Spy Satellite Hurtling Towards Earth!

When you think about the reality of how much space junk there is orbiting above us, it really belittles the danger of an asteroid deep impacting all over our lands. I am probably late to the party, but was stirred up by this SHOCKING NEWS on Wired earlier today, and I spent a good hour reading the posts from this site. I love this shit. Not that it will end up being all that exciting - the US Govt will probably remove 193 from circulation long before it has the chance to break up in pretty pretty fireworks over the horizon. But in these low times of writers-strike reruns, is-he-really-still-running primary debates, sub-tolerable cold fronts, and a bitch of a SOTU hangover, I think a spy satellite HURTLING towards earth at a slow and predictable rate is enough for a CNN ticker in ITALICS! Yes, Wolf, in ITAL!!

Bloggus Linkus

Most of the time I don't have anything worthwhile to contribute, but luckily I keep up with the articles that other people worthwhil-ly contribute. Here's a sample from this week:

This NYTimes article explains why I'm so blue lately: the "jarring end to the Pax Americana." Must be that. Probably doesn't have to do with anything else. Nevertheless, this article is worth the read through because it's at once timely and historical and the writing is pretty sharp. The observations are familiar but it feels like a call to action.

I linked this article from Time because I like the phrase "vainglorious temperament." And it must be an important piece because NPR reported on the story during Kojo Nnamdi on Friday.

Not so much an article, but an important schedule nonetheless. This site lists the FREE Kennedy Center Millennium Stage performances through the end of February.

This website might piss you off. I certainly didn't like seeing equal columns on the climate debate because I didn't think there really was one. But since it's 12 degrees outside and my heater is on the fritz (Captain Fuzz hasn't come out from under the covers in days), I found myself searching for an update on when we can expect some global warming to show up. This is the place to go if you are an information junkie. Warning: some links open PDF docs, but the research is pretty well documented.

This makes me so so happy. It's not from this week, but it's joyous news!!

This is for when you've got a lot of time on your hands. Or need to keep your computer on because your apartment is 35 degrees.

More links from one of my favorite sites. "Idioms are for the birds." HA! Almost as good as Comcast's "Count on your phone?" I die every time I see that.

Et tu Special K?

I found out this morning that Special K is made with high-fructose corn syrup. It's unbelieeeeeevable! (And yet, believable...) I'm not coming down on one side or the other in the controversy (ok, I don't believe it's "natural" or nutritious) but I have tried to cut most HFCS out of my diet, just as I've tried to limit sugar and fat, and I'm appalled by the number of products that use it. Ever since I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (it's fabulous and funny), I've been counting down the hours until I can shop at a local farmer's market and stop buying tomatoes from Mexico. They taste better and they support a local economy that doesn't waste more energy shipping the food to me than the actual caloric energy provided by the food. Not to mention the whole oil/terrorism thing. What was I ranting about?

Oh yeah, HFCS. This is not nutrition! And what pisses me off is that Special K, while not a baggie of celery sticks, is supposed to be fairly good for you, with the low calories and the fat free and the 11 vitamins and minerals. You know what else is in there? Malt flavoring. What the hell is that? Here's the long answer. The short answer, I think, is that it's barley drippings and bacteria. This produces "positive flavor notes."

What the hell are we putting into our bodies?

Restaurant Week Roundup

I'm all for trying new places and things to do so my restaurant week goals were ambitious: reservations Mon-Fri with various friends and foes and Saturday off for recovery (both gastrointestinally and economically). I did make it out four nights but had to beg off on Thursday due to exhaustion, lack of will, and generally crappy weather outside. Here's my report.

Aria Trattoria
Ambiance: a little sad and lonely
Service: chatty, obviously new to the service industry
Food: My companions enjoyed their hamburger helper but, sadly, I could not finish my lumps of gristle laid lovingly on a bed of burned spinach and "fingerling" potatoes. They tasted like actual fingers, so I guess that's one point for realism.
Bottom Line: I very much enjoyed the chopped fruit pudding in the martini glass and I bet this place would be a bit more lively on a warm summer weekend. The patio seems large and I would go downtown for a nice happy hour and dessert. Plus they validate for the most secure parking garage I've ever seen, so that's nice. But dinner there? Not so much.

Acadiana
Ambiance: bustling but not loud, busy but not crowded. We were overwhelmed with activity (ok, I was) when we sat down - wine list, menus, restaurant week menu, water selection, biscuits, spicy butter - all at once. I barely had my coat off and the table was covered with things to do.
Service: exceptional
Food: amazing. Go there, right now. The red snapper was somehow both smooth and crispy and I devoured every bit. We shared a bottle of French red wine which was a perfect companion to the beet salad with goat cheese and pecan vinaigrette, the fish amandine, and even the brown sugar rum creme brulee. They made this sweet corn pudding thing and collard greens that I could not stop ogling. Brilliant combination of flavors and textures. I woke up, I was so glad.
Bottom Line: This restaurant has improved ten-fold since I was there for restaurant week last year - it is one of the finest places to eat in this city.

Butterfield 9
Ambiance: typical DC niceties, white linen, etc. Kind of fancy/boring
Service: problematic because he waited 40 minutes to put in our order. But he was sweet, cute, and chatty, so MKD and I forgave him.
Food: hilarious. My mixed green salad and her soup were actually pretty good, if a little simple. My chicken was runty and dry, but her risotto would have pleased Chef Ramsey. Let's say that my plate utilized vast white space for visual impact and MKD was served 30 quarts of rice. But we were able to feed several neighboring countries for a week, so that was nice. For dessert, I had two tiny scoops of sorbet in a giant dish and MKD had a brownie the size of an iPod shuffle. We could have made some miniature porn with those raspberry balls.
Bottom Line: It's a nice place to eat, nice place to take your parents if they are paying. The bar area is too small for an after-work meet up, and the restaurant is too pricey to go with any regularity. Cute waiters, though.


The Caucus Room
Ambiance: your typical mahogany Washington suit dining.
Service: You would think they would know how to make a damn Horse's Neck, but I had to give them the recipe. To make up for it, the bartender gave me a glass of bourbon on the rocks and only charged me $18! Fantastic! Our waiter could not give a shit about our table - we asked for a wine list and he said "red or white?" and brought us a bottle of crap. Though it turns out he didn't charge us for it.
Food: One steak sent back for being cold, one salmon inedible because the spice was overwhelming, two more mediocre meals with undercooked vegetables.
Bottom Line: I was REALLY disappointed in this place because I had read that it was such a DC staple. I thought it would be more like Old Ebbitt but with a bit more fancy and pompous. We definitely experience the fancy and pomp, but the food was nowhere near as good as OEG. Luckily I would up at OEG later that night - but that's a post for another time.