Of Raw Fish and Fast Food

There's a new "fast food" sushi restaurant near work. I've been hesitant to try it, because for one, I already have a carry out sushi place near work, and for two, it seemed extremely corporate--a sort of McDonald's with raw fish. The place that I usually go to is a very Mom and Pop sort of place or maybe two brothers and a daughter... in any event, very much a family operation. I like them, they know me, and the sushi chef there has an uncanny knack for keeping everyone's order in his head. Seriously, no matter how busy they are, I've never seen him write anything down.

So anyway, as curiosity overcame me and I decided to finally try the new place, I felt somewhat unfaithful as I entered the slick and eye popping newness of "Wasabi To Go." Now I try very hard not to be sexist, but the first thing I noticed is that there were three young women behind the counter. This was not a good sign, as I know the Japanese culture is pretty sexist and for the most part, women are not taught to be sushi chefs. I also try very hard not to be culturally biased, but I also took it as a bad sign that two of the three young women working there were not Japanese, but Hispanic.

Well, the sushi lived down to my greatly diminished expectations. The rolls were made on, get this, a MACHINE!!! All the sushi "chef" did was put the ingredients down in order. All the fish had been pre sliced and spending god knows how long losing its flavor.

The lesson here must be that "There is value in loyalty." Or something like that.

Uh, What?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080905/lf_nm_life/britain_music_dc_1

Again, what does this say about me? Sounds like a poorly designed study to me. Wealthy people like opera? Well, did they control for socioeconomic factors before drawing that conclusion. Heavy metal listeners are gentle, while indie lovers aren't? Really? What about emo indie?

Meh, I've already wasted too much cyber-breath on this dumb study.

RSSs and My Music

I'm still not really sure what an RSS is or how it works exactly, but I like the one that I picked up from iTunes that lets you all see what songs I've bought there lately. I think a person's taste in music says a lot about them, but I'm not really sure what my crazy eclectic taste says about me. That I'm crazy? That I'm eclectic? Who knows?

Speaking of taste in music, I make no secrets about the fact that I am older than most around the imvu ranch, but check this out. Not once, but twice, I've bought music from iTunes only to have it be a featured free download the next week. The first time was with Toy Shiny Guns last year and the second time was just this week with Black Kids. You ought to give this track a listen and this band a try. They really are very good. Sort of lounge meets Depeche Mode updated.... Anyway. What have you got to lose? It's free. But am I one step ahead of iTunes and thus really hip? Or am I just anticipating the next corporate push to mold us into one unvarying consumer? I know which one I want to believe....

Dallas and Death

No, no one died this week (at least that I know of) but I hope most folks know that John F Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. I went to the museum that they have on the floor of the building that the assassin Lee Harvey Oswald fired from. It's an interesting museum and although I've never been much interested in all the conspiracy theories, being there made me more curious about the different explanations disagreeing with the Warren Commission. It was genuinely chilling to be right next to where the shooter lay in wait to kill on of the great American presidents. A weird experience to say the least.

Dallas as a city didn't exactly win me over, but it wasn't as bad as I feared. Had some great TexMex (of course), a good steak, and some really good bar b q (didn't convert me from NC barbeque but that's another entry. The West End area of Dallas was quite decent, with some nice bars and good restaurants. I'm not champing at the bit to go back, but the edge has been taken off of my "hate." LOL.

Dallas

Speaking of ambivalence.... Headed to Dallas this week on a business trip. Always grew up hating Dallas from a distance, especially the Cowboys, but also the prime time soap. If anyone still remembers that!! I've always heard that downtown Dallas is pretty dead and that you need to go to Fort Worth or to Austin to have any fun. But on the other hand, this conference I'm attending apparently attracts a lot of law enforcement types and there is much, ummm, pushing the limits that goes on. We'll find out I guess, and someone has promised to send me some links for fun stuff downtown. Will my irrational hatred for Dallas survive the trip??? Tune in soon.

Olympics

Is it me, or is the fact that the Olympics are in China sucking the interest out of the whole thing? Not only will all the events be on at ODark30 in the morning, but I've got this moral ambivalence about the whole fact that they will be in China. I guess I'll still Tivo the men's and women's soccer and basketball and probably check in to see if Phelps beats Spitz's record (Mark Spitz inspired my own considerably less stellar swimming career). But I think I'll feel a little dirty about it.

Summer Movies

I like Ed Norton as much or more than anyone, but can anyone explain to me why in the heck they remade the Hulk? What a waste of perfectly good CGI. Iron Man has done well and deservedly so, but man, Marvel studios is really beating dead horses. Although, I shouldn't talk. The only movies I get to see are PG and under. But I love that boy....