Instagram Food Wars: The Smoothie Showdown

With the new year and the new health kick/spurt, I decided that February's edition of Instagram Food Wars would feature a showdown of that most typical of health foods, the smoothie. While this showdown may not be all-encompassing (there are other smoothie options out there, I know) I went with the two that I frequent the most- the Tropical Cafe at the CRWC and Orange Julius out at the Mall.

We'll kick it old school with Orange Julius first. Growing up, these were the smoothie of smoothies- the Orange Julius in the Old Capitol Mall was the site of many of a smoothie stop. (Yes, young Iowa Citians, back in the day when the Old Capitol Mall was more of a mall and less of a food court/walk through for the University there was an Orange Julius in there. Right where the Hancher Box Office sits today.) I went for a Tropical Sunlight- one of the offerings on the light menu (150 calories per 12 oz. serving) and was somewhat disappointed at the result.

It was delicious- the flavors of orange, mango and guava were all there but it was less of a smoothie and more of a straight-up juice drink. It was liquid and not at all what I would consider a smoothie. The new partnership/merger with Dairy Queen hasn't been good to the old gang at Orange Julius. I, for one am not a fan.

Next up, there's the newer smoothie joint on the block, the Tropical Smoothie Cafe. This smoothie joint has become an occasional post-workout treat of the Missus and I and to be totally honest with you, kids, it's because they might just have the best damn smoothies in town. They're fruity, thick, filling and the perfect way to cap off a good workout down at the CRWC. I believe (but I'm not 100% sure) that they're Iowa City's first Tropical Smoothie Cafe franchise (there was another one at food court on the MSU-Mankato Campus) and they've got location and quality on their side. Pictured here is the Sunrise Sunset- a delicious blend of strawberries, pineapple, mango and orange. Ordered with Splenda, it runs into the 200-300 calorie range. The other delicious one that's a recent discovery is the Acai Berry Boost (acai, pomegranate, banana, blueberries and strawberries) which again, when made with Splenda runs into the 200-300 calorie range which isn't bad at all. (I was less a fan of their Mocha smoothie. Felt a little too syrupy for my liking but the Missus was a fan!)

The Verdict: There's no argument here at all- Tropical Smoothie Cafe FTW!

This Week In Vexillology #17

Well, we did Spain this month so it seems only logical to hop next door and check out its neighbor. That's right, kids- get out a bottle of port, learn how to spell Eusebio correctly and get ready- because this week, it's Portugal!

Adopted for national and civil usage June 30th, 1911 the current flag of Portugal was the first flag following the fall of the monarchy and the formation of the Republic. The red in the flag represents revolution, while the green in the flag represents a Portuguese explorer, Prince Henry the Navigator. Keeping in the theme of exploration, we find a armillary sphere in the center of the flag- which was an early navigational tool.

Together with the shield, the armillary forms the emblem of Portugal that appears on the Portuguese coat of arms. The armillary represents the importance of Portuguese exploration of the globe, while the seven gold castles in the red outside of the shield represent Portuguese expansion. The blue shields in the center represent King Alphonso Henriques who established Portugal as an independent kingdom.

Ladies and gentlemen-- Portugal! And until next time, remember to keep your flags flying- FREAK or otherwise!

'Marley' --A Review

Kids, once upon a time, I wanted to be a Rasta. I assume everyone has that fleeting thought at one point or the other but it was my freshman year of college and I was looking for a clean break with high school and something new and so, I looked up Rastafarianism, didn't really understand a lot of it (still don't) and figured that if I was going to do it, I'd need dreadlocks so attempted to grow them. What I ended up with after about a semester of growth was the start of a mullet. I realized that in order to get to ponytail territory, let alone dreadlock territory, I'd need to endure about a year if not longer of mullet territory, I cut my hair. (And got my eyebrow and nipple pierced instead- but not at the same time.)

This movie made me want a job where I could grow dreadlocks, listen to reggae all day and be a Rasta again. I love Bob Marley- the Legends album was part of the discography of our family vacations growing up and well, it's reggae. How can you not like reggae?

What I didn't know what anything about the man himself, Bob Marley. He was born to a white father (Norval Sinclair Marley a plantation overseer, who claimed to be a Captain in the Royal Marines) and a black mother Cedella Booker in 1945. His father provided financial support for his family but Bob didn't see him a lot and his father died of a heart attack when Bob was 10. They moved to Kingston where Marley met Bunny Wailer- and together along with Peter Tosh they eventually formed the core of the Wailers (after some stints as The Teengers, The Wailing Rudeboys and The Wailing Wailers) and spent most of the 60s recording and becoming major stars in their native Jamaica.

1972 proved to be a banner year for Marley and the Wailers- as they signed with Island Records to record an entire album- marking the first time a reggae band/act had accorded the same equipment and financial resources as rock and pop acts. (That album was Catch A Fire.) By 1974 however, the original line-up of the Wailers had broken up with Tosh and Wailer going onto solo projects, while Marley continued to record as Bob Marley and the Wailers.

The back half of the 70s proved to be excellent for Bob Marley's career. He scored an international breakthrough hit with No Woman, No Cry in 1975 though political troubles at home kept him away from Jamaica for awhile. (Marley agreed to do a free concert to calm rising tensions and violence between the rival Jamaican Labor Party and the People's National Party. Someone attempted to assassinate him for it- a second free concert in 1978 saw the leaders of the rival parties come on stage and, at Marley's request join hands.)

In 1977 however, a malignant melanoma was discovered under the toenail of one of Marley's big toes and despite the Doctor's advice to have it amputated, Marley refused and continued to plan and tour. But the cancer spread- and Marley's final concert was in 1980 and he spent much of the next year seeking treatment in Germany but there was nothing they could do. He died in Miami on May 11th, 1981 at the age of 36.

OK, wow- where do I begin with this movie? Documentarians, especially biographical ones tend to say the words 'definitive portrait' an awful lot- but in this case, Kevin McDonald hits the nail on the head. Friends, family, children, girlfriends (Marley had a whopping eleven children by seven different women) all show up in this movie to be interviewed and McDonald really dug deep to produce an amazing portrait of Bob Marley. You see where he lived, where he grew up, there's amazing concert footage and pictures- pretty much everything you wanted to know about Bob Marley but were afraid to ask.

It also makes the spiritual aspects of Marley's music more obvious and explains a lot of what Rastafarians believe- which is aspect of his music I hadn't even considered before, to be totally honest about it.

