Ah, sunny Arizona:

 


At least they have actual thunder and lightning here, unlike San Francisco.

Talk about a wild synchronicity...

I flew from San Francisco to Prescott, AZ yesterday. I stopped at a Gordon Biersch in SFO for beer and breakfast and sat at the bar. I was minding my own business, reading a book, and this 50ish woman sat next to me and ordered a dry California white wine. (she was very specific) She sat there for awhile, drinking her wine and reading a magazine and then suddenly sat back and started talking.

Her: I just got back from three months in China and it's *so* nice to be able to sit down at a bar and order a drink and they actually have it!
Guy on the other side of her: I was in Beijing a couple of months ago.
Me: That's really interesting. I was in Beijing in February.

We got to talking for awhile and it turned out that the woman was literally just off the plane from China.

Along with the guy who was looking for a Lions jersey, that's twice within a week that a total stranger has ignored my space alien appearance and wound up making a real, if brief, connection with me. If this keeps up, I might actually regain some of my faith in humanity.

I'm not surprised, but it turns out that people are dumb:

"We like to think that people will be well informed before making important decisions, such as who to vote for, but the truth is that's not always the case. Being uninformed is one thing, but having a population that's actively misinformed presents problems when it comes to participating in the national debate, or the democratic process. If the findings of some political scientists are right, attempting to correct misinformation might do nothing more than reinforce the false belief."

[...]

"Saying that correcting misinformation does little more than reinforce a false believe is a pretty controversial proposal, but the claim is based on a number of studies that examine the effect of political or ideological bias on fact correction. In the studies, volunteers were shown news items or political adverts that contained misinformation, followed by a correction. For example, a study by John Bullock of Yale showed volunteers a political ad created by NARAL that linked Justice John Roberts to a violent anti-abortion group, followed by news that the ad had been withdrawn. Interestingly, Democratic participants had a worse opinion of Roberts after being shown the ad, even after they were told it was false."

(via Slashdot...)

So I went into Serramonte Mall today to get a Lions jersey for the game tomorrow. I haven't been in a mall in literally years and it was such a different experience from what I'm used to that I felt like an alien down from the mothership. Judging by the looks I was getting, other people agreed that's how I looked.

On my way into Sports City, I noticed that the dude in front of me had a Lions jacket on. When I got into the store, I told the girl behind the counter that I wanted a Lions jersey, any player. She gave me an "uh, the Lions?" and a blank stare. That's when the dude with the jacket came over and said "yeah! me too!"

While the manager came over to rescue the poor, befuddled girl who obviously couldn't believe that we weren't looking for Niners jerseys, the dude and I got to talking. "You going to the game tomorrow?" "Gotta support the Lions, no one else is..." That sort of thing. He and I both wound up with Calvin Johnson jerseys and then he told the manager that he needed jerseys for his sons (whom he had in tow) as well.

The manager obviously thought that we'd come in together because she tucked both of our jerseys behind the counter and went off to help him with the junior ones. The dude was all "No, we're not together! Go ring him up, I'll wait!" I thanked him, genuinely, for letting me get rung up and out of there and he said "Hey, anything for a fellow fan!"

It was pretty fucking cool, all around. There I was in full space alien trim and at the goddamn mall drawing stares, and this guy never batted an eye. It was so nice for a change to have a "normal person" look past my appearance and focus on the fact that, hey, we DO have something in common.

The Lions are at the Niners this Sunday and I've got a ticket on the lower deck near the 50 yard line! I've been letting sports back into my life again and there's no way I'm going to pass up an opportunity to see the Lions play, even if they'll probably lose and look bad doing it. Hey, I've got to support the Lions. No one else is!

So Helena and I saw Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at the Warfield last night. The place was packed, the band was great. People were cheering, they loved the music. But we were the only ones dancing. Literally. The people in the balconies, who had actual seats, were SITTING DOWN. WTF?

It was depressing. Are we really so repressed in this country that we can't dance to music which we genuinely enjoy? Guess so.

The front fell off!

PEEWEE'S HEIRLOOM TOMATO PASTA SAUCE

stock
3 lg. heirloom tomatoes
2 sm blue bell peppers, 1/2" chopped
good handful of english peas, shucked
good handful of brussells sprouts, halved
1 dried whole red chile, crushed (I *suppose* it's optional...)
1/2 bulb garlic, smashed
fresh basil, chopped
fresh sage, chopped
bay leaf
sea salt
fresh ground pepper
olive oil
white wine (don't skimp)

I'd never seen the blue bell peppers before so I of course I had to get them. Substitute your favorite color. Also, I assume you're using the spicy version of my stock, as this dish was intended to be quite hot, hence the additional red pepper. For this sauce, I made the stock using 1/2 of the bottle of wine for the liquid.

Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water until the skins split and can be peeled. Cool the tomatoes under cold running water first. Once the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, peel and chop them. Smash up a bunch of garlic. I used about 1/2 of a large bulb.

Heat up a dutch oven with some olive oil and add the garlic and crushed red pepper. Hit the garlic with the heat for about a minute and then add the chopped tomatoes. Add just enough stock to ALMOST cover the tomatoes. Don't add too much stock! Simmer, uncovered, for about 30 minutes. Add more stock if you have to, but the idea is to cook it down into a thick sauce.

Add the peas and peppers. In a frying pan with some olive oil, brown the brussells sprouts. Don't cook them until they're done, just brown them. Add them to the sauce. Add the chopped herbs. Simmer for another 30 minutes. Cover it once you've got it cooked down sufficiently. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Remove from heat and let it cool to a manageable temperature. Serve with garlic bread, fresh grated Parmesan cheese, whole wheat pasta and the remaining 1/2 bottle of wine.

Feeds two hungry people.

Martian dust devils.

Earlier at Fog City Java:

Him: Did I see you driving a hot rod Mustang?
Me: *blink* I haven't driven that car in two weeks.
Him: But you have one?
Me: Er, yes. Black, newer. It's a 2001.
Him: Yeah! Nice car! Sounds fantastic!

There is a pretty healthy muscle car community in Pacifica, though the focus seems to be more on the classics than on the newer cars. Still, I couldn't believe that the 'Stang made enough of an impression on this guy that he remembered me two weeks later.

I should work up some of the pictures I took at the Tera Nova High Car show earlier this year.

Woo freakin hoo! Our hot tub is back online. Why did we wait MORE THAN A YEAR to fix it?

This is even funnier than the CERN rap.