Goodbye, Suit

Goodbye, brown suit. It's been wonderful. We've seen a lot together. You showed me what the color "mushroom" is. But it's time to move on. I tried to delay this for as long as possible. I designated you the suit I wear in the snow, but even now that is too much. It's the end of an era. Goodbye, old friend. Te extrano .

The Apple Store...

...is an age discrimination case waiting to happen. I went in there tonight and saw only people in their 20's and 30's. It's like Children of the Corn, where people who reach a certain age are sent off into the corn to be sacrificed to He Who Walks Behind the Rows. He wants you too, Malachai.

I get the logic for wanting only young faces in the store. Apple wants to project an image that is hip and cutting edge, and thinks that it needs young employees to accomplish that. It also plays off the stereotype that only young people are good at new technology.

But this logic doesn't hold up in reality. If you've got a question at the store, you're only going to be able to talk to some kid with no real experience. It's like speaking to the assistant manager at Wendy's. They even have the same headsets. People who have been with Apple for years will be removed just as they become valuable, in favor of a kid with no experience. It also sends a terrible message to new employees. A job with Apple is a job with no future. Luckily for Apple, the kids they hire don't think that far ahead.

People should be judged based on their experience and qualifications, not just on their age. This policy based on age keeps out the experienced people that are in the best position to help the company. The longevity and experience that has let Steve Jobs turn Apple into the company it is today is tossed aside in favor of a young face. Jobs is too old to work in one of his own stores.

I'm not saying I'm camping outside of the Apple store looking for clients. But if you're sent into the corn, give me a call.

Shani Davis

Shani Davis is now the first speed skater to win two consecutive gold medals in the 1,000 race. While not a badass of the day, he's interesting enough to earn a post.

• Davis started on roller skates when he was 2. He started ice skating at age 6. His mother, Cherie Davis, worked for an attorney with a speed skating son who recommended that Davis try speed skating.
• When he was very young (around 10), Davis and his mother moved from the south side of Chicago to the North side so he could be close to a speed skating ice rink.
• Davis is an African-American athlete in an all white world. His mother, a single mom, has earned a reputation for being overprotective and overly aggressive.
• When Davis' mother mentioned Michael Phelps’s mother, another single mother of a world-class athlete, she said, “she talks about all they had to go through. I have to laugh. She has no idea.”
• Davis said of his mother, "Some of the best things in my life have happened to me because I listened to my mother. And some of the worst things in my life have happened to me because I listened to my mother."
• In the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy, he won a gold in the 1,000 meters and a silver in the 1,500.
• Davis was accused of making the 2006 team because his teammate Apolo Ohno eased up in a race. An arbitrator determined discredited that claim but Davis was still pissed about it.
• Davis is primarily a long track speed skater, but also trains as a short track racer. He is known as one of the best turners in the sport (he doesn't lose speed going into turns), which he credits to his short track experience.
• Davis does not train or travel with the US team or use the same coaches. He gets along great with everyone from other countries. Speed skating is an individual sport and Davis thrives on the competition. He does not want to give anything away.
• Davis is barely known in the US, but is a huge star in the Netherlands, where speed skating is the country's most popular sport.
• Stephen Colbert made a big push to support the US speed skating team. Davis called Colbert a "jerk," possibly in response to Colbert's skit that was satirical against Canadians. (Colbert and Davis have since reconciled, and all is right in the world.)
• Davis relies on a panel of coaches rather than one single coach. He looks at them almost like consultants to address specific issues.
• He is 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, which is large for long track and a giant for short track.
• Davis' website has a flash intro page and everything. He's even got a logo.

The Winter Olympics

I love the Olympics. I love watching competitors who have spent their whole lives training for sports that I've never seen or heard of before. Even if it's not important to the rest of the world, it's important to someone. What's not to like. Here's a history on some of the various sports, some of which are surprisingly recent:

The Winter Olympics - The first international multi-sport event specifically for winter sports were the Nordic Games, held in 1901 in Sweden, and were then held every four years thereafter. The organizer, General Viktor Gustaf Balck of Norway, was a charter member of the International Olympic Committee and tried to have these games included in the Olympics. Figure skating was included in the 1908 summer games in London and a week of winter sports were held at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm. The games were suspended in 1916 due to the outbreak of World War I. An "International Winter Sports Week" was to be held at the 1924 Olympics in France, which soon was retroactively designated as the first Winter Olympics, featuring 16 events.

Biathlon - The biathlon tests the balance of rifle marksmanship with physical exertion. It started out as an exercise for Norwegian soldiers in the 1800s, as an alternative training. The first club was formed in Norway in 1861, to promote national defense at the local level. The biathlon, then called "military patrol," was held at the games in 1924, but did not become an Olympic sport until 1960. Women were first permitted to compete in the Olympic biathlon in the 1992 games in Alberta.

Luge - Like the skeleton and the bobsled, luge originated at a hotel in the health-spa town of St Moritz, Switzerland, in the mid-to-late 1800s. The first recorded use of the term "luge" is from 1905, coming from either the French word meaning "small coasting sled" or a Gaulish word with the same root as English sled.English guests began adapting delivery boys' sleds for recreation, which led to them learning how to steer. Ultimately, a "half-pipe" was built in 1870 to avoid pedestrian collisions, at track which is still in use today. The first organized meeting of the sport took place in 1883 in Switzerland. The luge became part of the Olympics in 1964.

Ski jumping - Ski jumping originates from Norway, where Olaf Rye, a Norwegian lieutenant, jumped 8.5 meters in 1809. The first proper competition was held in 1862. Ski jumping has been part of the Olympics since 1924, though the Large Hill competition was not included until the 1964 games in Innsbruck. The IOC rejected a proposal to allow female ski jumping in 2009. A Canadian judge ruled that while the IOC's policy was discriminatory, Canada did not have jurisdiction over the IOC.

Speed skating - Speed skating dates back over a millennium to Scandinavia, Northern Europe and the Netherlands, where the natives added bones to their shoes and used them to travel on frozen rivers, canals and lakes. Skating for recreation did not develop until the 1500s. In 1592, a Scotsman a skate with a iron blade. The first official skating club opened in 1642 and the first race took place in 1763. The sport became popular in North America in the mid 1800s, where the all-steel blade was developed, which was both lighter and sharper. Speed skating was supposed to be held at the 1916 Olympics, until it was put off because of WWI. It was part of the 1924 Olympics. Short track originated in North America and was officially sanctioned in the 1970s, becoming an Olympic sport in 1992.

Figure skating - "A Treatise on Skating" (1772) by Englishman Robert Jones, is the first known account of figure skating. In the mid-1860s, an American named Jackson Haines introduced a new style of skating, which incorporated free and expressive techniques. Haines is now considered the "father of modern figure skating," though his style was not adopted in the United States until long after his death. The International Skating Union was founded in 1892 and the first World Championship was held in 1896. Women competed for the first time in 1902. Pairs skating was introduced at the 1908 World Championships. Figure skating debuted at the Olympics in 1908.

Superbowl Halftime

The Who was awesome. Yeah, they've been around a while, but they know exactly who they are and don't give a shit what you think. It was the best halftime show since U2 in the Superbowl after 9/11. Next year, though, it's time for the big guns. I'm pushing for Chuck Mangione.



By the way, we're picking a jury in federal court tomorrow, a woman fired after she came back from cancer. I may not be blogging for a little while, as a result. Please, try to cope, as hard as the thought may be.

8 O'Clock Ranch

No one should be this excited about meat. Nilda and I signed up for a CSA ("community sponsored agriculture") with 8 O'Clock Ranch, a beef, pork and lamb ranch in up up upstate New York near the border of Canada. A CSA essentially allows you to purchase a "share" of a particular farm, a designated amount for a specific price. This means that between March and May, Nilda and I will be getting a shitload of meat. Here's why this is awesome:

• All of the cattle and sheep are grass fed, like they always were until corporate agriculture thought it would be cheaper to change everything and feed them grains.
• The fat in the meats have a yellowish twinge, from the beta-carotene in the grass.
• A six-ounce piece of grass-fed beef has about 100 calories less than its grain-fed counterpart.
• The animals are "humanely raised," meaning that there are no unhealthy living conditions or feedlots and the animals are free to pasture. Babies stay with their moms until weaned.
• The meat is dry-aged, which you won't find at the grocery store and makes the meat taste so much better.
• It's a tastier, better steak than I've ever had before. We got NY strip steaks before and it was the best I'd ever had. Even the ground beef is better than the supermarket.
• We had tried beef from a different ranch about a year ago that was good, but no where near as good as 8 O'Clock.
• They do not use any pesticides, hormones or herbicides. They only use antibiotics if the animal has a life-threatening illness (the last time was 3 years ago) and, then they will not include it in their herd.
• They are not "certified organic," which is because they don't want to have to comply with the expensive and, they say, unnecessary paperwork requirements to be designated organic.
• The bacon is, literally, the best bacon I've ever had.
• It's surprisingly well-priced. Not cheap, but no where near what you'd expect, and definitely cheaper than the specialty meat shops.
• It's a small family-owned organization that works the land themselves. When you call to place your order, you're talking to one of the owners. Nilda and Kassandra are on a first-name basis.
• The cuts are individually vacuum-sealed and delivered frozen by overnight delivery.

Since the CSA half-share we got doesn't start until March, the right thing to do was buy a shit-load of meat to last us the rest of February. The pic above is what we just got delivered. To prove it, here's the receipt:

Here are the short ribs Nilda's making on Sunday, when Andrew and Harley come over with the kids for the Superbowl:

Harley's not allowed to have any. And check out this porterhouse:

Food tastes better when you know where it's coming from. Btw, Food, Inc. was nominated for an Oscar. Holla!

Jon Stewart On Obama's Meeting With The GOP

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Q & O
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

The Wire: Season 1

I promised Irene that if she lent me Season 1 of The Wire, I'd follow up in a blog post, so here it is, Irene. Yes, The Wire is incredible. An amazing show. Even Nilda loved it and, believe me, it was not easy to get her to start watching. Even then, it still took a few episodes to get her into it.

In trying to write why I like the show, I realize that I'm only blogging for the people who read this who actually watch The Wire. Both of them. Irene and Jeff. Hey, guys. You got me to watch it so thanks. Everything about it is complicated. Even at the big conclusion, no one is happy about the resolution. A cop show that I could actually like. Season 2: Disc 1 is number one on the netflix queue. Ok, that's enough.

By the way, Irene, this post on your "blog" was amazing. (It's about the relative size of everything in the universe so save your comments, people.)