Kai at play

Kai at play
Originally uploaded by tmonkey

Converting the Stimulus Bill to HTML

I'm in the process of converting the Stimulus Bill to HTML, first delivered as a document generated in Word, printed, then scanned as a PDF. Terrible. It's semi-searchable, but there's tons of cruft in the text version. I am also contributing my work to the StimulusWiki, which is a far better way of parsing this information.

Here's the page. I'll be updating it over time, and probably adding things to make it easier to read etc.

88 out of 100 ain't bad

From The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Here's the list of things I haven't eaten yet:

2. Nettle tea
6. Black pudding
16. Epoisses (may have had this -- not sure)
46. Fugu
59. Poutine
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
68. Haggis
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
89. Horse (probably have eaten this but not knowingly)
93. Rose harissa (though I have had harissa, just not with roses)

5 Things I Miss About Japan

1. Moist towelettes, steaming hot or deliciously cool, given to you by your server at any restaurant (from high-end more-French-than-French restaurant to humble ramen joint) to wash your face and hands before eating.
2. Common cleanliness. Barely a stray piece of paper litters the Tokyo Underground, even with all public trashcans removed after the Aum ricin attacks. People are expected to keep their trash and dispose of it in private. You get the distinct impression that even the thought of littering will be met by psychic flogging by thousands of passers-by.
3. Common courtesy. Sadly, from an American perspective, the Japanese are uncommonly courteous. The bowing might seem to us as somehow forced or strange, but I would bet that 80-90% of the time, when Japanese bow it is earnest. And even if it isn't completely so, it is impossible to execute the movement without feeling some form of humility. I would argue that this is of considerable social value in that it generally elevates the level of discourse. By contrast, here in America, we cling to our guns and bow to no one.
4. Pushbutton toilets, a sure sign of advanced civilization.
   
   Standard (Toto) toilet interface in Japan
   
5. Perfection of Craft, in all things. Something as mundane as wrapping a simple purchase at the grocery store with careful, neat folds of some elegant tissue, speaks to an appreciation for the ephemeral quality of beauty (for which I am sure there is a word in Japanese).
   

unpatriotic

unpatriotic
Originally uploaded by tmonkey

The GOP grasp yet again at straws...

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A Bangkok market/train thoroughfare.

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