"Best Café in the World"

Not that many vegetarians or vegans reach the pinnacle of their sport, but England's James Willstrop has—he's the number one squash player in the world (on the right in the picture). Having traveled the world for 10 years as an athlete, he recently compiled a list of his 10 favorite vegetarian restaurants. Of the four listed in the United States, one was South Philadelphia's Grindcore House (and here)—Philly's first and only vegan coffee shop. Here's how Willstrop described it (for his complete list go here):

6. Grindcore House, Philadelphia
More a café than a restaurant, Grindcore is an unlikely presence in a south Philadelphia neighbourhood, free of shops and businesses. They often play hardcore music (at a moderate level) which is almost incongruous with the feel of the place. High points are the comforting sandwiches, and I can't believe how good the chocolate peanut butter bomb is. If you can't handle soya or cow's milk in your coffee then there are almond and rice milk options. For me, the best café in the world. If there was one of these in Leeds then I would never find time to train.

(Shameless plug: the Grindcore House was co-founded and is co-owned by my son David [who doesn't play squash]. Nice work, Dave!)

Am I Missing Something Here?

With the recent discovery of a cow in California found to have "Mad Cow Disease" (BSE—bovine spongiform encephalopathy), facts about the disease, and its potential for being transmitted to humans, have been repeated in the news.

Here's something I didn't know: According to Marion Nestle (note: those are two separate links in case you want to click through), professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University and author of many books on food and public policy, some 34 million cows are slaughtered in the U.S. every year. Of these 34 million, only 40,000 are randomly selected and tested for the presence of BSE. If my math is correct, that means one cow out of every 850 is tested for the presence of the disease.

To be clear: Those numbers don't say that the chances of encountering BSE in beef are 1:850. It says that one in 850 cows is tested. The chances of consuming tainted beef are much lower given the rare occurrence of finding afflicted cows.

But still, the fact that a cow was found with BSE means that the disease is out there. With a testing ratio of 1:850 I would not, were I a meat-eater, be feeling very confident about the purity of the "other 849" that aren't tested—especially given the death sentence represented by this disease for those who develop the human version of BSE (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease) from eating tainted beef.

In light of the discovery of BSE in the afflicted cow, the USDA issued this statement:

"The beef and dairy in the American food supply is safe and USDA remains confident in the health of U.S. cattle. The systems and safeguards in place to protect animal and human health worked as planned to identify this case quickly, and will ensure that it presents no risk to the food supply or to human health. USDA has no reason to believe that any other U.S. animals are currently affected, but we will remain vigilant and committed to the safeguards in place."

But—does testing one in every 850 cows justify the confidence expressed in the above statement? How would I feel about flying cross-country on an airplane if only one out of every 850 planes was given even cursory pre-flight maintenance and checks before taking off? Or only one in 850 was given the routine periodic detailed checks that planes undergo?

Knowing that this disease exists in the meat supply (remember: an afflicted cow was just discovered), I wouldn't be feeling too good about my chances of avoiding it if I included beef in my diet given a 1:850 testing ratio.

Am I missing something? In case I'm not, I'm sticking with my plants-only diet.

Faster Up and Down

My ISP is Time Warner Road Runner. Each time they have added a speed boost I have upgraded to the faster service. I recently upgraded from Road Runner Turbo to Road Runner Extreme (about $10 more per month) and am pretty pleased with the result. (There is one faster level—RR Wideband—but it's a business-class service and way expensive.)

I did Upload and Download speed tests at SpeakEasy.net using each of the eight cities available for the test, then averaged the results. The average download speed from all points around the country was 29.43 Mbps and the average upload speed was 4.92 Mbps. I can definitely tell the difference in the way web pages load and how long it takes to send an email containing pictures—all faster.

RR Extreme requires a new modem which comes with an added benefit: it is also a wireless router—modem and wireless router in the same unit. So my computer is hardwired to the modem but I also now have a wireless router for using wireless devices in other parts of the house.

This is the front of the modem—also shows the two antennae in the back for the wireless broadcast:

And the rear of the modem. The coax cable for Internet is on the right and four LAN (Ethernet) ports are in the middle for the router, of which I am only using two (plus an unused USB port).

Set up required a call to Time Warner tech support so they can configure the modem/router on their end, but it was pretty painless.

Not Done with Blogging, but Done with Blogger

I have used the free Blogger software to write this blog from the beginning and it has always seemed adequate. However, I am far more impressed with the blogs and web sites I see that are built on WordPress. (You can see if a site you like is built on WordPress by choosing "View Source" under the Mac's "View" menu, and search [Command-F] for "WordPress." If the word is found in the HTML source coding, it's a WordPress blog.)

The company that produced Blogger software was bought by Google a while ago, and the long, controlling arms of Google have much of the Bloggerati, including me, up in arms. I was out of town for a few days and came home to find that my G-Mail (Google mail) address—which I never use for anything—was showing in the header of my blog. Since that is not my primary email address, I didn't want it there for the public to mistakenly think it was my email and contact me at that address since I never check my G-Mail account. But I couldn't remove it. (I am assuming the G-Mail address is visible to all, not just to me.)

I also discovered that I had to sign into the Google system to make any changes in my personal blog—change any existing features, create a new post, etc. And I realized that it was when I am signed in to the Google system that my G-Mail address appears at the top of my blog; when signed out it goes away. But I can't access my blog without signing in.

Here's the upper right corner of my blog page when signed out, showing no email address:

And here it is when signed in—automatically showing my G-Mail address:

I also found that I had been switched to the new Blogger posting software which everyone is going to be forced to use. I have tried it in the past and found it really cumbersome compared to the original posting tools. The forums are full of people complaining about the new software.

So—I'm not done blogging but I'm done with Blogger. As soon as I can, I'm going to switch to WordPress on a dedicated web site of my own. That won't be free (WordPress does have a free version), but at least I won't have Google intruding into my life and telling me what I can and can't do. (I realize this post will have very limited appeal. I'm posting it in hopes that it will add to the voices of others not happy with Google's actions vis-a-vis Blogger.)

Four Buns in the Oven

In a shrub in my yard—four cardinal eggs. Mama flurried off the nest when I came by with the lawnmower. I'll let them be from now on, hopefully will see some hatchlings in the near future. I am always blown away by what great nests birds build—larger sticks and twigs on the outside, smaller pine needs on the inside. Who told them how to do this?

Getting Stuff Done

"The secret of my incredible energy and efficiency in getting work done is a simple one," [Algonquin Round Table member Robert] Benchley wrote. "The psychological principle is this: anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment."

He explained further (tongue in cheek): If you have several things you want to get done, just place them on a To-Do list immediately following the number one thing you are supposed to get done but don't really want to do. Soon, the several things will be accomplished.

Can I get a witness?

(cited in Willpower by Baumeister and Tierney, p. 253)

Living the Dream

This post will be of interest to folks who dream of doing something they love, in a place that suits their soul, with someone of like mind and heart. That's probably most people—but this couple's dream was to build custom, old-time banjos which they now do in tiny Horsefly, British Columbia. Jason and Pharis Romero own Romero Banjos and create gorgeous, one-off instruments by a running river in British Columbia—and play and sing beautifully together just for fun. Sometimes dreams come true. (And it's beautifully shot in HD, to boot -- thanks to Fretboard Journal.)

Earth Skin

In his DVD instructional video, Back to Eden, gardener Paul Gautschi explained mulch in a way I'd never considered: as skin for the earth. All living things have skin to protect the organisms they cover. Walk into any forest setting and you'll find a skin of mulch covering the forest floor—keeping it moist and protecting the soil foodweb beneath. Gautschi explained how he labored to keep weeds out of his garden and keep plants from drying out for years before turning to mulch. And he mulches the entire garden, not just around the plants, using small wood chips a few inches deep.

Since my only garden area is a small plot in the front of my house, I decided to create a mulch-skin for it. But first I needed to add the amendments to the soil before covering it with mulch. First on the list was very-finely-crushed rock (and sand-like rock dust) for remineralization. In the past I have gone to the local Martin-Marietta (285 quarries in 27 states) rock crusher near me—a huge operation—and paid for five-gallon buckets of finely screened rock dust. Upon arriving today I was told, "New policy." Nobody can drive their car into the rock yard and load their own product due to lawsuits from people claiming to have been injured while loading their own product. There was a huge mound of what I wanted right in front of me that I wasn't allowed to touch (the pile on the right) since I didn't have a truck or trailer (civilians aren't allowed out of their cars):

The apologetic lady in charge told me I might try a big asphalt/road covering construction company up the road that buys what I wanted from Martin-Marietta. Maybe they would sell me a few buckets of fine-screen gravel. I found the boss at that place and he wouldn't sell me any either. But he did tell me I could fill up my buckets for free. I was reminded again why I love local, blue-collar, working folks! When suits get involved, things go to heck. When the workers encounter someone who seems trustworthy and responsible, they're happy to help. This was the yard where they directed me . . .

