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Women's World Cup

I've been a little frustrated trying to watch the Women's World Cup on the ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 megachannel. Sure, the whole schedule was put together relatively last minute, and they need to fit it around the official american sports like college football, but really, why would you show a completely meaningless game (Germany - Argentina) instead of a game deciding who will go on to the next round (Japan - Canada)? And why wouldn't you try to broadcast at least one game with each team? Maybe I should just be happy they show the USA games and they will show the elimination rounds regardless of how far the US makes it.

Of course, the US team looks pretty much unstoppable at this point. Playing only half their starting lineup they were able to beat North Korea 3-0. Not bad, although I don't really like rooting for the favorite. Although I don't mind rooting against North Korea, even if it is just because I have some weird desire to see the team try to defect. (I was surprised to hear the team was allowed to talk to the South Korean team and watch American TV. But it was even more surprising to see a quote from a team member saying she wanted to play to honor Kim Jong Il.)

And I'm still undecided about whether I prefer watching games at 3am or sneaking out to watch them at 4pm on a workday.

Neal Stephenson

I went and saw Neal Stephenson the other day. He seemed a little unsettled throughout the whole event, certainly not helped by people asking lots of questions that he didn't feel comfortable answering. Oh well, I hope the new book is entertaining.

And he did make me wonder why I keep voluntarily breaking my right of grith...

Food Consumption Statistics

Need to look up per capita beer consumption in the U.S.? How about meat consumption? The USDA makes its data available online in Excel spreadsheets. What caused the meat consumption dropoff in the U.S. in the early 1960s? What do Khazikhstan, New Zealand, and Ireland have in common about their meat consumption? Endless items of interest to be found...

Restaurant Reviews

The past week was full of new restaurant exploration. Here's a little summary. Many thanks to my favorite dining partner that made all of the exploring a lot more fun.

Minako's: An organic Japanese restaurant in the mission. Very cozy atmosphere, friendly service, and an interesting mix of dishes in the multi-course meals we had. I really enjoyed this and look forward to finding out what my favorite dishes are.

Khan's: Vietnamese food on Winchester Road. Pretty standard Vietnamese food, but well executed. The sauces were all very well-done, and the prices very reasonable. Solid, but not particularly exciting.

Hard Rock Cafe: We only ate here because it was the only thing that looked open after we finished our night tour of Alcatraz. This was certainly a letdown after that. None of the food tasted good (overcooked fish, oversalted veggies, yucky rice), although we did get to see some funny music videos during dinner. How has this chain been so succesful?

Firefly: This is a nice little restaurant, with the $25 prix fixe dinner not a bad deal at all. This restored my faith in food after that terrible Hard Rock Cafe experience, with some tasty duck and a nicely prepared piece of salmon. Nothing that totally wowed me, but a nice choice in the slightly fancy range.

Gaesung: The best Korean tofu stew I've found in the south bay. Spicy, flavorful, smooth. A wide variety of tasty little dishes to accompany it. Nothing fancy but hits the spot just right, especially on a rainy day.

Herb's: As close to a local diner as we get, although to me a diner should be cheaper, have more entertaining waitstaff, and be open for late night snacks as well as early morning breakfasts. I prefer my own breakfast making ability, although going to Herb's means I don't need to do the dishes and I can have real bacon without greasing up my kitchen, although it won't be crispy enough.

Lovejoy's Tea Room: This may be my favorite British style tea place, although I have very little room to compare. The tea wasn't that special, but the food was quite well done. The pear and stilton sandwich was my favorite, although nothing was bad. The scones were nice and moist and made an excellent double devon cream delivery device. Mmmm...

Chez Panisse: After hearing so much about this place I was disappointed. It wasn't bad, but it certainly didn't live up to expectations for me. Maybe we weren't in quite the right mood for a fancy dinner, especially when we had no choices about what to eat (quail?), but the food didn't make a case for why we should have liked it. Add in some service problems and it meant that I won't be making any effort to try this again. Talking to other people about the experience also led me to belive other people have had similar feelings, although the cafe may be a better way to go.

La Luna: This is now on my favorite restaurant list. A combination of mexican, spanish, and caribbean influences, this restaurant has tasty, unique dishes and friendly service that make for a wonderful evening out. You walk inside the small restaurant and are surprised by the cheerful decor, and the friendly staff start things off in a nice way. A nice drink selection to start things off, a menu full of choices that almost all sound wonderful, and you know it could be good. When the food finally comes, it doesn't disappoint. The fish is always cooked perfectly, the sauces all quite tasty without being overpowering, and even the chicken tastes like something special. The appetizers are also good, and the desserts are pretty good - even the chocolate mousse cake, which is usually quite a disappointment at most places. My favorite is the tres leches, though. Don't forget to try the mexican hot chocolate, too!

Concert Report: Bad Religion

I went to the show with my girl and my friend from work, neither of whom were Bad Religion fans, so I was a little worried they might not like it. We got there just as a band was finishing up, who sounded fine but not earth-shattering from the little bit we heard. And then it was time for Bad Religion! Starting their set pretty early; maybe they are getting older?

They played a mix of songs from a lot of different albums, and the crowd seemed to know most of it. They did an excellent job going from one song to the next, sometimes not even giving the crowd a chance to cheer between them. Somehow, though, some annoying types still felt the need to yell at them when they were talking. The banter was amusing at times, often playing on the LA/SF rivalry, but nothing really that seemed worth remembering.

The highlight of the set for me was "Infection", which they did a kick-ass job playing, getting the crowd totally in to it. I've never been at a show where the crowd joined in on so many choruses! Probably not a typical punk show. They ended with "21st Century Digital Boy" which is still my favorite, but they didn't do that great with it, which was disappointing to me. Oh well. They played a lot of songs I enjoyed, and they kept me moving around throughout almost the entire show.

Both my girl and my friend enjoyed the show, which was nice. Overall, a very nice concert-going experience, despite it being the first show I went to with topless sweaty men walking around. Nothing's perfect, I guess.

Chowhound

Chowhound has the best message boards to discuss area restaurants, from French Laundry to little sushi places with no signs out front.

Now I just need to wait for my favorite dining partner to get here so I can try them out myself...

How politics works

An article about the Bush administration's decision making strategy that was very interesting to me. Deciding what you want, then saying that doing it will fix whatever the current problem receiving attention is - this is a brilliant strategy. No more need for coverups and lies, you just need some vague statements about facts and a few catchy slogans that you can enthusiastically shout.

And speaking of lies, I watched part of the Democratic presidential candidate debate tonight. I haven't figured out who I want to support yet, and watching most of the candidates speak didn't really help. It did help establish in my mind that Liebermann is absurd, but I hope he came across as unlikeable enough that he won't really have a chance at the nomination. I didn't see Moseley Braun speak enough to really make a judgment. Kucinich actually came across better than I expected, although that much idealism doesn't seem useful for a president even if it is closer to ideals I can support. Kerry was much better than I expected, which was nice. Graham seemed ok, but didn't seem to be able to generate energy. Gephart could generate energy, but seemed too much like a politician, which I don't think the country is asking for just yet. And I can't stand politicians that give laundry lists of the great things they will do without any mention of consequences. And Dean? I was surprised by his unpolished speaking skills. He almost came across as smug.

If only we could figure out a better way to do this...

Torino Scale

All sorts of more interesting things I should have posted here, but instead you get this:

A scale for assessing asteroid impact danger. I am glad someone is keeping track of this. Although, comparing it to the Richter scale seems wrong, since the Richter scale applies after the fact.