deferred success," a teaching union official is proposing. Liz Beattie . . . believes that some children find "failure very hard to cope with" and that it can lead them to becoming depressed.

Call it "deferred success" if you want, but . . .

And what is the most famous American use of the word "deferred"? In the Langston Hughes poem, quite right.

 

I know that poem: "What happens to a dream deferred",  but the real reason I post this is because he used the word "Nuttiness".     Its catching on!

Steyn commented on this  "Deferred Success" in this article.

After the Ohio vote, Dem pollster Stan Greenberg declared that "one of the biggest doubts about Democrats is that they don't stand for anything." That might have passed muster two years ago. Alas, the party's real problem is that increasingly there's no doubt whatsoever about it.

.....

Fortunately, the Dems have found a new line of attack to counter the evil election-stealing moron. A few days ago, the Democratic National Committee put out a press release attacking Bush for being physically fit. It seems his physical fitness comes at the expense of the nation's lardbutt youth. Or as the DNC put it:

"While President Bush has made physical fitness a personal priority, his cuts to education funding have forced schools to roll back physical education classes and his administration's efforts to undermine Title IX sports programs have threatened thousands of women's college sports programs."

Wow. I noticed my gal had put on a few pounds but I had no idea it was Bush's fault. That sonofabitch chicken hawk. Just for the record, "his cuts to education funding" are cuts only in the sense that Hackett's performance in the Ohio election was a tremendous victory: that's to say, Bush's "cuts to education funding" are in fact an increase of roughly 50 percent in federal education funding.

Some of us wish he had cut education funding. By any rational measure, a good third of public school expenditures are completely wasted. But instead it's skyrocketed. And the idea that Bush is heartlessly pursuing an elite leisure activity denied to millions of American schoolchildren takes a bit of swallowing given that his preferred fitness activity is running. "Running" requires two things: you and ground. Short of buying every schoolkid some John Kerry thousand-dollar electric-yellow buttock-hugging lycra singlet, it's hard to see what there is about "running" that requires increasing federal funding.

 

Interesting weekend.   

 

The manager at Fitness Resource in the Bel Aire shopping center lit up when I asked for a  Kettlebell.  He sent me to Coffee's Gym.  The name, "Coffee's Gym", is perfect.  It costs 5 Dollars a day and the 25 pound weights look just like the 45 pounders.    This is a nice feature when gym-rat Naomi is Cleaning more than you're squatting.    

 

Thursday night Dad cooked Tilapia ("tilapia, Nature’s do-anything fish"-- Lileks). Afterwards I went out for a quick drink with Dave and Kelly and ended up at a Kings of Leon Concert.  I was expecting them to be brash, and more cocksure.   Still, its hard to judge seeing the show from the way-back, stone sober, with another dude. I like them though, and then we headed over to Charlie and Barney’s. Yes, the boycott is over. They finally capitulated and brought back the Pizza!  Still good stuff, but something wasn't right.   Maybe the recipe doesn't translate to the 10'' pie format, maybe it don't sit so good in the new gussied up decor. (The place isn't even Called Charlie And Barney’s anymore)

Fachini, if you're reading this,   Lou says hi.  She wants to know if you go that sweet job at the Patent Office.

 

Friday  I took a tour of the Met and the WGN tower.   Don't ask. 

 

Made it back to town in time for dinner at One.Midtown.Kitchen, which  has elevated its game. Try the Squash Blossoms.  Best restaurant in the city I think, P4p.  Went dancing at MJQ, best dancing in the country, even on the Hip-Hop nights that everyone frets about (No shootings!).  Hit the Vortex to sober up for the long drive back to the burbs.

 

Saturday I did my first Crossfit program.  5 rounds of 30 Pull-ups and 21 Medical Ball shots for time. My time was under an hour. Woo-hoo!

 

Saturday night Brad and I had dinner at Two.Urban.Licks.   I have allways liked their food, though they could use a few lighter dishes.  Their wine delivery system is second to none: Its all stored in the wall-o-kegs and delivered in the very glasses I tried to describe in one of my Spice WhiskeyTown Rants (Probably the one where Brad cleverly invited a girl he was trying to get rid of. Nothing scares them off like two guys arguing over proper Ice-Cube size for mythical bar).

 

Brad and I then drove over the Lauren's to hear her new stereo system.  It was a good time all the way around until we blew out LeftFront listening to God's Shoeshine (now LeftRear, Sorry Nick, I owe you an Orange Julious) and Brad spilt some wine (and then mismanaged the clean-up operation).    We had to bid a hasty retreat.  Brad made a run for it while I brought the car around. Then he dove headfirst through the passenger window as I passed him running down Peachtree street.  It would have looked better in the Camero but I couldn't get her started all weekend.  Wicked Bummer. 

 

I tried everything:  Rolling it into the sun, washing it.....

 Pushing it back into the garage was a good deal harder than pushing it out, btw.  Had to go rinse off in Rich's pool afterwards, for an hour or two while I waited for the tow-truck.

 

I was going to call it a night after the wine incident, but we made a pit stop at Northside Tavern. I might have to dust off the the "best dive-bar" trophy (the title has been vacant since Stein Club Shut down 6 years ago), and give it to the Tavern. At least temporarily untill I can investigate further.      Exposed crumbling concrete walls, parkbench seating, an obstinate jukebox, turbo-dog,  blues bands, and really terriffic dancing!      (Classic definition or Terriffic.   Liberal Definition of Dancing).

 

Had a late breakfast of BBQ Pork and BBQ Beef at One.Star.Ranch before catching a flight back to S.F.      I sat next to an Aerobics instructor who was studing for his Certification Renewal. He asked what kind of program I am on.    I don't know really.   Here are my last two weeks.

 

 

 

Th  Lifting 10 90 Pound Weighted Dips, 10 45 Pound Weighted Pullups

Fr  Ran  A Mile. 6:30

 

M Boot Camp             First day back, Sucked it up around the 30th  Burpee. Note T self:  hamstring Mark.

 

Tu Running Camp          Russian Hill Steps,  bay-to-pacific up Hyde. Cranked out 22 pullups when I got back.

 

W BootCamp              Obstacle Course, Paired with Margo.

 

Th Rest

Fri  Rest

 

Sat:                              45 minutes of Double Unders

 

Sun                              Hour of Ultimate, Hour of Soccer, Hour of Basketball

Mon BootCamp           Still behind on Burpees, Shoulders killing me after the 60th Shoulder Pushup (Basketball?).

Tu   Running Camp       Lyon Street Steps. Mile there, 6 times up, Mile Back.  NTS: Sprinting is easier than jogging.  And it looks cooler.

W rest (Flight)

 

Th:                               Hang Clean, Push Press, Back Squat, Overhead squat.  At Coffee's.  Schooled by Naomi. Spiking her protien drink  next time.

F                                  Camero Push , Diveboard Muscle Ups

Sa CROSSFIT            30 Pullups, 21 Medicine Ball Shots.  Five Times. 

Su                                Hang Clean, Push Press, Front Squat at home.

 

M.   Rest

Tu    Run Mile,  Time Trial 1.5  miles (5:55 first mile) , 2 Minutes of pushups (86), run Mile

 

 

 

Don't know what you call that. He said that he does some shoulder work in his pilates classes.  I put the headphones back on and listened to Bright Eyes's "I'm Wide Awake....."

What a great Album.  I feel foolish for harboring a prejudice against the guy. 

 

Sunday night dinner at Oola.  Had Mac'n'cheese, figs, and chicken.  Mac'n'Cheese is the Brown Eyed Girl of the food world.

 

There, I said it.    To understand the depth (shallowness) of that observation is to understand the Slowdown.

 

Last Sunday the soccer crowd was astonished that I missed the Champions League Final.   As I understand it,  it was the greatest match since Castillo-Corrales, which is precisely the problem: I realized that the rise of Boxing as one of my favorite sports has messed up my equilibrium.  I hardly paid any attention to soccer, or Hockey.  But TMQ, which is back btw,  reminds me  that

 In April, the Associated Press headlined a story about a meeting of National Hockey League officials, GENERAL MANAGERS DISCUSS WAYS TO INCREASE NHL SCORING. Here's a suggestion to increase scoring -- hold games! The NHL had just completed an entire season without a single goal scored, which is really more defense than fans care to see.

But the strange news is that I nearly made it through the Offseason without peaking at the preseason activity.   Yes, the capital 'O' in offseason was intentional, I am referring to Football Season.

Look, I don't want to resort to hyperbole- and in truth it should be easily avoidable since at the moment I  feel only an underlying anxiety-filled sort or anticipation-   but Football Season, whether you fancy Pro or College, is big news.    You know the joke: I don't throw the word "Bibilical' around lightly but...

My Broncos are likely to stay mired in the swamp of slightly-above-average.  Which happens to be directly under the boot of Peyton Manning. 

But the Bulldogs may surprise everybody.  I can't help but think Shockley is set to pop.     ('Set to Pop' is an insidious little phrase I picked up from John Cusack in Say Anything. I think.)  

 Either way, I can't wait. Athens in the fall.  The Bulldog receivers catching lightning (And dropping most everything else).  Champ Bailey Swarming around trying to redeem himself.  TMQ. The Bronco Linebacker Corp cracking skulls. Lenny Walls rising to the top eschelon of Corners.  Tailgating with the Camero.  The Roadhouse, for Pete's Sake, THE ROADHOUSE!

Maybe I'm not the best guy to get ya'll excited.  Dave, you got anything to say?

 

 

 

 

Lileks is Fencing about Coffee Makers.    Blue Bottle convinced me to do it their way, which is really quite simple. Here, let me post it.

* For each 8 oz of water use three to five level tablespoons of coffee.
* Put double the amount of good quality water than you intend to drink in a kettle or other vessel that is used only for heating water.
* While water is heating, grind the coffee. The grind should be soft but still a little gritty, fine enough that it forms into a clump when pressed between thumb and forefinger. Almost an espresso grind. One of the most common preparation errors in making filter drip is that the grind is too coarse.
* Bring water to the boil.
* Place the kettle on the counter for 45 seconds or so (or, better yet, until an instant-read thermometer reads 198 degrees). Alternatively, pouring boiling water into a glass measuring cup cools the water to nearly the ideal temperature, and allows you to use exactly the amount of water necessary.
* If you use Chemex filters omit this step. If you do not use Chemex filters, pour water through the empty filter into the cup to get rid of as much papery taste as possible and to warm up the filter and cup.
* When water has drained from the empty filter, empty the hot water from your cup, add ground coffee, and pour several tablespoons of water over the grounds. Let the grounds expand for a few seconds, then pour the rest of the coffee in a thin stream over the grounds. While you are pouring, gently but steadily stir the grounds as the water runs through the filter. Stir Stir Stir. This is why a four dollar plastic filter cone will beat a $150 auto drip machine every time. By stirring, you are extracting every speck of goodness from your coffee.  
* When the coffee has drained from the filter, stir. Serve entire contents immediately. Do not let it sit. Do not reheat. Drink your coffee. Now.

If you are making coffee for two, triple the amount of water, so you can heat the cups plus whatever serving vessel is being used. This can be as simple as a mason jar, or a glass carafe, but it should only be used for coffee or hot water. We recommend a porcelain filter holder instead of a plastic one owing to its properties of greater heat retention. Chemex filters are thicker yet somehow less papery-tasting and are our recommendation for the best possible cup, owing to their longer extraction time.

And I can't not do it that way! Even if I can't taste the difference, I would know its there.  Plus, I love the stirring part. My old Coffee maker sits abandonned. She was a good one though: The steal-a-cup feature never leaked, the Caraffe never dribbled.