The cinematography is probably what got me the most though. Long, gorgeous shots flying over the mountains of Jamaica make me want to drop everything, load up the wife and pets and move there to, well, I don't know. Grow dreadlocks and be a 911 Dispatcher I guess? (I'm sure I could come up with some other marketable skills in Jamaica- just give me time.) It looks like an absolutely gorgeous country- almost magical really, which explains a lot about Bob Marley, I think.

Overall: An amazing documentary that's totally worth watching- especially if you're a fan of Marley and his music or just reggae in general. If there's such a thing as a definitive portrait of someone, Kevin MacDonald might just have found it with this amazing film. **** out of ****.

Food Adventures #21: CHICKEN AND WAFFLES

Kids, I freely admit that I am a sucker for food promotions. Doritos Locos Tacos? Excited the hell out of me- when the Cool Ranch ones show up next month I am THERE. With my SOMBRERO ON. Crystal Pepsi? Drank it. Surge? Drank that. Orbitz? Drank plenty of that. New flavors of Wheat Thins, Cheez-Its and Doritos? Gotta try them. (Those Pepper Jack Doritos make me glad that I'm trying my best to stay healthy. Back in the day they could have been baaaaaaad news for my snacking habit.)

When I first started seeing the Lays Commercials for this stupid Facebook vote thing they were doing I had to track down all the flavors- including the most exciting flavor of them all CHICKEN AND WAFFLES!

To me, this is the most exciting food combination EVER MADE. I mean, waffles by themselves are pretty good. Chicken by itself is pretty good (anyone who's had KFC or one of these can attest to that. Mmmmmm... another deliciously unhealthy food.) But together? MIND BLOWN. Could they work as potato chips though? That was the question... Sriracha chips (another flavor I enjoy) were good but spicy- like heart burn inducingly spicy. And I'm not a fan of heart burn. The cheesy garlic bread chips? Also good- but tasted a little too buttery for my liking. (Ironic, isn't it? I'm eating greasy potato chips and I think they're too buttery.)

Anyway, I can definitively say that these were awesome. And I've some really bad chips over the years (the hamburger flavored Doritos were an epic disaster.) These got my vote on the stupid Facebook thing that they were doing and I will be staying far, far, far away from any large bags of these in the future because they will vanish quickly. ('Into MAH BELL-EH')

You might see these chips as being symptomatic of the very real problem of America's expanding waistlines and you wouldn't be wrong there- but to me, along with our waistlines, we've got a problem of willpower that's worth addressing. 'Everything in moderation' is a motto worth adopting, but we're not that kind of country. No, we're go-getters and high-flyers and we want to be bigger, faster, stronger and do crazier shit than you because this is America, dammit! Anything you can do, we can do better- or choose not to do well in it all, like soccer. So I'm going to raise a toast to the creative lunatic that thought chicken and waffles would be a good flavor for a potato chip- because they are. And the fact that someone thought this was so crazy, it just might be good restores a little bit of my faith in the American dream. Insanely wonderful crazy things can still happen here. And that rocks.

Bookshot #59: Homeland

I enjoyed the heck out of Cory Doctorow's Little Brother- so when I saw that he had written a sequel, I was all about it-- this was a must-read, must-check out, must enjoy type of a book and yes, I'm aware of the irony as I've already broken my self-imposed moratorium for 2013, but hey, what's a Kindle for, right?

Homeland picks up after the events of Little Brother and we find our hero Marcus Yallow, his girlfriend Ange and their friends Darryl, Van and Jolu all struggling to get by. Life's gotten harder for them since the events of Little Brother. Marcus is unemployed- having dropped out of college when the debt became too much to handle. His parents have lost their jobs and are struggling to get by. Darryl is still recovering from the prolonged torture and interrogation he was subjected to by the government in Little Brother. Ange is going to college and things are still awkward between Darryl's gilfriend Van and Marcus (Van has a major crush on Marcus still.) At the Burning Man Festival (which I want to go to someday. I think I might upgrade that to the old bucket list.) Marcus and Ange are approached by hackers Masha and Zeb who have a treasure trove of Wikileaks style documents that they want Marcus to release if something happens to them. Predictably, something does happen and then Marcus is back in the thick of it once again, doing what he can against an increasingly authoritarian and oppressive government- though this time, he finds himself working for a state senate campaign and starts to wonder if maybe, just maybe, people can make a difference...

And no, I'm not going to spoil the ending. Any fans of YA Lit out there should get ahold of both of these books and give them a read-- though, ironically, it's the fact these books are YA Lit that makes them somewhat frustrating to read. I sort of wanted more from this book in terms of writing- I wanted better character development, less adverbs (can someone give me a definitive answer on those one way or the other? I was told 'adverb bad, no -ly words' and Doctorow peppers his book with them... or maybe that's just a stylistic difference) and in general, just plain more of a story than what I got- I kept having to pause and remind myself that it was technically a book aimed at teenagers so I shouldn't be quite so critical of it.

What I do like about these books is that they're jammed packed with super cool knowledge about interesting stuff that everybody- and I do mean everybody should learn about. These books make me want to quit my job and sign up for Code Academy full time and really learn programming, you know. They talk about hacking and practical, real life ways to protect your anonymity online if you really want too. (The afterwords in these books are a must-- and if you think it's bullshit, well then Google and see for yourself.) Things like 3D printing, building your own drones, parallels to wikileaks and privacy on the internet are all themes hard at work in Homeland- but with one, tiny catch.

If Doctorow has a fault, it might be that he's too idealistic. There's a lot of 'power to the people' type rhetoric that smells a lot like the Occupy movement to me. In general, I'm cynical and dubious about it all, increasingly so in my old age because really at the end of the day, I approach it from the other side of things and just assume that people want to be left alone. I know there's a group of hardcore techno-utopian nerds out there fighting for the free internet- that I'm a huge fan of- that, I'll take to the barricades for, but this 'people power' crap just doesn't do it for me. Change- especially in a country as big as this one is not going to be easy and there's the sad potential that if push came to shove it could be a very bloody affair indeed. If there's one irritating trend on the left I'd like to get rid of, it's this notion that massive protests are the way to go to get shit done. They look sexy as hell but revolutions live or die based on what happens the day AFTER we've all won change we can believe in or whatever-- revolutions, real ones, are boring.

And I expect they don't make for very exciting books, so if my objection is a quibble, I'll call it a minor one and say we're even, because if there's one thing that's very appealing about Cory Doctorow, it's his consistency. He's willing to slap around left and right when they're wrong about something and if there's one thing that this country is in desperately short supply of, it's consistency when it comes to principles like freedom and privacy and the right to assemble or protest. It's refreshing to read it in a book- I just hope we can see it in the White House and/or Congress someday as well.

