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February 23, 2005

Ah Mortality

I'm a sucker for old Slate articles. This highlight is a review of the silhouette iPod campaign with the priceless tagline: "Because I'm the one with the eternal soul here—it's my stuff that's just transient junk."

Posted by Ben at 02:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 22, 2005

Nu Wingy Toota Solo!

Playing Knights of the Old Republic. It rocks. I haven't had this much fun playing an rpg in, well, ever (I don't think Deus Ex counts as an rpg, it was more an action hybrid). I don't know, for some reason those fantasy settings don't do it for me. I mean, I've seen elves and orcs and crap, give me a lightsaber!

Posted by Ben at 10:41 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 13, 2005

A Successful (Early) Valentine's Day

I've never done anything for Valentine's Day, until now. I invited Kathleen over to the apartment for lunch today and decided I would make a full course Chinese meal. It was a lot of fun and turned into quite an experience.

And now, my kitchen is like a disaster area. Hooooly mackeral.

The plum bonsai arrived Saturday, totally intact, in a box from Northern California (the Internet is amazing). I'd wanted to get her something to go with the print of plum blossoms I got her in Japan. The plums are blooming in Japan right now and I'd thought of her when I went to go see them last year. Plums are also symbolic of China in Japanese poetry so the symbolism was delicious (her being Chinese, the Chinese New Year theme of the meal, etc). I was worried about giving her a gift that she had to take care because she's really busy but that's the only plum-ish thing I could find.

Then last night I went shopping. Remarkably they had everything I needed except dried lily buds (wtf?) and white pepper (which I can fudge with a little black). I love Whole Foods. However, I've never bought more bottles of sauces/oils at one time in my entire life: sesame oil, peanut oil, rice vinegar, red wine vinegar, Ruby port, cooking sherry. Then I get home, unload everything and clean the apartment. Watching Futurama fell somewhere in there. Then I make the almond gelatin for the dessert, which I chose because I remembered she loves almond extract and the cherries in port, which are supposed to go over the gelatin. Into the fridge those go. Then sweet sleep. I wake up at 8, which I eventually realize is FAR too late. I wash my hands and get the chicken in the pot, ready to poach. As I'm doing salad preparations I periodically wonder if it's boiling yet but manage to restrain myself from taking the lid off. It doesn't start boiling until 8:40, which means it comes off the heat at 9, which means it'll be ready to come out just before she gets here at 12. Which would be OK if I didn't need the broth for the hot-and-sour soup.

Oh, the soup. This thing took WAAAAAAY longer than I originally anticipated. And so many BOWLS involved! I swear at one point my entire counter and much of the table was covered in bowls, "set aside" for some unclear future use (I'm serious. Just look at that ingredient list). I'm madly stir-frying the pork and bamboo at 11:35 and she arrives. I make a mad dash to the intercom to let her up then dash back to the skillet. Fortunately by now the salad is done so I have that to serve her. (Plus she really is the coolest person in the world and she never cooks so it's not like I got points off for not having everything ready.) The soup is finally ready next, then the chicken. I'm gradually leaving the table to finish stuff, which is really OK because my kitchen is four feet away from the table so it didn't even interrupt the conversation. Plus the specially-recommended tea from the Chinese specialty tea shop came out excellently.

The salad is too salty but OK. The soup is fantastic (thank God because if it wasn't I think I might've started throwing dirty bowls out the window). The chicken is good for what it is (very simple) and the dessert is predictably fantastic.

She says she loves spinach, her mom used to make that same soup, AND (freaky) her mom used to make scallion and ginger poached chicken as well. She loves the tea and she devours the dessert, saying she's never tasted anything like it. And she didn't seem immediately horrified that I'd given her a gift that requires maintanance.

Seriously, I have so much fun just being around this girl (and she, for some reason, enjoys spending time with me).

So now it's dinnertime and I'm still STUFFED. I feel like I could hibernate through the rest of the winter.