. . . and I filled up my buckets:

I got plenty of fine-screen gravel and dust to remineralize the soil I've been growing in for the last five years:

Up close (I meant to set something on the gravel for comparison—the largest pieces are smaller than a pencil eraser):

This is what the plot looked like before I began. The "leafy" stuff consists of monkey grass leaves and chard leaves I had trimmed and thrown in the bed to add organic matter:

First I dumped in the three buckets of gravel and dust:

After spreading and incorporating it I added kelp, worm castings, and calcium and incorporated them into the soil.

Kelp:

Worm castings:

And a wheelbarrow load of compost:

After spreading and incorporating all the amendments, I was ready to put the skin on. I used a mix of cypress, cedar, and hardwood mulch (wood chips and grindings):

And this is how it looked when finished:

When it comes time to set in transplants (e.g., tomato plants), I'll pull the mulch back to expose the soil, dig a hole, and set the transplant in as usual, and tuck the mulch back around the plant. For seeds, the mulch will be pulled back to expose the soil (in a line or a patch), and the seeds planted in the soil. The mulch will be pulled back around the plants once they're large enough. In other words, you can't plant in mulch—only in soil. The next soaking rain will set things in motion, waking up the life in the soil that will begin decomposing all the amendments I added and keeping the soil dark, damp, and warm beneath the mulch.

As this fresh mulch breaks down over ensuing years, I'll add new mulch layers on top as the soil life beneath decomposes the initial layer. This "skin" idea makes a lot of sense to me—creating a close-to-natural symbiotic system that protects and feeds the soil over time.

Seven Stanzas at Easter

By John Updike

Make no mistake: if He rose at all

it was as His body;

if the cells' dissolution did not reverse, the molecules

reknit, the amino acids rekindle,

the Church will fall.

It was not as the flowers,

each soft Spring recurrent;

it was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled

eyes of the eleven apostles;

it was as His Flesh: ours.

The same hinged thumbs and toes,

the same valved heart

that — pierced — died, withered, paused, and then

regathered out of enduring Might

new strength to enclose.

Let us not mock God with metaphor,

analogy, sidestepping transcendence;

making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the

faded credulity of earlier ages:

let us walk through the door.

The stone is rolled back, not papier-mache,

not a stone in a story,

but the vast rock of materiality that in the slow

grinding of time will eclipse for each of us

the wide light of day.

And if we will have an angel at the tomb,

make it a real angel,

weighty with Max Planck's quanta, vivid with hair,

opaque in the dawn light, robed in real linen

spun on a definite loom.

Let us not seek to make it less monstrous,

for our own convenience, our own sense of beauty,

lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we are

embarrassed by the miracle,

and crushed by remonstrance.

Telephone Poles and Other Poems (1961) by John Updike.

(With thanks to Dr. Ken Boa—from his annual Easter greeting.)

Anaerobic Compost

Compost is made most efficiently by either circulating air through the pile via vented pipes, or, more normally, turning the pile from spot A to spot B. The point is to provide fresh oxygen to the aerobic bacteria in the pile so they will keep working. There are anaerobic bacteria as well—bacteria that don't need oxygen to survive—and they will break down organic matter and turn it into compost as well, albeit at a slower rate.

I have used the aerobic method (frequent turning) with the compost I have made in the past. But I created an anaerobic pile over the last six months or so that didn't get turned a single time. A couple times I did use a corkscrew tool I have that bores down into the pile and opens air channels, but for the most part the pile just sat. Every 1-2 weeks I would bring a fresh five-gallon bucket of vegetable scraps from the kitchen and build a new layer on top of the existing pile: veggie scraps, with a bit of existing compost sprinkled on top to introduce bacteria into the fresh scraps, then sprinkled alfalfa meal on top of the dirt, then covered with a layer of straw and soaked with water. I've done that repeatedly over recent months just to see what would happen if I didn't turn the pile.

I had two round wire bins, each four feet tall.

The one on the left had about a foot of previously made compost which I removed into the wheelbarrow to use in my front veggie bed:

The bin on the right is where I've been "stacking" fresh ingredients a layer at a time the last six months. The straw all around the edges has not broken down because it didn't get incorporated into the pile as it normally does when the pile is turned regularly.

My mission today was to turn the anaerobic pile on the right into the now-empty bin on the left. I took the wire bin from around the pile on the right and this is what it looked like from the top. Three-plus feet of solid, dark compost surrounded by a doughnut of uncomposted straw around the edges. I was amazed. I could have dug that compost out of the middle of the pile and used it immediately. It was totally ready to use—no recognizable food scraps or straw anywhere in the middle section.

Instead, I turned everything—finished compost and straw from around the edge of the pile—into the new empty bin, sprinkling more alfalfa (nitrogen food source for bacteria) in as I went. Hopefully, the uncomposted straw will get broken down in short order and this whole bin will be ready to use later this spring:

My conclusion is that anaerobic composting works. It definitely takes longer, but it produces a nice product.

Manifesto

The guys that started the "lifestyle" company, holstee.com, wrote a manifesto instead of a business plan. I like it -- so I bought a copy and had it framed. I'm not much into "motivational" stuff, and could quibble about the worldview reflected by a lot of these offerings, but that's not the point. I understand where these guys are coming from and like the "spirit" of their manifesto.

They also created a video version of the Manifesto using the urban bike culture of NYC as a vehicle. There are a number of things I like about what these guys are doing with this young company so thought I'd give them a shout. (After you read the Manifesto and watch the video, ask me why I haven't done this already.)

Lance Armstrong Going Plant-based

I've wondered how long this would take—for someone as smart as Lance Armstrong to recognize that he should be eating a plant-based diet. He is now two-thirds of the way there.

Armstrong is friends with Rip Esselstyn, a former triathlete and founder of the Engine 2 (plant-based, vegan) diet—and son of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn whose plant-based approach to preventing and reversing heart disease is healing former president Bill Clinton's heart. As Armstrong has moved from his pro cycling career to triathlete competition he has begun training with (Rip) Esselstyn again and has adopted a plant-based diet for breakfast and lunch.

Effects: He says his energy level and mental sharpness are better than they have ever been. Read the whole story here.

The Spring in Spring

Made the monthly trip to the spring at Cold Spring Church for water today. What a gorgeous site was waiting for me:

On the way home I stopped to look at this beautiful house that I pass each time I go to the spring. When I first saw it, it was inhabited and in good shape, but the last year or so it seems to have been empty and unkempt. I asked a nice lady who lived across the road about it -- yes, it has changed hands, she said, about a year ago. The new owner is trying to restore it but is moving very slowly. Up close, there is lots of evidence of rehab work being done and a "No Trespassing" sign.

I especially love the "annex" built on the left of the property. It's odd that a house this old has no fireplace, but the annex does. The neighbor lady said the annex had been added on, which is obvious -- but it is a beautiful addition, especially the front windows -- and the chimney. What a great office/library/studio that would make!

Note the acorn finials -- and is that square "box" the end of a central beam?

The trees are massive:

And the grounds are punctuated with statuary and urns -- a little taste of Athens in the North Carolina countryside. Somebody had something definite in mind when they collected and added these. I wonder if the new owner will honor that theme?

New from Google: Gmail Tap

(Don't forget: This was released on April 1)

A Classic from the "Sixties"

Younger readers won't recognize the name of Arlo Guthrie or the name of his famous song, "Alice's Restaurant Massacree"—but here's your chance to fill in that cultural void.

Guthrie released the song (it took up one whole side) on his 1967 vinyl album (left). It became one of the most popular anti-war anthems of the Vietnam War era. It's a true, albeit embellished, story of something that happened to Guthrie as an 18-year-old. The chorus is addictive and the guitar foundation has become a classic for fingerstyle guitar players.

If you have 16' 35" to spare, listen to Guthrie perform this classic at Farm Aid 2005. And read the story of the song here. (If you wonder what the fuss is about, it's because you missed the 'Sixties—making fun of the police and the military was what occupied a large part of the decade.)

Beautiful Chard

This Swiss Chard has been growing since late last summer and just doesn't stop. Both these plots are from seeds I saved from a big plant that had gone to seed. This first group of plants was from seeds I started:

This group came up on its own from seeds that fell from the previous plant that went to seed:

Four big leaves ready to be juiced. The big, thick stems are loaded with juice when just picked:

Hip Hip, Hoo-Dutch!

Being of Dutch ancestry—"Kruidenier" means "seller of herbs" or "grocer" in Dutch (kruiden = herbs, kruidenier = seller of herbs; see wagon in this picture) . . .

. . . I have to give a shout to the lowly Dutch when I can, both of these having crossed my desk this week.