Overall: This one felt a little sluggish in parts, but it's still thought-provoking stuff and worth a read- especially for YA Lit fans out there. *** out of **** (the massive amounts of real world information jammed in here get it the extra star.)

Three Years Gone

I heard a story once- it's apocryphal but today, like I do every year, I always think about it. They say that King George III wrote four simple words in his diary on July 4th, 1776: nothing important happened today. The simplest explanation is most likely the truth: news travelled more slowly in those days- it's entirely possible that King George had yet to hear the news. It's possible that he was unaware of the significance, didn't feel the earthquake, the thunderous upheaval as a new country shouldered its way into the world.

I like to think he knew though. I like to think that he had some inkling of what was coming or what was about to come- and by declaring the absence of anything of importance on that day of all days, he was trying to push it away, trying to forget but the absence speaks louder than words. The silence is immense and in that silence, you can hear everything and remember.

So I'd like to think the King George knew. He was insane, of course, suffering from porphyria and the story, as I've said is apocryphal. It probably never happened at all. But today is a day for quiet. Today is a day for silence and today is day to remember that day, three years ago when a part of my world stopped and vanished forever.

Nothing important happened today.

Be Skeptical, Linn County

So if you've been living in Eastern Iowa for the past several months, you probably know that Linn County is getting set to vote on a new casino on March 5th. You've probably seen ads letting you know that 'they' (whomever 'they' are) can't fool the meat lady, so vote yes. And you've probably seen counter-ads casting doubt on the number of jobs and/or money it would bring to the Linn County- and now they're already looking at Riverfront sites for it as well.

Look, I really could care less about the casino. I don't live in Linn County, I don't gamble- I haven't been to any of the Riverboat Casinos in Davenport, the one in Riverside or even the Meskwaki Casino up in Tama. And you know what- there's a bunch of casinos already around the Eastern Iowa area, so what is one more going to hurt? If it gives Cedar Rapids a boost then more power to them.

If this was in front of me March 5th, I'm honestly not sure how I'd vote on it. I'd approach this with a certain amount of skepticism but at the end of the day if it helps, it helps-- I just hope there's more to the Riverfront development than just a big-ass casino and some parking spaces.

Whiskey Of The Month: A Update

Sooooooo... apparently, Maker's Mark heard the cries of outraged whiskey and bourbon lovers everywhere and backtracked in a big hurry. They won't be watering down their hooch after all. (Templeton Rye was faced with a similar choice a few years ago as the brand took off-- they chose not to sacrifice quality for quantity and although 'the good stuff' was damn hard to find for awhile, they're through the production bottleneck and doing better than ever.)

Now, the question remains-- what am I going to do for next month? I was going to dip my toes in the ever expanding world of Moonshine but then I realized it was March and not sampling an Irish whiskey- well that would just be wrong.

Decisions, decisions...

How Do You Say 'Duck and Cover' in Russian?

So, a meteorite hit Russia last night... (if you haven't heard the news!)

Looks pretty damn scary from the footage- though the injuries seem to be mounting most of them seem to be from flying/shattered glass as a result of the shock wave which followed. (I guess the first instinct of people these days is to run outside and whip out their smart phone so they can get it on the Internet as fast as possible. Makes for cool YouTube videos but major suckage when all the windows go BOOM.)

It's worth noting that they weren't expecting this- at all. So there was no time to do a big Hollywood rescue or anything like that. Had this sucker been a bigger one, we might be missing a chunk of Russia today or be waking up to an impact winter. All of which underlines the importance of the space program and establishing a viable human presence off planet as soon as possible. (Or at the very least a Moonbase with an observatory on the dark side so we can see more of these damn things coming.) As a species, we might be about as significant as a piece of fly shit in the grand scheme of the big, large universe but looking back on the whole of human history, culture and experience I think it'd be a damn shame to see a hunk of rock wipe all that out because we weren't bold enough to explore our own damn universe a bit.

Just sayin' is all...

This Week In Vexillology #16

The smallest independent state in the world made the news this week in the biggest way possible- so if you're a Baptized Catholic male, start trying on oversized hats and prepare to take the coolest car since the Batmobile out for a spin because they might just throw everyone a curveball and pick YOU! Yes, kids- we're keeping it timely this week- sit down, relax and start scanning the horizon for white smoke because this week- it's Vatican City!

The modern flag was adopted for civil usage on June 7th, 1929 but the colors were first adopted in 1808- and that flag was used until 1870 when the Papal State were incorporated into a new unified Italy. (For those of you who aren't European history buffs- not that long ago, historically speaking, the Pope controlled more than just Vatican City- he had large chunks of what is now Italy at his disposal and the further back you go, the more territory and temporal power he had.) After almost a sixty year absence, the Papal States were once again granted independence in 1929- but this time they were limited to Vatican City.

The yellow and the white in the flag represent the color of the keys of St. Peter (gold and silver)- and the keys have been part of the Papal Arms since the Middle Ages- the key emblem on the white strip of the flag having been used since the 13th Century to represent the Vatican's role as the HQ of the Catholic Church.

The keys themselves: well the triple crown at the top represents the three types of temporal power (executive, legislative and judicial- sounds familiar I hope) that's given to the Pope. The crossed keys represent the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven given to St. Peter by Jesus and the red rope ties it all together in one nice symbolic bow.

Ladies and gentlemen- put your hands together (and if you're into that, place your bets on who the next Pope is going to be) and give it up for Vatican City! And until next time, keep your flags flying- FREAK or otherwise!

The Drink Heard Round The World

So Florida Senator Marco Rubio delivered the Republican response to the State of the Union Speech last night. (No, I didn't watch- I was at work and besides, given the reaction and round-up I'm reading it doesn't seem like anybody on either side of the aisle said anything worth listening to anyway.) And he got a little thirsty apparently...

And CNN has had it's undies in a bunch about this all day- Rubio's 'Water'gate they're calling it...

Seriously? WTF is wrong with the media these days? First, every salient fact about the Sandy Hook tragedy they intially reported was dead wrong. They spent like three hours last night telling us that the LAPD had found the ex-cop's body and it was all over when in fact the cabin was still burning and therefore law enforcement had found nothing of the sort and now they're spending acres of ink and television time talking about a Senator taking a drink of water.

Look, if anyone's at fault, it's whomever put the water somewhere near Virginia Beach instead of right next to him- that bottle of water is FAR away. So yeah, reaching for it looked a little awkward but Senator Rubio managed it, took a sip and got right back to his speech. (And no, I didn't watch that either...) Personally, I think it makes him look more human and like someone voters could relate too- (in other words, someone not perfectly packaged for television.)

