theblogbitme

I saw a video on the New York Times today that was really incredible. If you have time, check out An Angel in Queens. It is about a man who decided to start feeding day laborers from the back of his pick up. His inspiration? He was once an immigrant who landed in New York with nothing as well. He starts cooking in the morning around 5am, goes to his regular job as a bus driver, comes back to finish up the meals, and heads out for distribution at 9:30 every night. And he hasn’t missed a night in 3 years.

This is an excerpt from NPR’s blog Mixed Signals. This is a fabulous idea for the Oakland/Bay bridge - if they ever finish the new section….

Bad Commute? Why Not Blow Up the Bridge?

Commuting is hell. But there is the old war story bit that people get into. You’ve been at a dinner party and people start sharing their horror stories, wearing like a badge of honor the nightmare time the jelly donut truck overturned on the highway causing a 16-hour delay where people died of dehydration.

But now, you can have revenge, at least if you live in the D.C. area. One of the worst parts of the road system in the area was the old Woodrow Wilson Bridge on the beltway that connected Virginia and Maryland. Transportation authorities have just finished moving all the traffic to the new bridge and are offering commuters a chance at revenge. The commuter with the absolute worst commuting story gets the chance to blow the old bridge up in a couple of weeks.

You can enter here. I wholeheartedly approve and have a few other nominations for various parts of the transportation infrastructure that would also benefit from some well placed charges.

– JJ Sutherland

I would love to be a judge in this contest. I hope NPR does a follow up story for this one.

I saw this clip from The Daily Show which is a follow up to the clip of Net Neutrality and Ted Stevens. It is really clever. I love the Apple parody. Enjoy!

This weekend I had the opportunity to go to a farmers’ market in a small town a couple hours north of San Francisco. The only farmers’ market I see regularly is the one that is at the Ferry Building. The farmers’ market in San Francisco is really nice, but can also be really expensive. The one I went to in northern california was also pricey for specialty items, i.e. fresh fish, grass fed beef, but the regular items, i.e. produce, flowers, oils, were more affordable. It was great to see the farmers and the customers greeting each other by first name, something you do not see in San Francisco. It was a casual sunny saturday morning where you could pick up a homegrown tomato and smell its earthy essence.

This is an elephant garlic flower. It is a fascinating flower that has a faint garlic scent, but is not overpowering.

A line of local olive oils, truffle oils, and balsamic vinegars.

Fresh baked breadsticks. I had one baked with cheese–delicious!

A live cooking demonstration. This local chef is teaching listeners how to make frittatas.

This morning I woke up and started channel surfing. This is a little unusual for someone who does not own a television, but a welcome treat. One of the programs I love to watch is Samantha Brown’s Passport to Europe. I just start dreaming and soak in the eye candy. In this last episode, Samantha went to Dublin. It is indeed the travel channel, so she stays in well known, respected and expensive hotels. However, with her trip to Dublin, she surprised her viewers and stayed in a “budget” hotel. This hotel looks really nice from a girl who is no stranger to Red Roof Inn. For those of you who may be dreaming of a wee trip to Ireland, check out Bewley’s Hotel. The rooms are all 89 Euros/night throughout the entire season. The Ballsbridge location is situated in a restored 19th century Masonic School. Does that sound like “budget” to you?