First, a Dutchman who created the first human-powered, wing-based (flying like a bird) flight. He used wireless controllers from a Wii game machine to translate the motion of his flapping arms to the wings. Very nice -- (hit the CC button, then "English", for a translation of his post-flight reaction): Update: I got snookered (along with a lot of other people). This was an elaborate, fictional hoax eight months in the making. Watch the video anyway -- it's cool -- and then watch the ABCNews interview with the "hoaxer" below. (Thanks, Daniel and Liz.)

Second, a "used" cathedral in Maastricht, Holland, has been transformed into the "world's most sacred bookstore." This is not a library—it's a bookstore. I'd say it's a step down from housing the Word of God to the words of men, but a nice job of it nonetheless. Go here for the article and a half-dozen more gorgeous photos (thanks, David KRUIDENIER, for the link):

Hey, William of Orange (take your pick) had nothing on these Dutchmen.

Who and Where

Just received a new (2012) book by Atina Diffley today—a memoir of her and her husband's decades as organic market gardeners on fifth-generation land in Minnesota. I had seen a great review of the book, not only praising the story but the author's beautiful writing.

After cutting the grass I sat down on the front porch and paged through the portfolio of beautiful color photos in the center of the book that tell the story of their farming lives. And then picked a random spot and began reading—about the day Atina delivered their second child, Maize (because his newborn hair looked like corn tassle).

Atina worked in the fields until a couple hours before giving birth, then called the midwife and delivered the baby—just a few minutes after her husband came in off the tractor and showered.

Just hours after being born, Maize was introduced to the farm and has been in the thick of things ever since. I love this portrait of his place in the market stand they run on the farm:

"[Maize] can hear my voice as I move around working the stand, and I can see him from wherever I am. Not only do I know he is safe, but he is right there in the center of our business, surrounded by produce and customers, learning sales and relationships on an intuitive level. He will know what his parents do, how we earn money, and what our values are. He will know where he is from and who he is." (p. 90).

Has whatever good the Industrial Revolution produced been greater than the harm of separating parents from children, sending parents off to jobs "in the city" unrelated to the life of the home? Isn't knowing "where he is from and who he is" more important than almost anything?

I think this will be a great book. (5-9-12 update: Read an in-depth, excellent review of the book here.)

Chick-fil-A: The New Monsanto

Among small farmers across America, there is a one-word answer to the question, "What is the most despised corporation in America?" The answer is, Monsanto. This giant company has bankrupted lots of small farmers by suing them over seed patent infringements that happen by accident when Monsanto's GMO seeds and pollen blow onto a neighboring farm and cross-breed with the non-Monsanto-bred plants on that farm. Monsanto sues, saying the small farmer is using their seed without permission—and wins. It's disgusting.

Now Monsanto has a competitor for biggest bully on the corporate playground: Chick-fil-A. This "Christian"-based company has forced more than 30 companies to stop using the words "Eat more . . ." in their corporate slogans or advertising. Because these are all micro-businesses, they can't afford to fight in court so they cave.

The latest company in Chick-fil-A's gunsights is a T-shirt maker in Burlington, Vermont, who sells a T-shirt that says, "Eat More Kale." Chick-fil-A has sent him a "cease and desist" order -- and the guy is going to fight.

He is using kickstarter.com to raise $75,000 to produce a documentary film about Chick-fil-A's heavy-handed tactics. They only have six days left to raise the remaining money. If you're not familiar with kickstarter.com, it's a site where venture capital can be raised for bootstrapping projects. You pledge an amount by credit card but your card is not charged unless the funding goal is met. If the goal isn't met, you pay nothing. Here is the kickstarter.com page for the Eat More Kale documentary project. I'm going to pledge my support and hope you'll consider supporting the project, too. And I'm going to try to figure out some way to communicate my disgust to Chick-fil-A. Since I haven't been in one of their stores in more than a decade, saying I'm going to boycott them doesn't mean much. But if you eat chicken sandwiches, I hope you'll buy them somewhere else and let them know why. I left a post on the Chick-fil-A Facebook page letting them know I'm supporting the Eat More Kale initiative (which they promptly deleted!).

Here are a couple of videos about the documentary film project:

Why Isn't Governor Dalrymple Running for President?

There could be lots of reasons North Dakota's governor Jack Dalrymple shouldn't be president, but here are two why he should: (1) his words in this video and (2) the fact that his home page gives no indication of his political party affiliation (nor does the Wikipedia article about him). He appears to be just a plain governor whose state has the lowest unemployment in the nation (and it's not all due to the current North Dakota oil boom). What's not to like?