Wonkybusker

Sustainable Seafood Choices

Should you try to get Atlantic or Pacific Halibut?  Can we continue to eat shrimp ethically?  Salon.com has a great article today addressing these questions.  And the Monterey Bay Aquarium keeps up a database of which seafood is alright and which we should avoid so that 50 years from now we still have seafood to eat.

Some advice from the article:

• Don't buy albacore tuna; look for skipjack tuna instead.
• Avoid Atlantic salmon because wild Atlantic salmon are commercially extinct and farmed salmon spread fish diseases, contributing to the problem.
• Not all farmed fish is harmful.  Farmed tilapia, trout, and pollock (as long as it isn't shipped all the way from China) is pretty eco-friendly.

Anyway, I found the article very helpful and I thought I'd pass the info along.

The Need for Peace

"One day, the people will want peace so badly that they will push the government aside."
                     -Dwight D. Eisenhower

Outlook Not So Good

Earth Day is really annoying me this year.  I am amazed by all the companies jumping on the green bandwagon and doing their part for the environment by selling one organic product among a long line of things made in China.  We have a serious problem and it won't be solved by turning the thermometer down a degree in the winter or buying a rechargeable battery. 

For a long time, the population has been growing and our entire economy has based on this growth and increased consumption.  We take millions of years of stored energy and expend it at ever increasing speeds.  We're reaching the end.  There's no more room, there's not much more fossil fuel energy, and we're changing the earth to a point that it will no longer be able to support us.  So what happens now? 

As people give tips on consuming less energy, no one points out that if we all do go ahead and make the changes necessary to reverse the effects of global warming or at least delay it, our economy, based on rapid consuming, will collapse.  But as awful as that may be, at least it's a choice we can make and a consequence we can live through.  If we don't make that change, our future may be decided for us and it may be even worse.  I'm fairly confident that after all this there will still be people on Earth, but I'm guessing there will be much fewer and life will be forever changed.

As Chris notes, environmentalism is not about the earth; it's about us on the earth and our ability to continue living on the earth.  Everyone's saying we need to do something, but no one seems to actually be doing anything about it.  And what we are doing, myself included, seems to be too little, too late.  I'm not optimistic about the future.  The food shortages have already started.  I hope I'm very wrong.
 

Lars and the Real Girl

From the first previews, I was convinced Juno would be my favorite movie of the year.  And I really enjoyed it, although by the time I finally saw the movie it almost felt like deja vu. As with many movies, the best lines had already been repeating on my television for weeks.  What surprised me is that tonight, Lars and the Real Girl took that favorite movie spot.  It's been a long time since I saw such an endearing movie.  And it had a level of symbolism, care, and detail that I wasn't expecting.  It's funny and sweet and just a surprisingly good film. I highly recommend it.

Spanish Dinner

Last night was our Spanish themed gourmet club night.

Megan made this salad served in an avocado for a tapas dish.

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of the other tapas dishes, but Julie made a delicious tortilla dish with a garlic aioli sauce and Laura brought roasted potatoes with a spicy tomato sauce.

Then, Brian created an eggplant and garlic soup, which was fantastic, served with cilantro and yogurt.

For the main dish, Chris created a chicken and andouille sausage paella.

And he also made a seafood paella.
 

He usually makes a great paella, but I think these were his best yet.

For dessert, I made a Strawberry Napoleon pastry.

And, of course, we had sangria to drink.  We should gather and post the recipes from these dinners because I really don't think we've had a failed dish yet.

DC Summer

Things I'm sad to be missing this summer:

Wildwood Beach Tournament - This is my favorite tournament of the whole year and will not only miss out on some great beach ultimate, but where else can I pig out on deep friend twinkies and cheese fries topped pizza?

Summer League - DC summers are awful weather-wise, but it's still nice to get out and play some ultimate and teach new people in rec league.

Gourmet Club - Speaking of which, we're having our a gourmet club meeting tonight, and it will probably be our last until fall.  Chris made paella for tonight's Spanish theme and I made sangria.

Happy Hours - Sure, we'll be sipping wine in Bordeaux, but it won't be the same as meeting friends for drinks after work here.  I won't miss the happy hour itself, but I'll sorely miss the company.

Jazz in the Garden - Although I haven't gone to this as often as I might like, the Friday night jazz concerts in the art museum's sculpture garden are really nice.

Wolftrap - Their getting some really good bands this summer and I'd like to go to more of these shows.

Fourth of July - While we will have a July 4th, it will be just another day and there will be no fireworks, unless we light them ourselves.

I guess you can't have it all. 

DC Night Photography

Chris and I went out to take pictures of DC at night.  The wind was messing with our camera in the low light but the pictures still came out alright, I think.

Thou elvish-mark'd, abortive, rooting hog!

This reminds me of the workshop I had at the Globe Theater.

Shakespearean Insulter

Fool's Fest 2008

The weekend was fun, tiring, and less rainy than expected.  I didn't venture out to the parties but enjoyed the company of my team. 

Games were delayed on Friday and canceled due to rain on Sunday due to new park management that doesn't want us tearing up the fields.  Which is understandable, especially at the beginning of the field use season.  However, the first weekend in April nearly always rains, making our team wonder what the future of the tournament will be if we can't play in the rain.  Perhaps they will have to find new fields for next year. 

At any rate, it was a fun time this year and Chris had a great time too.  Sadly, I managed to leave my phone behind in Fredericksburg or perhaps it accidentally went home with someone else.  I'm hoping to hear about its whereabouts soon, otherwise I'm in the market for a new phone.  It was good to get back out on the frisbee field for a full tournament and has really given me motivation to get back in shape. 

For pictures from the weekend, visit here.

Columbia Heights

Forty years ago, the Columbia Heights neighborhood of DC was engulfed in flames.  Riots began on April 4, 1968 when a brick flew through a drug store window at 14th and U and over the next 12 days, hundreds of buildings were burned, looted, and otherwise destroyed.  For the next 30 years, some entire blocks in the area were simply left as rubble. 

You'd never notice signs of the destruction now.  Cranes dot the horizon and construction blocks roads.  Luxury condos are opening every week.  A new shopping mall with a Target and Best Buy went in, covering up some of the last of the scars.  It's a neighborhood in transition.  I do hope that after all this change, it still retains some of its original character and sense of history.  At least there will still be Ben's Chili Bowl.