Posted by Ben at 07:03 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

February 12, 2005

NameVoyager

Thi is so cool.

It's a Java app that tracks the popularity of the top 1000 baby names from 1900-2003. It's fascinating.

Posted by Ben at 08:06 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 11, 2005

The Willing Host

The administration is hiding $40 billion in defense spending.

We're also building a new stealth fighter, five more submarine-based nuclear missiles, a new destroyer class, another nuclear submarine, and another aircraft carrier. And that's just the things that the Pentagon can't keep a secret from everyone by using their classified budget.

The military-industrial complex is a parasite, a tapeworm sucking out our innards. Why weren't these things the first to go when we realized we were going to be in debt? When will we realize that our insatiable hunger for weaponry is putting our economy at the mercy of bankers here and abroad? Is it already too late? If so I just hope I have steady employment lined up somewhere else when everything comes crashing down.

Posted by Ben at 02:53 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

February 09, 2005

Die, Social Security!

I must admit to being not as well-informed on the budget as I should be. However, it seems to me that re: Social Security at least, the administration is just trying to kill it under the guise of reform. As an editorial in the Catholic weekly America points out, the Bush changes would fundamentally alter the program, changing it from a welfare program to a government-administered stock portfolio, a decision that raises the harrowing prospect of a Depression-like future, with retirees who invested poorly begging on the streets.

Related is this Slate article from late last month that, perhaps unrealistically but humorously at least, speculates that the GOP is still trying to get back at FDR.

Posted by Ben at 11:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Twins Born 3 1/2 Months Early

The smallest baby ever to be delivered and survive has gone home after 6 months at Loyola Medical here in Chicago, weighing 5 pounds, 8 ounces. When she was born via caesarean section she weighed only 8.6 ounces, while her bigger sister weighed 1 pound, 4 ounces. She's "expected to have normal physical and mental development," though I don't know how they can tell at this stage.

The two were delivered 14 weeks early because the mother developed a dangerous medical condition. It's an amazing story.

These children were only in the second trimester. They could still have been aborted almost anywhere in the US. If we can replace a womb with a machine this early and the baby survives and continues to develop, I can't see how people can continue to argue that unborn children are morally just a cluster of cells. I hope this experience helped open some eyes to the moral realities behind the status of the unborn.

Posted by Ben at 11:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Vindicated!

You see? I am on the right track!

Posted by Ben at 11:16 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

February 08, 2005

"Oh Bauer"

This music video, to a tune called "Oh Bauer" ("Oh Farmer") by Jeans Team, was directed by Lars, who used to work at the MMLC with me. It's a cool idea and a pretty good song. Enjoy.

Posted by Ben at 04:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 03, 2005

SOTU

William Saletan is the smartest journalist on the Internet. This column was an "OUCH" for Bush, especially coming from someone as even-headed as Saletan.

Posted by Ben at 12:36 AM | Comments (0)

February 02, 2005

Help Ben Emerge From Debt-- Buy Crap!

I realized the other day that for nothing I could join Amazon's referrel program and maybe get five bucks or something. So buy stuff after you click this link:

And help me live through the rest of college.

Posted by Ben at 03:22 AM | Comments (0)

Awesome Birthday Present

Arica gave me original stuffed animals for my birthday!

Clicky!

Posted by Ben at 12:43 AM | Comments (1)

February 01, 2005

Mob Rule on Fox News

FOX News is running a discussion between civil rights lawyer David Lane and Congressman Bob Beauprez about Ward Churchill's incredibly stupid remarks about 9/11. Beauprez was on a video feed and Lane was heard over a phone. Fox packed a room with people sitting behind the interviewer who all applauded every time Beauprez said anything. It was stunning. To anyone who says Fox doesn't have credibility problems-- how can I take a network seriously that purports to have a "balanced" discussion between representatives of two sides of an issue when they stack the deck so blatantly in favor of one side?

Posted by Ben at 12:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack