Speaking of the Paleo Diet (something I haven't been doing too much lately, but..) ,  I spoke too soon when I suggested that a gluten free diet had greatly reduced my seasonal allergies. Saturday was the pits. But then again, I was at a park in the wind, and hadn't exactly been gluten free in weeks. I am tempted to go all-out for the next two weeks (until Mosley/Mayweather/Vegas), but I don't know what level of adherence I can muster right now.  Its not cravings, its just the diligence required: You always have to be on guard.

I am actually as bad as I have ever been on Timed Crossfit workouts. At the moment.  I am heavier and stronger, in a few ways, which is nice, and there isn't a great way to calculate if those gains were worth it. I suppose if I get my timed workouts under control while retaining those gains....    I am not sweating it: I ate fat and flesh all winter, almost exclusively, and worked out with very little intensity (or volume)

And all day yesterday too.    Well, I rode around town in the afternoon (to work up at appetite) , checked out Dogwood (sweetwater was yesterday) and THEN went to Cochon at the W downtown.  Cochon is a 'benefit'  for Heritage Pigs, which are tasty.     Are they ever.    There were 5 chefs in competition to make the best pork dish.    Wow. And then there were cocktails at the after-party , um ,  afterward.

I should do a writeup on it, but its 5am and I have been UP since 2:30. For no good reason.    I can't actually construct anything at the moment.

Hey, Mettenberger just got let go. Wow.  Dave was pulling for that guy.

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Tom's Of Maine, original recipe odor protecting deodorant, available at trader joes and wherever  hippie houskeeping shit is sold, smells like Bitters. 
It's like turning yourself into a cocktail before leaving the house in the morning.  Awesome!
It really binds everything together. 

I was a michum gel man for years. You really CAN miss a day with that stuff, or a week.      With Tom's I don't know.   Why would I try?

Wilco at the fox was a mellow show.  They cut up Via Chicago per usual, but generally played a downbeat set with lots of acoustic numbers.

The Cabin is awesome.  Talk to me about going up.

Austin for the summer again, though not necessarily as exclusively.       Here, I'll say it, this has been a shitty 10 months, and I don't know how to feel about how fast it flew by.  

New music abounds.

Halfway through the new Kay book....

Northside tavern is still a great spot.

The best things to do with a pig

#10 Give it to Bricktop or Al to help hide the bodies,
#9 Ribs at Smokey's on the Tennessee border. (Admittedly, I am not a rib expert. these are the best  pork ribs I have had though)
#8 Make Chorizo, to put in a breakfast taco, on the side of the road in San Diego
#7 Ask My father to make hamhocks and beans, over cornbread, with some mustard
#6 Give to any Georgia BBQ man,  like one of the  Fox Brothers, and have him smoke it
#5 Cut out the Pork Belly, and give it to Linton Hopkins.
#4 Fly the pig to San Francisco and ask anyone to make a pork chop. That city knows.
#3 While in San Francisco walk it up Russian hill and through the back door at Frascati, and ask them for their old pork loin and roasted pepper dish.   This odd behavior won't dent the impenetrably good service there..  They are so frustratingly perfect there, there is no such thing as special service.

#2 Make Bacon.  Leon's full service will put it in a glass with a side of peanut butter. Simple, perfectly cooked, and delicious.

And the Number 1 best thing to do with pork?

#1  Piri Piri roasted pork at Rare in atlanta.   Yeah, I know!  But I had it last night and its simultaneously as good as the best georgia BBQ -all smokey and tender- and as good  and as good as the best Texas Brisket all crispy on the ends.  Plus, the Sauce trumps both.   Wow.   I always liked the chef there but I didn't think he was this good.

When I conceived of this list last night I thought I would surely have 10 things... but I had struggled in the end. I know I am missing a few preparations..

Ok Both Shows were OK. 

Neither band is worthy of any hyperbole, except to say that Cymbals reminds me more Stephen Malkmous than anybody reminds me of anybody.  Holy smokes.

Go listen to MeWithOutYou, then right before you call me to tell how much they sound like Neutral Milk,  think to yourself, "Cymbals eat guitars sounds more like Pavement". 

Do it.

no, do it.

RIP Corey Haim.

I am Going to See Cymbals Eat Guitars, and Bear in Heaven tomorrow. Reviews will follow.