At the very least, it's a small, small moment that's getting way too much attention. From everyone including me, I guess...

UPDATED: And then there's this... CNN wondering if a sip of water is 'a career-killer.' Dear God, CNN, just... wow. Seriously? Please do us all a favor and take yourselves off the air.

Whiskey of the Month #5: The Bourbon Doubleheader

Well, we've done some single malts, an Irish whiskey, a wee taste of Rye and this month finds me with a couple of bourbons kicking around the liquor cabinet and I thought, why not have some fun and try not one, but two bourbons this month.

But first, some definitions- bourbon is:

made from a grain mixture that is at least 51% corn;
aged in new, charred-oak barrels;
distilled to no more than 160 (U.S.) proof (80% alcohol by volume);
entered into the barrel for aging at no more than 125 proof (62.5% alcohol by volume); and be bottled (like other whiskeys) at 80 proof or more (40% alcohol by volume).

The vast majority of bourbon is produced in- where else, Kentucky! Tennessee also has four major bourbon producers but three of the four don't call their finished product bourbon but Tennessee Whiskey instead. (There's some subtle differences between the two of them but I'll get into those when we actually sit down and sample a Tennessee Whiskey.)

Second, let's get to the main event- first up, we've got Maker's Mark:

Color: Amber

Body: Predominantly I got vanilla off of this- but there were notes of caramel as well and maybe just a touch of brown sugar.

Palate: Very well balanced on the tongue. It wasn't thick and syrupy but it wasn't too watery either.

Finish: Very pleasant going down with a gradual warmth that's not harsh at all.

Overall: At 30 bucks a pop (I needed some for a recipe so settled for a small bottle in the 15-20 range at Hy-Vee Waterfront) Maker's Mark should be better than it is. It's a solid bourbon but if I'm going to spend money on bourbon, I expect to be impressed. I wasn't. This was ho-hum, run of the mill bourbon- solid but I get the sneaking suspicion that they're trading on their brand-name more than anything else. A suspicion backed up by this news- and then there's this floating around out there. No offense to fans of the Mark, but at 30 bucks a pop, I'm not buying watered down bourbon.

Next up, The Original Jesse James- America's Outlaw Bourbon Whiskey:

Color: Butterscotch/caramel (an altogether darker shade of Amber.)

Body: The color matches the body on this one. The predominant flavor I got from this was butterscotch- but there's just a hint of the oak as well and maybe some toffee notes dancing on the back of the tongue.

Palate: Very, very light on the tongue- almost watery but not in a weak way.

Finish: There's not much burn to this one and that makes it very easy and altogether pleasant to drink.

Overall: At 20 bucks a pop this impressed me I felt like I got my money's worth and then some with this stuff. If you're looking to do a little bourbon exploration without breaking the bank, score a bottle of this stuff and enjoy.

Haven't been a big drinker of bourbon before this- but it's pretty damn tasty so far and as a far less expensive vice to have than Single Malt. If you're not in the brandy sifter/cigar type of budget area, you'd be better served by springing for a decent bottle of bourbon for your regular drinking and keeping a single malt kicking around for special occasions.

And if you still want to get your single malt on without breaking the bank, find a restaurant with a decent whiskey selection and go to town. I've dipped my toes into the glories of Glenfiddich this past month sampling their 15 year old Solara vat up at the Happy Gnome in St. Paul (excellent stuff- has a nice burst of sweetness that I enjoyed immensely) and their 18 year old at Baroncini's* this past weekend for my Mom's birthday. (Incredibly smooth stuff. Delicious- Father Cigar sprung for some of the Lagavulin which is the Islay of Islays- haven't met one to top it yet but Father Cigar mentioned this article on Bruchladdich that's worth a peek and a read if you can muscle your way past the pay wall- and I'm thinking a taste at some point in the future.)

Until next month, kids- happy drinking!

*Baroncini's is probably the best Italian Restaurant we've had in downtown Iowa City for a very long time- no offense to Giovanni's and the many fans of The Brown Bottle but the atmosphere was intimate, the food delicious and the Tiramisu was mind-blowingly good. Perfect for a romantic date night- but get reservations. Space is at a premium in this place. And it was pretty weird thinking about the fact it used to be Nemesis- a tattoo/piercing place. (I got my nipple pierced about where the table across from our booth was sitting- and some frat dudes were all like 'Dude are you getting your nipple pierced? Man, this dude is getting his nipple pierced!')

The Wrestling Thing

Iowa is imploding as we speak: the International Olympic Committee, has in its august wisdom voted to drop wrestling from the Olympics starting in 2020. The sport that was saved in its place? Modern pentathalon. For the record, this isn't the end of the line for wrestling- there's one more vote to make it official at the IOC's general assembly in Buenos Aires later this year- and even if they don't reverse the decision there (I hope they do) then they can reapply along with seven other sports (including a joint baseball/softball bid) to be placed back on the program.

Look kids, I'll freely admit it: I know jack squat about wrestling. It's fairly exciting to watch but I really don't have a damn clue what I'm watching and take my cues from the crowd- when they start losing their shit and freaking out, you can't help but get a little excited about it. Wrestling, to me, is the one link between the modern and ancient games that the Olympics has. I don't care if Pierre De Coubertin created modern pentathalon- they were wrestling in the ANCIENT OLYMPIC GAMES, like you know- the ones in Olympia? That alone makes wrestling more valuable than any other sport- that and the fact that I'll be damned if I can recall seeing an instant of modern pentathalon at the last games- but I sure as hell saw plenty of wrestling.

Folks are gearing up for this- Russia and Turkey are pretty pissed. Dan Gable is spitting mad and ready to fight. Tom Brands declared that the decision was 'worse than death' and I even saw that Our Glorious Leader, The Moustache had weighed in saying it was, in essence pretty damn stupid. A Facebook page-'Keep Wrestling In The Olympics' went live this morning and ended the day with over 50K in likes.

I hope the IOC listens and reverses course. If power walking gets to stay, wrestling should too.

**UPDATED**: Got some links for everyone to peruse...

FB Group- 'Keep Wrestling In The Olympics' already up to 70K likes and rising...

An Open Letter from Dan Gable about the decision, here.

Iowa Wrestling Coach Tom Brands' reaction, here.

Petitions on Change.org and WhiteHouse.gov over here and here.

And will wonders never cease! Our very own Congressman Dave Loebsack is on the case.

'Wreck-It Ralph' --A Review

The Missus and her Little Sis from Big Brothers/Big Sisters were due to have a fun day yesterday so I tagged along as they went up to Cedar Rapids to eat some lunch at the New Bo City Market and then up to the Collins Road Theatres to catch the afternoon matinee of Wreck-It Ralph.

