2 In-Flight Movies, One Smart, One Not-So

I recently flew back from Iceland and I thought I would have a lot to say about it, and I probably do, but right now I want to talk about the two movies I watched en route. If you haven't yet, you should definitely see --

Enough Said
Nicole Holofcener somehow always finds the perfect way to reveal those small moments between two people that you never thought other people went through but that you can totally relate to and thank goodness someone did. I loved Julia Dreyfess in this role, the acting is nuanced, funny, mature, and natural. This isn't James Gandolfini's best role, however, but he is likable enough (RIP), and Holofcener does a wonderful job building up his charm and then dissecting it into ever tinier pieces.

Did you see Pacific Rim? Lol.

But why would you bother with -

Pacific Rim

It probably goes without saying. If you were drawn in by the trailers, you probably already saw this in the theaters, but seriously. I can't believe this was a movie for adults. The only saving grace, and sorry I'm so shallow, but Charlie Hunnam as eye candy (oh how I loved him in Undeclared), and Rinko Kikuchi, also easy on the eyes, as the token female character who needs saving.

Yes, this is a movie where giant toys fight each other. TO THE DEATH.

Walking and Foraging in New Jersey

Top row: Sassafras (the edible root is left of the leaf), White Staghorn Sumac berries.
Bottom row: Crab Apple, Wood Sorrel.

Funny thing happened when I moved to New York. Even though I'd lived in way more nature-loving places like, say, Indiana and California, I didn't really take to hiking and camping until I moved here. To be sure, getting a dog probably had something to do with it. And tapping into that extra burst of joy that comes from watching him totally be in his element — zipping along the trail, lapping up the fresh spring water, and flushing out the occasional forest critter.

The other part I really like about hikes is finding and eating wild things. I had my eye out for mushrooms, but as we didn't stray too far off the trail, I knew I wasn't likely to find much. I was delighted, however, when I realized that the red-turning leaves and dark pink fluffy cones I'd been admiring belonged to a sumac tree. It was probably a little late in the season as they were already turning dry and brown, but I found one that didn't look too bad and after positively identifying it with my Wildman Bill app, I gently broke apart the drier outer layer, plucked a few of the berries loose and popped one in my mouth. Whoa, was it zingy! It tasted slightly of tart raspberries, although I'm not sure if the color affected my taste perception. Would be perfect mashed with some whisky, honey, and mint I'm sure.

As we walked further, I noticed tiny stalks of sassafras under the forest canopy. These are super easy to identify, because I am pretty sure it is the only plant with THREE different leaves on a single plant. An adorable mitten leaf, as pictured above, a three-lobe leaf, and a single lobe leaf. You can also find these planted on the Highline, too, along with other indigenous plants. I didn't have a gardener's shovel with me, so I avoided any of the really stalky, mature ones and found a scrawny one about knee height that wasn't yet cemented into the soil. I peeled away the dirty outer layer and nibbled at the root. The licorice-y taste is unmistakeable. It's where root beer comes from.

Wood sorrel is easy to spot. It looks similar to clover, but the leaves are heart-shaped, and in the spring, they're adorned with tiny yellow flowers. They flanked the dirt trail wherever the grasses thinned out. You can also find them popping up in city parks, in your neighbor's neglected pots, and other edge habitats. The delicate leaves taste super lemony and are great in salads or in a drink.

We turned back when we got to a rocky scramble about an hour in. The wide slanting jumps, and steep crevices made me nervous for Arlo. It didn't help that he whined when I strayed too far and circled around without finding easy passage. On the way back, we stepped out onto a smaller boulder set overlooking the estuary. Upon spotting a brown rotting apple on the ground, and then another, I looked up to find a magnificent crab apple tree, the branches overlapping each other and teeming with little golden apples. Of course I had to try one. The tartness immediately sucked all the moisture from my mouth, not unlike drinking a meaty Cabernet. I offered a bite each to my hiking buddy and Arlo. We finished the single apple, but didn't venture for any more.

Thinking back on it today, I wish we could've gotten past that scramble to look for the supposed waterfall... Is it time to invest in some kind of dog hiking harness? Has anyone ever used one?

Don't forget this guy. 

My 2003 Blackout Story

Photo: Sarah Glidden, minicloud on flickr.com

Photo: Sarah Glidden, minicloud on flickr.com

Photo: Sarah Glidden, minicloud on flickr.com

Photo: Sarah Glidden, minicloud on flickr.com

I was working at an ad agency in Tribeca, the power went out and everyone was feeling a little nervous / giddy when the computers went down and the lights went off. We walked down the (I forget how many, not too many) flights of stairs down to the street level and more and more people started to exit their buildings.

Once we realized it was not another attack on the city, we all left and headed home. I walked across the Williamsburg bridge. The Hassidic Jews on the Brooklyn side were handing water out to everyone (forgot about this until I saw the photos!).

I checked in with my friend Joey who invited me over to eat steaks she had in the freezer and we fired up the grill. I think we found a bar afterward that was unloading their beers for free while the kegs were still cold -- not hard to find. We passed people shopping in bodegas by flashlight, regular people controlling traffic in major intersections. Everyone was acting how I wish they would more often, we were all in this together.

What's your story?

Let an Asian American Person Explain Why The KTVU Prank Is Racist

After reading numerous comments from the Internet ignorami, I felt compelled to say something. And that is:

America, please stop trying to whitesplain away the racism.

Do you have fat friends? Do you call them Fatty McFattersons? Do you have black friends? Do you call them Jiggaboo Jeffersons?