Wow!  Pelosi actually said "We need to pass this bill so you can find out what's in it!" This fire-able offense ranks up there with Clinton's "We could give you your money back, but how do we know you will spend it correctly" in the realm of random outbursts of Socialist  honesty.

 I have always avoided lazily  buying into whatever meme drudge is pushing,  but there have been too many signs of insanity lately to not to at least buy in a little to the idea that this crop of liberals is actually as bad as the caricature we'd warned against for decades.

His breach of decorum in the last state of the union, when he called out the judges, was one of the bigger mistakes he has made.  Who is this Chicago hack to criticism the Supreme Court, after 40some better men refrained?


 I always felt strongly that Obama was a non-entity who didn't contain the experience of backbone to be anything but a Tool in office.     I was so appalled by his lack of credentials, and accumulation of anti-credentials, that I couldn't actually fathom him getting elected,  but after the election I hoped that he might do some good by virtue of his skin color and speaking ability. That was all the credit I gave him. Sometime early in his first term I started recognizing his style of governance as naive, wishful and completely unsophisticated.  How would I know? Because he is making mistakes I could see myself making.  He is trying to explain his moves to the crowd instead of playing his opponents.

If that worked, everyone else would do it. Shut up and govern, dumb ass.

His Presidency, most notable for its constant, unrelenting, and filthy demonetization of his opponents,  remains a shining continuation of the Clinton legacy and a rubuke of W's too: The worst thing the W did was associate, in the minds of America, all his positive traits with failure.  In short, W, showed that bi-partisanship  and a respect for the office don't pay, and he successor has taken that lesson to heart.


I will say this though:  To press ahead on health care.. that's a Balsy move.

ok, so I just spent the night at the bar at Woodfire Grill. Of top chef fame.  (Before I continue I should admit that I have noticed that I am especially typo prone these days, and  the bar and my state ensures that this post is going to be rather fantastic, but here goes). I got home and decided to play some Constantines, since their song Draw Us Lines has been in my head all day.  And it WAS in my head all day but when I listened to it a few minutes ago I realized I had no fucking idea what the hell it was about. I assumed it was something rock and roll sexy. Ha.   I googled it and found this review at pitchfork.   Say what you want about pitchfork, it's probably fair, but the interviewer and I share the exact same sentiment:


The article goes on to express surprise that Draw Us lines, and other aspects of the band aren't as Constantinian as we had been led to believe.  Now, I don't necessarily feel eco-whateverthissongisabout its anathama to whatever it is these guys represent, but I do feel that they  represent something foundational and simple, and now that the  explanation of their brilliance, which had already eluded me,  is even more complex makes me even more anxious now that I know they aren't as one-note as I previously thought. and loved. (That a rough sentence.. sorry.)

Speaking of redundancy, and eco-spiritualism, I was at Wildfire (not the same place) having happy hour with Yogi Gina, and the waitress kept saying "can I get you anything at the current moment". And I kept shooting myself in the head with an unloaded finger pistol.   If that fucking phrase catches on.......

So anyhow. Woodfire grill is exceptionally good. Nothing was challenging though, and that disappointed me.  It was like he turned everything into comfort food.   That a remarkable feat, but if the restaurant isn't walking distance from me, I don't want it to be JUST comforting.  Just one dish that confused me and I would be singing their praises.  As it stands, I will sing their praises, but only when asked: Nothing they did turned me into an evangelist.

The invaluable Robb Wolf, whose podcasts a listen to religiously, whose lectures are empowering, and whose website I constantly refer to, and refer others to (one of those uses has to be incorrect), is starting to get annoying with his lazy dismissal of CrossFit.  Every compliment is strained and framed, and the digs and dismissals  lost their novelty a long time ago.   Starting every positive comment with "one of the good things about" or "that's actually one thing that" just doesn't sit well with me. For one,  his programming and mainpage programming rarely have the same goal.  I think its lazy for him to sneer at the programming without mentioning the goal. Robb is clearly not a lazy dude, which leads me to the second reason it's annoying me: Glassman was supposed to be the petty one with an axe to grind

Robb, if you want to lay out your issues, DO IT.  Whatever you are doing now, sucks.

To make up for not providing more examples and possibly misquoting him in the ones I did provide, I am going to go buy some of his paleo meals.   I'd pre-order a book if he's let me. Which reminds me, paleokits are available again at www.paleokits.org.    Yum.