I had wanted to see this movie ever since it came out having heard plenty of good things about it and I'm pleased to announce that it didn't disappoint and it went one step further- it might be one of the best video game movies ever made. The genre- or I guess, sub-genre of the video game movie is one replete with corny goodness (Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat) and the occasional awful turd (Super Mario Brothers) but no actual solid, good movies that really capture the essence of a game. Scott Pilgrim vs The World comes close, but that's less a movie about video games and more of a 'life as a video game' metaphor for teenage angst.

Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly) is the titular character and bad guy of the arcade game 'Wreck-It Ralph' which has long been a mainstay at Litvak's Arcade. When the arcade closes for the night, the characters can travel freely via rail to other games via the 'Game Central Station' (the rails are power cords and the 'Game Central Station' is the power strip they all plug into.) and we first meet Ralph at a support group for bad guys and he's starting to chafe in his assigned role. He wants to be a good guy for once and wants a little more than a life of wrecking things and an uncomfortable home in his game's dump. (The support group is a who's who of classic video game villains from a Pac-Man ghost to Zangief and M. Bison from Street Fighter- both of whom hilariously contribute to the discussion.)

When he returns home after group and finds the other characters celebrating the game's 30th Anniversary without him (he wasn't even invited) Ralph gets mad and vows to return with his very own medal or not at all. At Tapper's (another game- that doubles as a bar) the bartender, Tapper lets slip that he can win a medal in the first person shooter game Hero's Duty- so Ralph sneaks aboard and prepares to fight the evil Cy-Bugs udner the command of Sergeant Calhoun (a rough and tough talking Jane Lynch). Sure enough, Ralph makes a mess of things but soon is flying out of Hero's Duty with his medal before getting lost in the kart racing game, Sugar Rush where he makes the acquaintance of Vanellope Von Sweetz (Sarah Silverman), a glitchy character that's desperate to try and be a racer.

Little does Ralph know, but in his absence, his game is threatened with unplugging and the hero, Fix It Felix (Jack McBrayer) has set off to find Ralph and bring him back home. And as Ralph and Vanellope become friends and try and get her into the racing line-up, despite her glitch the Cy-Bug that Ralph inadvertantly brought with him into Sugar Rush may pose a bigger threat to all the games and give Ralph a chance to be a hero after all.

(And no, I'm not going to spoil the ending.) I loved this movie- it's a perfect kids movie but it's also a sly and somewhat subversive homage to arcade games- and it's actually kind of amazing to me Disney managed to get it's ducks in a row and get so many video game characters to appear in this movie at all. The Street Fighter characters were especially funny and anyone who spent any time at all in an arcade will have a lot of fun trying to spot all the different characters that make appearances in the film. If it's possible to imagine what life would be like inside an old school arcade game, Wreck-It Ralph nails it on the head. (Even the smashed cake at the party Ralph crashes splatters in 8-bit graphics-- a nice touch.) And the underlying themes of wanting more and wanting to grow beyond your regular hum-drum existence are universal in nature. Everybody wants a little more for themselves from time to time- especially if they get stuck in a rut like Ralph was.

Overall: A brilliant movie and an excellent way to wile away and afternoon. Another one for the Amazon.com wishlist... I can give this **** out of **** without any hesitation.

The Retail Chestnut

The DI did a nice long piece about the future of retail in downtown Iowa City which made some good points but the editorial they ran along with it undid a lot of the good points they made. I'm not going to babble on about this old chestnut- my general stand is that the quality of shopping needs to improve downtown if they want to get people back down there. While I understand the new parking policy is designed to get more people into the ramps (first hour of parking free) cutting the meters to one hour and enforcing them until 9PM is just going to mean that people aren't going to fight the inconvinience of parking downtown- they just won't go unless they have too.

What I don't like about the current retail strategy is that every time something new opens up, somebody undercuts it with a chain. Whitey's has been around for awhile- so they bring in Coldstone just down the block. YoTopia brings back froyo to downtown for the first time since Freshens closed waaaaaaaaay back in the day- and what happens? Orange Leaf and Aspen Leaf show up. It's stupid-- and whatever we do, we shouldn't be duplicating quite that much. (Maybe one more froyo place. Two is just overkill.)

Yes, the local business flavor of Iowa City is part of what makes downtown unique- we're not going to be Coralville with its acres of free parking and plastic shopping malls all over the place. But boutique shopping isn't working for us either. If I want to buy a pair of jeans there's nowhere downtown for me to do it- and any lady that's bigger than a sorority girl from Schaumberg with an eating disorder is shit out of luck too.

I think there's plenty of room for carefully crafted diversity downtown. We can't go hog wild with chain retail but if there's a chain that's a good fit and there's room for it, why not? We can afford to be picky about it.

How Do You Say 'Peace Out, Y'all!' In Latin?

Well kids, I, like the rest of the world woke up to news of the biggest resignation since Nixon's- if not the biggest resignation ever. Yes, Pope Benedict XVI (more affectionately known round these parts as Pope Skeletor I) officially gave his two weeks notice today- announcing that he is resigning effective February 28th and in doing so, he caught absolutely everyone by surprise.

For the record, he's not the first Pope to resign. There is precedent for this- but you've got to go all the way back to 1415 and Pope Gregory XII to get to the last Papal resignation. (And he only resigned in a massive complex deal designed to end the Western Schism which was going on at the time. Not that I'm rooting for the appearance of an Anti-Pope or two.)

So why the resignation? He says he couldn't keep up and there have been reports that his health was starting to fail in recent months but after the VatiLeaks Scandal last year, Der Speigel ran this fascinating article that gave a surprisingly frank look at the inner workings of the Vatican. The article makes clear the Benedict was surprised to be elected Pope to begin with and although he was a veteran of the Curia (the body that does the governing day-to-day in the Vatican) he didn't make any major moves to reform it or shake things up. Moves he did make didn't seem to go anywhere as the Curia seems to have rapidly split into competing factions as they struggle for control of the place.

This keeps in line with what most people already assumed: as a 78 year old Pope when he was elected, he was seen more as a Caretaker Pope than anything else. This wasn't a guy that was going to light up a Third Vatican Council anytime soon. After three decades of JP Deuce, they went with continuity and in Benedict they got a Pope that wasn't interested in rocking the boat all that much. And how could he? He was tasked with being the follow up act to JP Deuce who really was the first truly modern Pope- if such a thing could be said to have existed. At 78 he didn't have the time to get out of the shadow of his predecessor and I expect he knew that- which is why his resignation, so unexpected, so surprising might be the shrewdest and canniest move he's made over the entirety of his Papacy.

Traditionally, when a Pope dies, there's a 40 day mourning period before the Cardinals convene to elect a new Pope. That's been thrown out the window now because, well, Benedict didn't die. As a result, there's no obvious group of front-runners- this Conclave is going to wide open. And that could lead to potentially some very interesting results. While I get that Conservatives are holding a lot of power in the Church right now, what I don't like are these moves to roll back Vatican II and create a smaller, more doctrinally pure tent. No, no, no- the Church needs to be a BIG tent, a truly universal Church. I'm not saying you throw out the babies with the bathwater and start handing out condoms and performing gay marriages anytime soon but we need a Conservative (because barring a surprise, that's what we're going to get. The College of Cardinals is dominated by Cardinals appointed by Benedict and JP Deuce- both conservatives) that's going to be a leader for all Catholics, not an enforcer for conservative Catholic dogma.

Smart money says to bet on an Italian- they've had a lock on the Papacy, they're a sizable bloc in the College of Cardinals and it's been decades since there's been an Italian Pope. But, if the Der Speigel article I linked to above is to be believed, the mess of the VatiLeaks Scandal and in the Curia might have damaged their chances. An American Pope? New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan is mentioned but I don't think he's seen as a serious choice. A Pope from the Superpower might make more than a few people queasy- but there are choices all over the place from Latin America to Africa to even Canada.

I'm not that much of a Catholic anymore- I'm fairly lapsed to be totally honest about it. But Catholicism is in my DNA. The first months of my life were spent in a Dominican Priory, I went to Church every Sunday until I was 18 and once the habits and the smells and rituals get engrained into you, they're damn hard to completely let go of. But when the sexual abuse scandal hit and the Hierarchy chose obfuscation and cover up (and in the case of Cardinal Law, a promotion to a nice cushy job in the Vatican) I just couldn't stomach it anymore. By sitting in a Catholic Church, I felt like I was surrendering my faith to a Hierarchy that felt- and still feels that they are above the law and unwilling to submit to consequences for their sins. I felt like I was consenting to the cover-ups and the lack of accountability and as a lay person, I had no voice, no say and no leadership willing to hear my concerns. And at the end of the day, I couldn't let my faith be hijacked like that. My faith is mine- and although it's not something I talk about openly, it's a deeply personal thing for me and so when things like this happen, I care. I obsess slightly and I read everything I can about them.

Moments like this don't happen all that often but when they do, it's like catnip to me. The art of politics as practiced by the true masters of the art is going to be on display. No one plays politics like the Roman Catholic Church does- complexities and competing factions and power that's fascinating to watch. If you want to know why I have two degrees in political science, it's because I get to read about and watch moments like this. And it's amazing.

Food Adventures #20: Skinny Monkey Cookies

Well, these were my first foray into gluten-free baking and it was a good one, save for one little flaw in the recipe (that can be found over here, if you're interested.) I loved making these- they were easy and at 47 calories a pop they're healthy too. How to make them? Get all the ingredients, dump them in a big old bowl and mix them up- and there aren't too many ingredients- basically bananas, oats, peanut butter, cocoa, unsweetened applesauce, vanilla extract and a dash of cinnamon so these are relatively quick and easy to whip up.

I do have one little bone to pick with the recipe- it said to use an ungreased cookie sheet. Novice baker that I am, I tend to follow my recipes unthinkingly and obeyed that instruction. Big, big mistake- I ended up having to peel them off the cookie sheet.

But on the upside- everybody liked them! People did think they tasted a little like banana bread- but I'm not sure that's necessarily a bad thing either. I can highly recommend these cookies- they're easy, simple, quick and a lot of fun to make. (I'd say this is a must bake especially if you have kids- it'd be the perfect activity for the kitchen.)

This Week In Vexillology #15

Cook up some tapas, pour yourself a nice glass of red wine and get ready to get crazy like Ibiza on Spring Break- because this week, kids- it's Spain!

Red and yellow have been colors associated with Spain for centuries now- it was 1785 when the King of Spain adopted the colors to distinguish his shops from those of other countries- the present layout was adapted on July 19th, 1927 for national and civil usage and the colors were originally taken from the arms of both Castile and Aragón the two regions that were united by Ferdinand and Isabella to make the Kingdom of Spain.

Spain was a republic from 1931 to 1939 and the flag shifted from it's usual layout to an equal horizontal tricolor of red, yellow and purple. The purple is thought to have referred to either the arms of León or Granada. The original format was restored with the victory of the Nationalists in 1939.

The arms are set towards the hoist and reflect the regions of Spain. The first and fourth quarters of the shield represent Castile and León. The others recall Aragón and Navarre. The base is the pomegranate of Granada and the whole shield is supported by the Pillars of Hercules and the motto is Latin: 'Plus Ultra' which means 'above all.'

Ladies and Gentlemen- Spain! And remember, until next time keep your flags flying- FREAK or otherwise!

Braley Is In

Accelerating what's likely to be the biggest political story in Iowa for the 2014 cycle, Congressman Bruce Braley announced today that he would be running to fill the retiring Tom Harkin's Senate seat in next year's elections. Braley was initially making noise that he was considering taking on The Moustache in next year's gubenatorial match-up but once Senator Harkin announced his retirement, he switched gears pretty quickly and now has officially thrown his hat into the ring for the Senate.

This is kind of a big deal. For the first time in my lifetime and certainly in my time here in Iowa, we're getting a new Senator. It feels a little like when JP Deuce finally died and I got to see white smoke over the Vatican for the first time-- big, big, generational type of deal. (Though I was less than pleased at the election of Pope Skeletor that resulted from that- but that's another post entirely.) And an open Senate seat is going to attract national money and national attention.

There could also be some open Congressional seats as a result. The DM Register is reporting that Representative Steve King is the favorite of GOPers to take on Braley for the seat and 3rd District GOPer Congressman Tom Latham might also be mulling a run along with Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds. Of the three, I think Reynolds would probably be the best choice- but Latham would be the most pragmatic and probably has the best shot at winning, I think. He's got a rep for being a solid but not tin-foil hat wearing GOPer whereas Steve King, remains, as always, Steve King who would undoubtedly carry on the recent GOPer streak of picking the worst Senate Candidates possible. (There are whispers from the Medium White North that Michelle Bachmann might be mulling a run against Senator Franken next year. I don't know whether to shudder at the thought she might succeed or laugh hysterically at the possibility of her epic failure.)

I'd have to hear a little more from Reynolds before deciding whether or not she'd be a good candidate- as Chief Henchwoman to The Moustache, she's placed somewhat favorably in the irritating but moderately tolerable wing of the GOPers and one of these years Iowa is going to elect a woman to Congress or the Senate, so why not her? (Seriously: I'm really hoping that this is the cycle that does it. I'm tired of being in the same club as Mississippi- we're the two states that haven't had a woman governor, Representative or Senator. It's time.) And if Reynolds isn't up to it there are a few intriguing possibilities out there to potentially fill Congressman Braley's seat if needed, not the least of which is State Senator Liz Mathis. I don't know if she'd be interested or not but she's got name recognition, she's likeable and she seems to be doing a good job down at the Legislature. (Put it this way, I assume elected officials are doing a good job if I don't read about them in the news. Which might be a flawed assumption on my part, I'll grant you.)

Either way- it's interesting times ahead!

(Random Post-Script: I'm really getting tired of 2016 Crystal Ball Gazing by the media. It's not even 2014 for f--k's sake. Yes, we know Governor Jindal is probably going to run. Ditto Senator Rubio, Vice-President Biden and Secretary Clinton and I could give two shits about Governor Christie's weight. Reagen was old as dirt when he became President and managed to keep the place running and an overweight President would only be a reflection of the reality of American and Americans today. I don't care- though I suppose fans of President Taft might resent the possibility of Christie stealing their thunder.)

UPDATED: Well, this is interesting... DM Register published a poll tonight about which candidates Iowans found most appealing and it turns out that former Gov and current Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack takes top spot with 55% and his wife Christie Vilsack slides in just behind him at 42%- though she's saying she's for sure not running. Of the eight candidates on the poll only Vilsack, Braley and Latham were the candidates that Iowans liked more than they didn't. The trio at the bottom of the pile (more Iowans disliked them as candidates than liked them)- The Moustache's Chief Henchwoman, Congressman Steve King and Conservative Activist Bob Vander Plaats ranked at the bottom- 54% didn't like Vander Plaats which is nice.

Yeah. Interesting... Vilsack would be another good choice for Team Blue and it's way too early to start handicapping a Vilsack/Braley primary and it seems my initial instinct about Latham was right- he'd probably be the best candidate for Team Red. We'll just have to wait and see what Team Red comes up with to go for the Senate seat. (As a bonus- turns out KCRG had the same thought I did about Liz Mathis and it turns out she's already been approached about a potential Congressional run.)

This.

(If the embed is acting funny: http://youtu.be/C_0fyUYB3cA)

If it wasn't for Dikembe Mutombo, I would have blissfully sailed through childhood only dimly aware that there was an NBA. I don't remember if it was a trading card or some random magazine article but Mutombo was 7'2'' and from Zaire. (Which was a country back then, kids- I swear!) That was really, really cool to map obsessed, geography nut elementary/junior school me. (He was playing for the Denver Nuggets at the time, I believe.) So anything involving Dikembe Mutombo automatically has to be awesome.

Saturday's All Right For Fighting- But Not For Mail Delivery

The news story du jour has been the news that the US Postal Service is ending Saturday Mail Delivery-- this came as no surprise to anyone as I think the country has been waiting an announcement about this for what seems like four years now and it does precisely nothing to address the underlying problems of the Post Office itself. Not even The Royal Mail is wholly goverment-run anymore. The Germans privitized parts of theirs and that's how we ended up with DHL (something I didn't know until recently) yet the good old USPS just keeps lurching along from crisis to crisis trying to figure out what to do next- and I used to wonder why- until I read this article.

Turns out that the Post Office is overseen by the most competent body of fair minded sensible people in the United States today. Yes, I'm talking about Congress- and no, I couldn't write that last sentence with a straight face. Hahahahahaha! I'm not going to blame Congress for all the problems- things like email, social media and text messaging means that people just don't write letters like they used too and one of these days Amazon will figure out same day delivery and everything will just implode as we all bow down before our new Corporate Overlord Jeff Bezos and take our rightful places in the Amazon Distribution Centers of the Future.

In short, the modern world is not being nice to the Postal Service. It's bleeding a whopping $36 million a day- that's $25,000 per minute. That's insane. Ending Saturday delivery seems prudent, wise and all round step in the direction of fiscal sanity- and guess what? It's subject to Congressional approval. I can see this ending well for the Post Office already.

The other mind-blowingly weird thing about the Post Office is that they have to pre-fund all the costs for their future retirees. (Read about that glorious burden here.) Guess who saddled them with that? Go on, guess. If you guessed Congress- you'd be entirely correct!

Do I know what the future holds for the Post Office? No, I don't but I don't think it's good either. You could argue that maybe as snail mail finally dies off, you could focus on pacakage delivery but there are already a half dozen companies doing a better job than the Post Office in that business. You could say, just privtize it, trim the fight and get down and dirty with DHL, UPS and FedEx and start fighting it out. Great idea- but there are hefty pension obligations imposed by Congress that no private investor is going to want to deal with- which would undoubtedly stick the taxpayers with a hefty bill. Something no politician is going to want to do either.

But you've got to start somewhere and ending Saturday delivery seems like a decent enough place to start. I'm not at all upset about this- I was more upset when they first started raising stamp prices- but even that I've come to accept as inevitable.

'House of Cards' --A Review

It's been hailed as the 'future of television' and has lapped up critical praise across the board and kids, I've got to say House of Cards lives up to the hype and then some. An Americanized version of the British mini series, Kevin Spacey stars as Congressman Frank Underwood, the Majority Whip in Congress- who opens the season by approaching a dog who's been injured in a hit and run and promptly suffocates it to put it out of its misery, informing the audience in the first of many fourth wall breaking asides that he always does what has to be done. When he's passed over for Secretary of State in an incoming administration starts out on a deliciously machiavellian plan of revenge together with his wife Claire (Robin Wright) and an ambitious reporter Zoe Barnes (Kate Mara). Underwood might be ruthless, power hungry and willing to do anything to get ahead but he's matched and then some by his wife Claire (who's portrayal by Robin Wright just about steals the show from Kevin Spacey.)

In short order, Underwood spikes the President's nominee for Secretary of State, ruins his education plan and the muscles his way in to provide a solution (thus gaining importance influence in the White House) and then ties a young Congressman with a troubled relationship with drugs and booze to his cause, almost ruining him and then setting him to fall as he attempts to run for Governor of Pennsylvania. All of which, by the end of the first season (two are planned, I believe) leaves Underwood on the verge of ascending to a great deal of power indeed.

This was one of the few television shows that I managed to watch completely without seeking out spoilers- and, as such, I won't reveal anything beyond what I already have. This is something worth watching- and something worth seeing to believe. It might be a little extreme in it's portrayal of the power hungry ways of Washington but when Underwood approaches a mentally disturbed homeless man who's screaming wildly in the street and assures him that 'he doesn't matter and nobody can hear him' it's not hard to see the interesting parallels between Washington and the rest of the country. It struck me that in a very real sense, we are that crazy homeless man. Or at least it feel that way a lot of time.

The cinematography reflects this as well. Washington is not a shining, virtuous, lilly-white city. No, this is a dirty city, a city of shadows, dark corners, grungy and grimy which suits it well and is a perfect fit for the overall series as well.

Netflix threw some serious money at this and it paid off in spades for them. I don't know if they'll challenge HBO for quality cable programming but this was one hell of a way to start out. Releasing all the episodes at once could be something that might prove quite innovative in the future, though it might be too soon to tell if this is what could safely be called 'the future of television.' It might be a the beginning of the beginning of the future of television but only time will tell. The Netflix format frees the show from the strictures of commercials and time pressures. Each episodes is as long as it needs to be to tell the story it wants to tell- and without commercial breaks, the lack of artificial cliffhangers throughout the show makes for a very different viewing experience. It feels slower but in reality its more delicately crafted in a way and the gradual pacing in the early episodes quickens pace as more and more of Underwood's plan is revealed.

Overall: This is the best political television show since The West Wing. Can't wait for another season to see what kind of trouble, manipulation and power politics these characters get into next.

Food Adventures #19: The Super Bowl Trio

So yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday and my Mother had a gathering at the Parental's Casa to watch the big game and I volunteered to bring a few things just to contribute to the awesomeness. First up:

MAKER'S MARK RICE KRISPIE TREATS!

If you like bourbon, whiskey and all kinds of yumminess like that (I know I do) then fear not, you can find the recipe over here. I have to admit something maybe mildly shocking to y'all: I had never made regular rice krispie treats before much less ones with a helping of bourbon thrown in for good measure so I didn't know what to expect. (I've tackled Special K Bars- along with tater tot hot dish two culinary favorites I've kept making since my time in the Medium White North.)

Melting the butter went well. Mixing the cinnamon in went well. The marshmallows threw me for a bit but I stuck 'em with a spatula enough and they melted away so I threw in the bourbon and then the recipe said to throw the rice krispies into the sauce pan and mix until combined well before pressing into your 8x8 baking dish.

Silly me... I obeyed unthinkingly and found out what a mess 5 1/2 cups of Rice Krispies can be in a simple sauce pan- the whole damn thing almost went south on me but a large piece of tuperware was located, Krispies combined and they were safely pressed into a pan.

The taste verdict? Generally they were seen as awesome- though I think I sprinkled a little too much cinnamon on the top and I'm not really sure I could taste the bourbon in it but they took average, run of the mill, Rice Krispie treats to another level entirely. I can highly recommend them. Next up?

CRANBERRY GOLDSCHLAGER JELLO SHOTS!

Here's the thing: years ago- and it must have been years because I can't honestly remember when I purchased it, I snagged a bottle of Goldschlager and then it just hung around, hung around, hung around and just never got drunk so I was looking for a way to get rid of it and Jello Shots are a remarkably simple way to do such a thing. One box of Cranberry Jello later and I had a six pack of Jello Shots for the game.

I was a little afraid that the Goldschlager might overwhelm the Cranberry Jello but happily, I only had a third of a cup left so there was just enough to give them a nice Cinnamon kick that blended well with the Cranberry Jello- and the nice thing is that with just one box of Jello used, there weren't loads of excess Jello shots at the end of the night either. Finally...

SPICY PEPPER GOAT CHEESE BRUSCHETTA!

This was an awesome recipe which I found over here and I would happily do this again! We (Mother Cigar and I) put our heads together and transformed what was listed as a 'dip' into straight up bruschetta and it was fantastic! One thing that I would change is adding more Sriracha sauce- I threw a half tablespoon in there and I think I should have kicked it up to a full tablespoon to give it some real kick instead of the more subtle kick it ended up with. (The recipe also called for like a quarter cup of parsley but that seemed like a shitload of parsley to me and I don't really like parsley all that much so I skipped it.)

All in all, it was a slamming Sunday preparing all of this and I went for a bonus and made some Skinny Monkey Cookies- but those deserve their own post, so stay tuned.

This Week In Vexillology #14

Keeping with our theme of warmer, tropical places in these, our winter doldrums, we're taking a visit to the Caribbean- so grab a beach towel, get a mai tai, put your sunscreen on and prepare to relax- because this week, it's St. Kitts & Nevis!

Part of the Leeward Islands and a British Colony up until 1983 and the flag was the winning entry in a design contest that attracted over 258 entries- it was the work of a student named Edrice Lewis who gave the now official interpretation of the flag. It was adopted for national and civil usage on September 19th, 1983. The green is symbolic of the fertile land, red the struggle for freedom, the yellow reflects the sunny climate and black recalls the African heritage of the Islands. You might think that the two stars represent the two islands of St. Kitts and Nevis- but kids, you'd be wrong! They represent hope and liberty.

Not to let St. Kitts have all the fun, I thought we'd give Nevis a shout out too:

The yellow stands for year long sunshine (man, wouldn't that be nice.) The national flag is in the canton (flag talk for the upper quarter of the flag closest to the staff, though it can stand for any quarter of the flag). And finally, that mountain in the middle is a graphic representation of Nevis Peak, a cone-shaped mountain in the centre of the island.

Yes, kids, it's the dynamic duo of the Caribbean, so St. Kitts and Nevis, take a bow! And remember, until next time keep your flags flying- FREAK or otherwise!

2,906 Miles Update #3

As of 1/1/13: 59 miles in
Starting Weight: 251.1
Ending Weight: 240
Pounds Lost: 11.1
Miles Added: 40.13

So we're now 99.13 miles in, which means the map now looks like this:

So far, so good! I'm heading into Week 6 of Couch to 5k which is the furthest I've ever gotten so by the end of the month, I should be totally done with it which would be amazing- but then comes the hard part: transitioning from a treadmill to an actual track and then outside so I can maybe run an actual 5K sometime this year. My handy-dandy Fitness Pal App is making counting calories a breeze and so far I haven't given into my cravings yet and attacked a Thickburger at Hardees or a plate of chicken wings at The Vine so I'd say that one month in, 'So far, so good!' sums it up quite nicely.

One down, eleven more to go!