Yes, I can appreciate the humor. It IS a funny play on words. But if any of my friends came up to me and said, "Hey Ho Chi Minh, what's going on?" I'd probably be like, WTF is your problem? (And then break out some karate moves, because obviously I'm a black belt.)

Why this is not "just like Bart Simpson calling the bar to ask for Seymour Butts." 

Because it serves to perpetuate the "foreignness" of Asian culture. It goes back to the those jokes about how does a Chinese person name their child? They throw a stick at a can. Haha, those Chinese people. Their language is so weird, a real American could NEVER understand it.

Well those Chinese people ARE Americans, and until white America fully embraces Asian cultures as one of their own, jokes like this are pretty much not okay.

And what about the children?!

I can just imagine all the childhood bullies taking this as justification to torment the Asian kids with (or without) funny names in the schoolyard. Can't say I haven't been there.

Make my own jerky

With this skill, I'm officially ready for any apocalyptic event to strike, for example the peak-oil crisis, maybe you've heard of it? I realize it may also put me in the same category as people who build out bomb shelters or try to survive on only foods they forage from the city park or something. But hey, these are all going to be textbook life skills in about 20 years.

All you need for this is a very low wattage heat source (100-watt bulb did the trick), a container that is vented above and below so that hot air rising from the heat source will push out at the top and suck cool air in at the bottom (cardboard box), skewers, and Google, because it never hurts to read forty-seven different articles on the risks of salmonella and e. coli. I made turkey jerky from pastured turkey meat and beef jerky from questionable supermarket meat. Neither made me sick. Neither also ever made me want to make jerky again.
 
Not because of taste. They tasted like the real deal. But because I don't need that hassle. I did a bare amount of seasoning, but I suggest marinating the meat in your favorite seasonings overnight. Freeze briefly for easier slicing. Slice as thin as you can manage. String them on bamboo skewers and hang inside the box. Close lid, turn on the light. My jerkey took maybe 18 hours to make. I think you can also do this in the oven, if you have one that goes down to 150º.

Good luck, let me know how it goes!

Weird Recipe of the Week

I was craving fish. And I'm trying to (literally) downsize the fish I consume by eating fish lower on the food chain (and giving large fish a chance to recover their populations). So I got sardines from that fish market on Metropolitan and Leonard which I hadn't been to in several years because I once got some bad salmon there. (The sardines were fine, fresh and wild caught.) And I had all my CSA ingredients.

So this is Grilled Sardines with a Corn Peach Papalo "Salsa."
Better I think side-by-side, not together.

"Salsa"
fresh-off-the-cob raw corn
ripe peaches and/or nectarines, cubed
papolo (or cilantro or mint), finely sliced
juice of one lime or apple cider vinegar
olive oil
salt

Toss all ingredients together.

Sardines
Brush butter on whole cleaned sardines. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on hot grill. This is one fish that tastes better when it's actually cooked through so test for doneness after about 3 minutes on each side. But keep cooking until fish is flaky.

Environmental Side Note
I bet some folks are thinking I could possibly serve the fish population even more by skipping out on fish altogether. But fish are essential for a healthy brain and reduce risk of death due to coronary disease—outweighing even the risks of mercury and PCBs.

According to a study published by the Harvard School of Health "For infants and young children, the authors found that omega-3 fatty acids from seafood likely improve early brain development; children could obtain that benefit from pregnant or nursing mothers who consumed fish." And implies that it could offset depression or other behavioral problems.

So all my cranky friends, may I suggest more fish? Especially sardines, anchovies, catfish, lobster, mussels, and oysters—all of which are the least endangered and have the lowest environmental impact.

Worm Food

Ahhh, just finally harvested my first batch of vermipost. This tub was almost spilling over, but look how much room we have now! (With a good 3~5 lbs of fresh compost left over waiting to feed my plants.)

I started this bin about 4 months ago. And these guys (about one pound of red wigglers and their friends) have been steadily monching through all my veggie and coffee waste since—I'd estimate it to be about 3 lbs. a week. I haven't had any trouble with odor, a bit with flying insects...but mostly localized. And have kept it under my kitchen table just fine, even with my normally overly curious dog. Want to start your own? It's easy.

Materials
plastic bin (mine measures 12" x 16" x 9" deep)
1 lb red wigglers (available at these places)
old B/W newspapers, torn in strips (color inks are more toxic)
vegetable scraps, used coffee grounds, tea bags, etc. (avoid any fats, dairy, or meat)
soil

Instructions
Drill enough air holes all around the top and through the lid so the worms can breathe but can't crawl out (click on the second photo above to get a better view).

Toss in a couple handfuls of soil (just get some from your local park or backyard), then the worms. Cover with about 4 pages worth of newspaper strips. Dampen paper unless the soil is especially muddy.

Now whenever you have extra veg scraps, uncover the newspaper, throw in the scraps, then cover back with the newspaper. Even better, age the scraps for a week before adding to make it more readily digestible by the worms (instead of the flies).

Other species
After a while you may notice some other critters crawling around. Tiny (less than 1/8 inch long) white pot worms, little hard shiny brown mites, roly polies, fruit flies, and soldier flies. They all prove beneficial, feeding on different stages of the plant decay. You can use common remedies to catch the flies if they're a nuisance, but if not, they'll help speed up the composting.

You should also start to notice tiny yellowish, translucent pods. These are the worm babies, so yay, they're reproducing! A healthy colony of worms can double their population every two weeks.


Some common problems and remedies

• Mold/mildew: feed less
• Too liquid: drain, add more newspaper, air out by leaving lid ajar, or drill more holes to increase aeration
• Ants: Set bin on a tray of water to prevent access