Wendell Berry

I joined the Wendell Berry Society on Facebook and came across this video of the man speaking at a February 2008 rally in support of the mountains of Kentucky (against the ravaging of said mountains by the coal interests). I have never seen him speak so was fascinated to hear the voice that accompanies the pen. Unfortunately, not all will know of Berry or why he is so important, but someday, when he is gone and his pen is silenced, these videos will be priceless. Amazingly, searching for "Wendell Berry" on YouTube turns up only this video. Is it possible, as much as he speaks, that he has not been video'ed?

Miso Happy

Back to the soy discussion -- one of the kinds of fermented soy that I've been interested in learning about is miso (pronounced mee-so). I stumbled across this tiny company in Massachusetts that makes small batches of organic miso in the Japanese tradition: South River Miso. Unfortunately, they don't ship products during the summer. There is quite a lot of information about miso on their web site. I plan to go back in "the fall" to check on prices and ordering (and getting a "Miso Happy" T-shirt).

[P.S. I'm adding this note after posting the above. The Flock web browser I use has a built in blog editor which means you can post something that you find on the Internet directly to your blog without having to go through Blogger.com > new post, etc. When I first started using Flock a few months ago the blog editor never seemed to work well, so I stopped using it. But I tried it when posting the South River Miso info above directly from their web site -- and it worked perfectly. By that I mean that the formatting I use for my posts was duplicated -- it looks just like a post I would have made from blogger.com. For people who blog, use the social networking sites, etc., Flock has more built-in conveniences than any other browser.]

Saab Sweepstakes Key Words

Here are Saturday's Fly to the Finish Sweepstakes key words:

cadence
team director
time trial

Enter here.

Barring any catastrophe on the ride into Paris tomorrow, the podium will look like this:

1. Carlos Sastre (Spain - Team CSC)
2. Cadel Evans (Australia - Team Silence-Lotto)
3. Bernhard Kohl (Austria - Team Gerolsteiner)

An American, Christian Vande Velde (Team Garmin-Chipotle) came in 5th place overall.

Cancer and Cell Phones

This is not new news, but the cell phone = cancer connection got another boost yesterday from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. I saw this report on the TV news last night, but here's a link to the study. Here's a link to a February, 2008, study at Tel Aviv University in Israel showing a similar connection.

There have also been studies showing no link. People who use cell phones need to be aware of the growing concern. Suggested solutions are to use a cell phone with a speakerphone feature so you can hold the phone away from your head/face, or use an earpiece/speaker device with a long enough wire so you can lay the phone down away from your body. DON'T lay the phone in your lap when talking while driving using a wired earpiece!

Fly to the Finish Key Words

Friday's Tour Sweepstakes key words are:

off the back
pack
saddle

Enter here.

Fly to the Finish Key Words

Today's Tour de France Sweepstakes key words are:

polka dot jersey
white jersey
green jersey

Enter here.

Soy

Soy is surely hotly debated. I continue to err on the side of caution regarding consuming any soy that isn't fermented (tempeh, natto, miso). That's only because most of what I have read makes that distinction. This article by Dr. Mercola (of whom I am a lukewarm reader) provides an overview of why non-fermented soy is DANGEROUS to one's health. I can't verify the science, of course -- am just linking this article as part of the ongoing debate.

Kruidenier's Garden

As a contrast to Mr. Grier's garden, I update the growth of the lowly sweet potato I stuck in the ground the other day. Coming along nicely, I would say. (Compare with the original photo a week ago.)

Grier's Garden III

While running errands today I stopped by Mr. Grier's garden -- fortunately he was open so I got some corn, banana peppers, and two kinds of eggplant. Wanted to get more but I'm a little cautious about his use of chemicals -- though it's minimal. Following are some pictures:

The man, the legend -- James Grier. Does he not look like a good gardener?



In his John Deere Gator. I want a Gator. Actually, I want a reason to need a Gator (a farm, a market garden, an estate -- I'm not picky):



Flowers, yellow squash, and tomatoes:



His tomato plants just drip with fruit:



I was encouraged to see the tiny holes in his eggplant leaves that are caused by leafhoppers -- looks like an organic approach. I note, however, that only this one leaf shows signs of leafhopper damage. It looks like a large, original leaf -- probably attacked before he dusted the plants:



A wall of sunflowers:



On these next two pictures I'm standing in the same place on the back edge of the garden, first looking left, then right -- just to show the size of the garden. He even has other sections, along with huge mulch piles, etc., down behind his house. This is only a part:





Mr. Grier's son-in-law works with him on the garden -- but when I first started visiting a few years ago he managed all this himself. He's an amazing man. I think I mentioned in one of the earlier posts about his garden that it operates on the honor system. Either he or his son-in-law are usually around, but if they're not you just get your veggies (prices are posted) and put the money in a (locked, nailed-down) box with a slot in the top. I wonder if Harris Teeter has ever tried that?

Fly to the Finish Key Words

Today's Tour Sweepstakes key words are:

peloton
gap
soar

Enter here.

Today's Alpe d'Huez stage was awesome -- well worth watching tonight at 8:00 EST on Versus.

Fly to the Finish Key Words

Five new keywords from yesterday and today:

chasers
disc wheel
bonk
versus
alps

Enter here.

Today's Fly to the Finish Key Words

Fly to the Finish Sweepstakes key words for today are:

feed zone
wattage
performance

Enter here.

P.S. Regarding yesterday's post on the upcoming week of the Tour in the Alps, the best night to watch the replay on Versus will be Wednesday night. On Wednesday the riders will climb the most legendary peak in the tour, Alpe d'Huez. More drama has been played out on that peak than any other -- and the Tour crazies will be there in full force

Here's a picture of the climb to Alpe d'Huez with its 21 hairpin turns. The higher the route goes, the bigger and louder the crowds that line the roads: