I became a vegan after reading a leaflet about the suffering of animals raised under factory-like conditions. That day I decided to use up all the animal foods I had and not to buy any more. Eggs hadn’t suddenly become repulsive to me; I just didn’t want to contribute any longer to an industry that was packing laying hens into small cages just to increase their profits.
But I began to see that veganism was complicated. I had to read labels. Powdered whey in cookies was a reason not to buy them. But neither did I want to eat them if other people had bought them. The perfectionist aspects of veganism began to dawn on me.
I know that being a perfectionist isn’t healthy, but I am one anyway. In this respect, veganism suited me fine. I was a perfect vegan, for about a year. Then I got married to a wonderful vegetarian man, who wanted, on our honeymoon, to treat me to what he considered the world’s best cheese omelet. Never, in the preceding year, had I run up against a conflict like this one. And perfectionist that I am, I am also weak. I ate the omelet, and then began ten years of being a vegan except for when it was too hard to say no.
My wonderful vegetarian husband, who is now my ex-husband and best friend, became more of a vegan while I became less of one. We decided to be vegan in our respective homes, where we could control things, and vegetarians on the outside. I became a not-too-bad vegan cook, and introduced many guests to the wonders of tofu mayonnaise and mystery Parmesan.
But, to reveal yet another flaw in myself, I am easily bored. And I was getting bored with my culinary repertoire. Not that I wanted to cook meat again, or even seafood. That was definitely over. But I had once spent two years learning classical French cuisine and I missed, I don’t know, crème anglaise.
I thought about the reason I had originally become a vegan—to reduce, even in a small way, animal suffering. And then I thought about an organic farming conference I had attended one year out of curiosity. There I heard something I knew already—that there are plenty of farmers around who are good to their animals, who raise cage-free hens, happy goats and contented cows. You just have to find them and be willing to pay their price.
So I began to do that. I used the Internet and my formidable label-reading skills. I called 800 numbers. I asked people at the farmer’s market how they treated their animals and found that they were absolutely happy to tell me. And then I made a lemon tart for my friends that both I and the hens involved could feel good about.
Mark Bittman. (Suzy Allman for The New York Times)
I just don’t know what to call myself these days. Mark Bittman, the New York Times food writer, made up his own category when he decided to be a vegan all day and eat whatever he wanted for dinner. He calls himself a vegan till 6. Maybe I can just call myself a kind of vegan.The kind who isn't perfect.
(When the Broadway Babies say goodnight, it's early in the competition.)
We’re back again Dance Fans! Have you recovered from the terrible bloodbath that was last week? I'm getting there. Not quite over it, but I'm getting there. We've still got 9 Contempos, 3 Jazz Hands, 3 Hip Hoppers, 1 B-way and... that's it. Sigh. Moving forward! Joining Nigel and Mary on the Judges Table this week are Lil C AND Kristin Chenoweth. We continue the trend of Broadway Ladies guesting on the panel this year. Kristin, as she would tell you is an ACTOR and a SINGER, who dances when the roles requires. So she'll probably go easy on the contestants tonight. She'll fit right in with the others. P.S. Lil C and Kristin both have albums coming out!
In addition to the pairs dancing per usual, we'll get two group dances of eight that split up all the male-female partners, so we get to see them with different people. Also of note: Cat looks lovely tonight in a dress that seems like she's running out of the stage version of Chicago and into the movie version of Great Gatsby.
First Group Number Choreographer: Tyce Diorio, Dancing To:"Hit the Road Jack," Ray Charles It continues to be Girls -vs- Boys this season which again, I say, would be less ridiculous if they weren't currently competing in boy-girl teams of two against the rest of the field. The girls attack the boys throughout the routine with strangely underlit chairs. I like the chairs more than the choreo. Look, I'm no huge Tyce fan, for sure. I really did enjoy his Top 20 routine to Little Bird by Annie Lennox. I don't mean to be a broken record, but his Broadway routines can come across so middle of the road. They look conceptually phoned in, so no matter what the dancers are giving it, there's just not a lot to sink your teeth into. That's how I feel with this one. Marko stands out from the field here, as does Sasha. Nice execution, but I'm not invested.
Sasha and Alexander, contemporary w/ Dee Caspary, Dancing to: "Belong," Cary Brothers. Concept the Ghost in the Piano! Alexander's character plays and then ghost Sasha comes out and they dance. How was this not set to Unchained Melody? Sasha Fierce is all power and ghostly beauty in her movement. Alex is totally there with her technically, but there's not a lot of emotional connection coming from him. Is he just a pretty face and amazing dancer body? If not, dude's gotta dig deeper. The routine ends with Sasha sticker her hands out from inside the piano and it freaks me out. Like her hads could get chopped off or something if that prop piano falls apart. It could. It looks hastily pieced together. When it comes to judging, Nigel and Mary want more from Alexander, but Kristen and Lil C think they both excelled.
Caitlyn and Mitchell, samba w/ Jean-Marc Généreux, Dancing to: "Put It in a Love Song," Alicia Keys featuring Beyonce. Concepts: Hips are your sound system. Shake those speakers! It's a good routinue. It took a couple seconds to really get into it, and I have to say I missed Iveta on this dance, but Caitlyn is giving it her all and Mitchell can really move. It was very fun. I like these two. Mary calls them hot tamales, but no train is in the station just yet. Kristin wants you to shut every door imaginable - the front door, the back door, the garage door. Shut all the doors. She's cute that, Chenoweth. The other judges have praise for them as well.
Miranda and Robert, Broadway w/ Tyce Diorio, Dancing To: "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)," Sophisticated Ladies. Concept: Tyce phoning it in yet again. Seriously. Broadway dancing can be so many things! Why does it have to just stay in the realm of jazzy/groovy guy flirting with high-kicking girl to a song from the Great American Songbook? They dance it fine within the context of what they are given. No huge complaints here, but no huge praise either. The judges all think that it's fine. We should commend Robert again for curbing his grating early personally tics and growing into the partnering well, but I swear this routine does nobody any favors when it comes to getting votes.
Melanie and Marko, lyrical hip-hop w/ Tabitha and Napoleon D'umo, Dancing To: "I Got You," Leona Lewis Oooh M&M's doing hip hop! Yay! The Concept: Groom Marko is left at the altar but then comes to the Taylor Swiftian realization that BFF Melanie has been here the whole time as his real true love! Marko's starts the routine SO SAD! His face is all tears and pain. Dang. It only gets better from there. I'm even amused that Melanie is obviously dressed in the bridesmaid dress from hell, as fits her best friend station. The choreo is fresh and fun and the movement is well-synchronized. When it finally hits Marko that Melanie is The One, they have a crazy intense kiss and the tween audience in the house goes apeshit. The rest of the dance is fantastic.
These two are so good. The judges of course love them and announce they are the couple to beat. They are definitely my favorite pair since Katee and Joshua in Season 4. Midway through judging everyone starts making out with each other. Nigel attacks Mary. Mary screams, but never says no. Those two need a safe word. Cat is grossed out. Then as soon as things seem like they might settle, Kristin kisses Lil C. knocking his glasses astray, then Nigel kisses Lil C. knocking his hat off his head. Everyone screams and screams. Cat regains control of the proceedings and then flinches at every double entendre coming at her from the teleprompter as we head to commercials.
Ashley and Chris, jazz w/Sonya Tayeh. Dancing To: "Lights Go Down," Telepathe Concept: Beetlejuice Zombies. This is a rare miss for Sonya. She's been very consistent lately, but when she first arrived on the SYTYCD scene she was more hit-or-miss and this one reminds me of those early routines that never quite got there. Nothing about it is BIG enough. Especially if you invoke the name of Beetlejuice, you gotta really go for it. It's too small and contained. The music isn't right. Ashley is too pretty in her movements. It's too tame. This has Bottom 3 written all over it. Nigel is first to say it didn't work, and mentions the music being a problem even though he claims he hates when his Am.Idol judges tell contestants they don't like the song instead of talking about the singing. He wants to focus on the dancing but could never get into it. Mary liked the technical aspects to their dancing but doesn't disagree with Nigel either. She says they had sharp movements and good synchronization. Kristin also says it wasn't her thing. Lil C loves Sonya too much to say a word against her so instead he says Ashley is a sleeper cell. I don't think that means what he thinks it means.
Clarice and Jess, foxtrot w/ Jean-Marc Généreux, Dancing to: "Fly Me to the Moon," Frank Sinatra. Such a great song! They are good here, but they are better dancing separately than together. When they come together, it's like they don't fit well together. And he's just a little too short for her to really pull off lifts effortlessly. At judging, Mary says they were gliding, sophisticated, and jazzy. All true. But was it inspiring? I don't know. These two are great dancers but not really great partners.
Ryan and Ricky, contemporary w/ Sonya Tayeh, Dancing To: "With Every Heartbeat," Robyn. Concept: Tangled Relationships! Literally! Sonya redeems her earlier miss with this one. There's a long sash attached to Ryan and it alternately winds and unwinds around her in relation to Ricky. It looks really beautiful and Ryan finally puts away the permanent smile for this routine, but I felt like she then wasn't totally sure what to do with her face. Ricky does several amazing jumps. That kid's got facility. The judges all like it a lot. Lil C says they're another power couple, but that's a stretch. They were bottom 3 last week! Mary thinks the dancing was great and applauds them never getting tangled the wrong way in the sash.
Jordan and Tadd, lyrical hip-hop w/ Tabitha and Napoleon D'umo, Dancing To: "Memories," David Guetta featuring Kid Cudi. Another strong routine this week from NappyTabs! Concept: Morning After College Hook Up Hijinks! It's very light and fun and flirty and makes good use of Tadd's b-boy skills and humor. There's a lot of character and personality on display here from both of them. Jordan seems sweetly embarrassed about the situation throughout the dance, when one might have expected her to go into her sex-kitten mode. This was by far a better choice for her. When it gets to the judges Lil C tells them to push through the movements more, which is fair enough. Nigel is measured in his praise, but Mary liked it and Kristin is back to shouting about shutting all the doors.
Second Group Number, Choreographed by: Dee Caspary. Group B Dancing To: "Poison & Wine," The Civil Wars. Concept: Girls poison boys! I liked this one better than the first group number. Maybe just because Melanie was in it and she rocks. OOH! Suddenly I want to see Melanie dance with All-Star Jakob! Please makes this a reality, Show! The stand outs here are Melanie, Jordan, Caitlynn, Ricky and Jess. There are three other dancers involved, but I don't remember them. Not a good sign for those three!
So my ranking of the routines in order of personal preference goes:
If my Bottom 3 holds up... I don't know who they'll get rid of. It might come down to solos for the girls, who the judges all seem to love and maybe Robert or Chris for the guys. The judges seem way to set on Jess to let him go. If Alexander and Sasha dip into the bottom, expect him to go and for Sasha to get a new partner next week.
RESULTS SHOW! The Top 16 Dance is to The Incredibles theme! Hooray! Except the movement is super slow and totally against the music. Boo! Everybody looks timid and self-conscious. This is one of my least favorite group numbers of all time. Sorry, choreographer. Michael Bruni. "The Incredits" has so much drama and shifting dynamics and I didn't get that from the movement at all.
So moving along, we get a recap of last night's Smoochfest, and then tag the bottom 3 couples. First in danger are Ashley and Chris (not surprising), then Mirandai and Robert (not surprising, TYCE!) and then... Caitlynn and Mitchell! Oh, I thought they would've done well. I'm surprised by this. You can tell they ain't pleased about having to dance for their lives.
While the dancers ran off to get ready we the viewing audience get treated to two members of the AXIS Dance Company, which integrates dancers with and without disabilities, performing a pas de deux where the man is in a wheelchair and the woman is not. I really enjoyed it, but every time they did any sort of move, the whole audience shrieked in support. Sometimes when the music is soft or emotional I really hate that. Why can't they just shut up and enjoy the dance? If it's loud dance music and the routine has lots of tricks in it, then I mind it less. Can't we just take in the beauty of dance sometimes without screaming our heads off, audience?
So then the solos happen and they are fine, but not as strong as last week or the week before. I think Chris does the best and Ashley does the worst. At this point, my money is on Robert and Ashley to go home and Chris and Miranda to be partnered next week.
But first we get a performance from World theatrical ballroom champions Eric Luna and Georgia Ambarian. What? No prerecorded lip-synched music performance this week? Thank goodness. Instead we are treated to a series of some of the most incredibly balanced lifts, spins and holds you'll ever see set to "Calypso" from the Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End score. You wouldn't believe how the dude was spinning one way while the lady was spinning the other way on his head. On his head! And that's just one example.
So then after that, we get to the eliminations. Girls first. Nigel calls Miranda forward. He says last night they gave her such high praise and that she's the most improved and also that she's going home. Oof. Sucker punch to the gut for Miranda. Based on performance this week, it really should've been Ashley, but I guess judging dance is subjective! Miranda is totally composed and eloquent in saying goodbye.
At this point, the writing is on the wall for Robert. But then, Nigel goes and bungles the whole thing. While talking to Chris, he starts talking about Robert's past routines. He brings up Woodpeckers. That wasn't Chris! What's going on?? Ohh, it's so uncomfortable, I actually got up and left the room. Finally Nigel pulls it together and eliminates Robert. He's cool about it too, like Miranda, and gives the audience one final "woooo!" which I actually don't mind because he's grown on me, and because I haven't heard it in a couple weeks and won't have to hear it again.
This week's performances were a marked improvement from last week, but there's still room for improvement choreographers! Next week there will be seven couples left. Melanie & Marko and Sasha & Alexander are the only two left who haven't been in the bottom yet. We'll see if the trend holds. We keep inching closer to the top 10 and then ALL-STARS!
(Rafa's feeling good after his 4-set Quarterfinal victory!)
Fresh off his tough match with Del Po in the Round of 16, Rafa had an easier time yesterday dispatching American 10th-seed (and seemingly all around nice guy, sorry you had to lose for Rafa to win!) Mardy Fish 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. Our Hero did not show any sign of problems with his sorta-injured foot and was really dominating the match throughout. A huge relief!
Nadal, is one step closer to getting his 11th Grand Slam title, but he still has two steps to go. Next up is Britain's Andy Murray in Friday's semifinal, and here's the thing - no one will want Nadal to win. Murray has never made it to a Wimby Final and Britain hasn't had a Wimby winner in almost literally a million years. Now that Federer is out of the picture losing to Tsonga (in a crazy 5-set match), if Murray ousts Nadal then the tournament is assured to have a 1st time champion and a 50/50 shot at a Brit winning. It's a much more compelling news story than Rafa winning yet again, so all the commentators and press and fans will be willing Murray on to victory. But not me. I am a true Rafa fan! I don't want him to lose to Murray or anybody! Those Brits will just have to deal.
I'm also hoping Tsonga can get bast Djokovic in the other men's semifinal, so that Rafa can remain #1 in the rankings for a little while longer. Fed did him in at the French. I'm hoping Tsonga will do me a solid as well tomorrow and deny Novak again.
But more important than the ranking is the title. Rafa won't care if he gets bumped down to No. 2 in the rankings on Monday if he gets another Wimby trophy on Sunday. That's what we've got to aim for! Vamos!
Gotta love a slow food truck right?I think the idea is great, and I love the mobility they have, although for me to eat at Duos, takes a bit of travel, because they are usually found downtown.I like that they are sourcing most of their stuff locally, and offer vegan and vegetarian options, as I am sure this is an underserved consumer base in Indy.
On the day I went, they were parked at Alabama and Vermont, which is a fairly easy place to park around—of course I ended up in Mass Ave Toy shop for awhile and spent a fair amount of money, which made for what turned out to be a somewhat expensive lunch—although I really love that store. What great stuff.
So I wanted to try a bit of lots of things, so on this day, I got the asparagus soup, the turkey sandwich (which came with a side salad) and a piece of almond cake. I don’t remember the exact breakdown, but all together, it was $11.50.
So the asparagus soup was vegan I believe, although they did a nice job of thickening it a bit with pureed veggies.It had a nice consistency and several large asparagus tips in it as well.The lady who helped me told me they were excited to be using the first local asparagus of the season (so it was a few weeks ago that I ate there).It was good, but honestly, a drizzle of some crème fraiche or something along those lines would have livened it up for me—it called out for just a bit more richness. I understand making it vegan for those who want that, but having the option to not have it be vegan might be nice too.
The sandwich I had was sliced herbed turkey breast, lettuce, tomatoes, Jarlsberg cheese, avocado, sprouts and lemon caper mayonnaise.It was served on a large, very hearty wheat roll.So these are all ingredients I really like—I mean who doesn’t like avocado and cheese and turkey?Actually, this is exactly the kind of sandwich I make for myself at home--although that lemon caper mayo was nice and zesty and salty and made the sandwich a little more special than it would be if I made it myself. And I liked that there was enough of it you could taste it with each bite.The only thing I really didn’t like was that the bread, while obviously fresh and good quality, was just too big. I thought eating the whole thing together caused some of the flavor to be lost—so I just took off the bottom half (luckily the yummy mayo was on top) and ate it open faced.The turkey was tender and the avocado plentiful.Sprouts aren’t my favorite thing, so I took most of them off.
The side salad was wheatberries, tomatoes, carrots and caramelized onions (there were a couple of choices).It was a very nutty salad, and I liked the way the tomatoes and onions added both acidity and sweetness.It had a distinct crunchiness, and tasted very healthy, but in a pretty good way.
I think my favorite thing on this visit was the almond cake.It was baked in a pie pan, and a pie sized wedge was cut for me.The cake tasted so much of almond—it totally reminded me of the iced Christmas cookies we make at my house every year.My mom loves almond extract in the icing, and that is a tradition in our home.When I was a kid, I could open up the bottle of almond extract (and still can) and it would smell like Christmas to me.Anyhow, the cake was dense but still nice and moist in the middle with a perfectly crisp edge and dusted with powdered sugar.It was something that I could see being a little addictive.
I really want to give this truck another go, and try some of the more unique combos I have been seeing on their menus lately. I would love to hear from you if you have tried other things about what you think.
Duos Indy
(various locations around Indy)
317/508-8614
www.duosindy.com (and check them out on facebook for where they will be on a given day)
Renee's is having a sale! Blog subscribers, start today! Just mention that you received this notice. (Or subscribe now or in-store.) From now through Saturday, take 20% off anything in the store, including newest arrivals. Prices return to presale amounts on Tues., July 5. We will be closed on Mon., July 4 in honor of Independence Day.
Marlene and I look forward to seeing you soon! Have a wonderful holiday weekend!
I almost forgot to post this! Rafa's currently playing his next match and I made no report on his battle with Juan Martin Del Potro in the Round of 16. Obviously, since he's still playing, he won. :) It was a high quality match with an injury scare for each player, which is par for the course with these two. Del Potro poses a real threat against any player. I was relieved that Our Hero got through with a 7-6 (8/6) 3-6 7-6 (7/4) 6-4 victory.
At the end of the first set, Nadal hurt his foot and had an injury time out right before the tie-break, which he then came back and won. Del Po didn't like it very much, and took the second set more handily. But then Del Po needed his own injury time out in the third when he slipped on the grass an fell badly. These guys play so hard, but jeez! Be careful out there!
Now that Rafa is through this challenge, and the MRI on his foot showed no severe injury, he faces American Mardy Fish in the Quarters. I love to root for the Americans! Why did Rafa have to face three in one tournament? Still I hope Nadal has a relatively easy time of it and sails through to the semis. Vamos!
The Mariners management yesterday basically said they won't increase payroll this year. In other words this terrible offense that is wasting our wonderful pitching staff is here to stay. The management led by Dumb(Howard Lincoln) and Dumber(Chuck Armstrong) won't allow general manager Jack Zduriencik the freedom to go trade for a much needed bat. The Mariners in fact will most likely trade off Erik Bedard before he reaches all his option clauses in his contract which would pay him up to seven million. So after the news of the Mariners basically saying they aren't trying to actively help this offense the Mariners led by Bedard lost 3-1 today. The offense the past seven games is averaging just 2.2 runs per game as the Mariners are 2-5 despite their starting pitching having an ERA of 1.80 during that stretch. The Mariners management is determine to turn off the fan base though as they don't seem to care that the team isn't scoring runs. The Mariners are 39-40 despite having four starting pitchers with ERA's under 3.20 and all five pitchers have ERA's under 4.00. The Dumb(Lincoln) and Dumber(Armstrong) strike yet again in turning off the fan base.
The Mariners "brain trust" reminded me of the scene from Anchorman when Ron Burgandy looks into the camera at his San Diego audience and says "Go F*ck yourself San Diego!". That is exactly what Lincoln and Armstrong said to the Mariners by once again not going for it. The Mariners offense this year is hitting .228/.296/.338 which ranks last in all three categories. The Mariners also rank dead last in the major leagues in hits despite having Ichiro. The Mariners rank 29th out of 30 teams in runs scored and are averaging just 3.4 runs per game and are currently wasting their starting pitching this year. The Mariners currently have two regulars with batting averages under .200 and a third with an average of .205. The Mariners have just three regulars hitting above .250 not counting Dustin Ackley who was recently called up. The Mariners like I explained yesterday have no major league calibar players in left field or DH. That doesn't even count how Chone Figgins is awful but we are basically stuck with this crappy offense as Dumb(Lincoln) and Dumber(Armstrong) don't seem to give a crap. I'm not surprised one bit as they pulled this same act earlier this decade.
The Mariners earlier this decade had reached back to back American League Championship series losing both times to the New York Yankees in 2000 and 2001. Both times they had a chance to make a big deal to give up some key future pieces like a rumored Juan Gonzalez to Seattle for John Halama, Carlos Guillen and Joel Pineiro deal in 2000. Then again in 2001 the Mariners could have deal Pinerio along with some other guys who never panned out to acquire that ace in Al Leiter. The Mariners main duo who are content on being the Clippers of baseball never once wanted to extend payroll to make that deal. In 2002 the Mariners desperately needed another bat but they wouldn't pull the trigger instead thinking their future was pretty good. The Mariners would end up winning 93 games but missed the playoffs. At the end of the season Lou Piniella would leave town as he was sick of Dumb(Lincoln) and Dumber(Armstrong). The following year the Mariners had the best record in baseball at the trade deadline but were sliding a bit. Once again the Mariners "bain trust" decided not to make a trade once again. After a tough loss all-star reliever Jeff Nelson vented to the press. He said it's ridiculous what they are doing to the fans and how the Mariners were the city of Seattle's best chance of bringing home a title at that time. He went on to say how the Mariners deserved better and how for once he would like to see the team go for it and make a big trade. Well the Mariners actually listened to him and made a big trade by trading Nelson away to the eventual American League Champions New York Yankees. That was a move that turned the fans off as Nelson had the guts to voice what every fan was feeling at the time. At the end of the season Pat Gillick was tired of the Mariners cheap ways so he left. The Mariners who haven't made the playoffs since 2001 have alienated the fan base to the point where nobody is going to the games anymore.
When Safeco Field first opened up it was harder to get a Mariners ticket despite 81 home games than a Seattle Supersonics ticket or Seattle Seahawks ticket. Now the Mariners are getting destroyed by the Seattle Sounders and can't even outdraw the Seattle Storm. This last Friday's game in which Felix Hernandez started and was going to hit saw a little over 15,000 fans at the game. When a popular team comes to town you feel outnumbered in your own stadium. That is what Dumb(Lincoln) and Dumber(Armstrong) have done to this fanbase. They were too concerned about family friendly atmosphere, 1995, hydro boat races and rally fries than about the one thing true fans care about which is winning. This offense is pathetic so there isn't much excitement for the fans and the team has lost over 90 games four times since 2004. The fans are sick and tired of being stepped on which I'm happy to see. I was annoyed from 2004-2008 the fans would pack the house as if they were accepting of the crappy product. The fans have spoken the last two years which is we are tired of this act. So if the Mariners actually don't make any moves then proceed this offseason to make no moves look for attendance to reach Montreal Expos(under 10,000 fans) level next season. This recent news makes frustrated with these morons who are running the show.
In conclusion, the Mariners upper management is telling the fans to piss off yet again. I'm not saying to sell off the farm system but the Mariners should be active. Having a pitching staff like the one they have they might not ever get this production for another 40 plus seasons. The Mariners this year currently have three aces and two really good back of the rotation guys. I'm pissed off at the fact the Mariners are willing to just let this rotation piss down the toilet like it's not big deal. I'm sure you'll hear people say the future is bright and I say to that bullshit! Our pitching prospects are nice and could just as easily turn out to be Ryan Anderson, Ken Cloude and Gil Meche as well. Whenever you have an opportunity to win a title you go for it and worry about the future later. The time is now with this pitching staff and if the Mariners had just an average offense they would win the World Series. With the injury to Roy Oswalt to the Philadelphia Phillies the Mariners have the best rotation in baseball. Once again this season will be wasted just like the 2000-2003 era was wasted because they have one thing in common. They are ran by Dumb(Lincoln) and Dumber(Armstrong). The Mariners are one of two teams to never reach a World Series and Armstrong has been part of this organization for 25 plus years. I know the fans are finally getting frustrated and I hope the Mariners management realizes the days of dicking us fans around have been over for about two seasons. So have fun next year at Safeco with less than 15,000 fans since Dumb(Lincoln) and Dumber(Armstrong) won't do jack shit as usual.
The Seattle Mariners just completed their road part of interleague play as they'll be having the DH for the rest of the season. With the way the pitchers hit this week and the way the hitters hit this week the Mariners might want to think about using their pitchers as the DH on off days. The Mariners struggled this week having been swept by the Washington Nationals despite their starting pitchers giving up just combined one earned run over 21 innings. Then the Mariners returned home to take on the Florida Marlins that was supposed to be in Miami but due to a U2 concert the game was played at Safeco. Those three games were Marlins home games as they were played by National League rules. That gave the fans to root on their home pitchers at the plate. The Mariners for the week went 2-4 despite their starting pitching going 43 innings allowing just seven earned runs for an ERA of 1.46 on the week. The hitting was just awful this week and played a main reason why the Mariners went just 2-4. So this week I'll be doing the good(starting pitching), the bad(almost entire hitting) and the ugly(Figgins and the left field problem). So I'll lead off this weekly review with the good news which will see a player make the good pitching and hitting list.
The Good:
The Mariners for going 2-4 this week saw plenty of great pitching this week. The starting pitching was terrific this week led by Doug Fister who can't seem to buy a win. Fister was great this week with his pitching and his hitting as well. Felix Hernandez put on a great show this week for the King's Court striking out 10 batters this week in a game that I went to in fact. The electricity around Hernandez bullpen session was great and I was glad that I brought my dad to friday's game. The King's court is like a student section you see at a college game and I think that was a great idea by the Mariners organization to give some life into Safeco Field. The Mariners pitching as they have all season long was terrific and you'll see them make the list. As for hitting well I really had to stretch to include some hitters this week. One hitter who shined was Dustin Ackley who had his first career double this week and three hit game. Ackley was terrific this week and I'm glad manager Eric Wedge finally moved him up in the lineup.
Good Hitting:
Dustin Ackley: 6-19(.315), 2 RBI's, 4 runs, .409 OB % Franklin Gutierrez: 6-23(.260), 2 RBI's, run, SB Doug Fister: 2-6(.333), RBI, Run
Bedard became the first pitcher since Johan Santana in 2009 to lose a game while allowing zero earned runs and striking out 10 batters. He was only the seventh pitcher in the last 35 years to lose such a game.
The Mariners starting pitching this year has been terrific and has been carrying this team.
Whenever you go 2-4 on the week when your starting pitching has a 1.46 ERA that tells the story of the hitting. The hitting like it has all year killed the Mariners this week scoring just 2.5 runs a game. The defense was terrible in the series sweep to the Nationals allowing seven unearned runs and then the final game losing 1-0 on a shallow sac fly. Also this was probably the worst week for manager Eric Wedge who made several questionable decisions this week. In the first game of the week he pulled Doug Fister who had retired seven hitters in a row and had thrown 99 pitches after eight innings with the Mariners up 5-1. The Mariners would go on to lose that game 6-5 despite being up 5-1 with two outs. Then in Tuesday's game Wedge gave Ackley a day off which made an already weak lineup even worse. He also didn't pinch hit for Chone Figgins in the 9th and Figgins rewarded him by striking out on three straight called strikes. I think Wedge is doing a decent job but that Nationals series he was a big part of two of the three losses. The lack of hitting was a big part of well all the Mariners losses this year.
The Hitting was awful this week scoring just 2.5 runs a game with two home runs for the whole week. The Mariners were held to two runs or less in four of the six games this week including being held to one run or less in three of those games. The Mariners saw their pitchers Hernandez, Fister and Pineda get base hits yet their regular hitters can't seem to buy a hit lately. The Mariners are getting nothing from Figgins, Left Field or DH this season and unless that changes they'll find themselves out of the playoff race soon.
The Ugly:
There has been plenty of ugly hitting this year. I already wrote a blog post earlier on the week about how the Mariners should end the Carlos Peguero experiment. Well the Mariners have no left field options at all in their system. The Mariners have to trade for a DH and a left fielder as I'll post the ugly stats they are putting up as a group. You throw in Figgins who is terrible at hitting and also leads the team in errors the Mariners have some serious dead weight on their hands. In the case of Figgins they can't afford to dump him so I suggest putting him on the DL for "suckitis" for a while. As for Jack Cust, Carlos Peguero and Mike Carp it's time to put up or get a bust ticket to leave town.
Ugly Hitting:
Chone Figgins: Hitting .188/.235/.252 . He has one home run, 21 runs scored and 14 RBI's. He has 8 SB's in 14 chances(57.1%) which is just terrible. He is hitting 25-147(.170) since May 1st and has an OB% of just .230 with 23 strikeouts. He has been down right awful for the Mariners.
Jack Cust: Hitting .216/.358/.319 . He has just two home runs, 16 runs scored and 19 RBI's. Cust was brought in for power and has only 14 XBH in 185 AB's with 65 K's. For the month of June he is hitting .115/.343/.231 in 26 AB's but still has nine strikeouts. Cust was brought in for power but other than getting walked has shown to be pretty worthless.
Mike Carp: Hitting .179/.343/.214. So far in only 28 AB's he has yet to score a run or drive in a run. He does have 11 strikeouts(39.2% of AB's) since coming up. Carp after failing last year in the majors is showing he is quadruple A. I think to truly judge him Wedge needs to play him everyday for two weeks in left field or DH. If Carp still isn't productive then it's time to cut bait on Carp.
Carlos Peguero: Hitting .205/.268/.419. So far he has hit six home runs, scored 14 runs and has 16 RBI's. Peguero has provided some power this year but he is striking out way too much and not walking enough. Peguero has 40 strikeouts already in only 117 AB's(34.1%) with just seven walks(5.9%). He is also only hitting a home run one in 19.5 AB's. The problem for the Mariners is when the DH returns two of these guys are in the lineup and if Wedge plays Figgins three of these guys are playing. So if any hitters like a Justin Smoak or Ichiro are slumping which both did this week the Mariners simply aren't going to score runs.
AL West Standings:
Texas Rangers: 41-38, first place Seattle Mariners: 39-39, 1.5 GB L.A. Angels: 39-40, 2.0 GB Oakland A's: 35-44, 6.0 GB
In conclusion, the Mariners this week proved what everyone already knows which is that their starting five man rotation is the best in the American League and that their starting nine is the worst in the American League. The Mariners need to make a trade to acquire a major league left fielder and DH if they seriously want to compete for the playoffs. Otherwise the Mariners should just trade Erik Bedard right now and bring in some pitching prospects. The Mariners have nobody on their roster or in their system who can be their everyday left fielder. The Mariners desperatly need to acquire a left fielder for this year and for next season while also bringing in a DH midseason to finish out the year. I do feel for Wedge as his options at DH and left field aren't good although I would play Carp over Peguero. The Mariners pitching staff with an average offense would win over 100 games. On the flip side if the Mariners pitching staff was average with this hitting they'd lose over 100 games like they did last year. At least the Mariners are about to enter July and we still care about the team.
We lost a couple of good restaurants in Indy lately but I have to say, I am relieved to have Black Market, because it looks like we have replaced them with a good new one.Based on my first visit anyway, this one’s a keeper.
I usually don’t try a new restaurant this quickly (it had only been open a week and a half at this point), but it was a friend’s birthday, and his choice, so we happily obliged. As of our visit, Black Market still didn’t have its sign out front, so you sort of feel like you are sneaking into some secret restaurant—it’s tucked away at the end of Mass Ave (near R Bistro) with just a plain black awning out front.And get this; they have their own parking lot—a very nice benefit for a downtown restaurant. There is also a small outdoor eating area. When we walked in, we were warmly welcomed, the door opened for us, and we were told to have a seat wherever we liked.There is a long communal table and then several other tables for 2 or 4.But the main feature of the room is probably the long bar that takes up nearly half of the restaurant.Also the enormous black board just inside the door which lists all the menu items as well as the specials (they also give you a regular menu so you don’t have to read anything off the board except the specials).
There are several small plates and then larger plates and several sides.We started with the ceviche appetizer (a special--$12) and the beef tongue cocktail ($8).The ceviche was delicious even if I would call it more of a seafood tostada perhaps than what I imagine with classic ceviche.It was marinatedseafood—chopped shrimp and scallops mixed with cilantro and lime and served over cabbage and on a crispy tortilla.There was also a lovely fresh cilantro crème fraiche/sour cream sauce drizzled on top.All these things were awesome together, but you can see what I mean when I say it was more like a tostado or taco with a crispy shell. Usually ceviche is just the fish and something to scoop it up with; this was much more than that.It was a perfect summer starter.
We also shared the beef tongue cocktail.Not having a ton of experience with eating a lot of tongue (ok, I have re-written that sentence several times and there is just no way to say it that doesn’t come out sounding a little weird), I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect with this one, but it was really good as well.The tongue was cut into little cubes and had a slight crisp edge to them.It was served mixed with cubes of beets and horseradish cream sauce and with several thick fried potato chips alongside for scooping. The beets and cream adding nice variation in flavor and texture to the tongue itself, but the tongue was so good—I went back for several forkfuls of just those little nuggets—in some ways the richness of them reminded me of cubes of pork belly.I was impressed—I have never seen an appetizer like this in Indy, and it was a refreshing change of pace.
For our main dishes, hubby and I agreed to share a couple of things—I ordered the veggie option-- Fried Egg on Toast ($11) and hubby ordered the pork schnitzel ($16).The fried egg dish was also very good (and you know I love a dish with a perfect runny egg).It was thick sliced toast that had been grilled, and therefore had some color to it, topped with melted cheddar cheese and roasted small tomatoes that had that mellow smoothness that roasting gives to veggies (and fruits in this case).There was still the touch of acidity but it was balanced by the roasting.There was also some crispy kale chips (which by the way, I had just made for the first time myself last weekend at my house using Katy She Cooks’ recipe) which were nice to add a slight edge of saltiness and bitterness and crackly crunch.I have to say, my instinct when I see an egg like that is to reach for a salt shaker, and there wasn’t one on the table.So I decided to go with it as is, and it was perfectly seasoned.No additional salt or anything else needed.It was served with lightly dressed greens (ok, my one complaint on the dish is that I would have liked a little more dressing on these).The whole dish was simple, but with some subtle tweaks.
The schnitzel was also very well done. Probably the best schnitzel I have had.Someone had spent some time getting this right.The pork was pounded flat and seasoned with egg and breadcrumbs—and some cheese I am guessing.But the beauty is, it was cooked through, but was also still exceedingly tender with a nicely crispy pan fried crust.It was served with a slaw of cabbage, apples and lemon.The slaw was a great accompaniment because it was a little sweet, but mostly tangy.A bite of the pork with the slaw together let you know someone back in the kitchen had thought about what they were putting together on the plate and had good reasons for it.Again the dish was inherently simple, but so well executed.
We also got a side of the spaetzel and the fries (both $5).The spaetzel was my least favorite thing of the evening.It really had little flavor and just sort of felt like carbs that weren’t worth eating. Our server had told us it was lemony, but I didn’t really get any lemon flavor from it (or really much of any flavor).We also had the fries which were served with a lemon sage aioli.You know how I am always complaining when restaurants (particularly ones that are trying to be more than just your standard restaurant) only serve ketchup with fries?Well, this is the reason why.You get a dip like this, and you realize how lame ketchup is.The fries themselves were tasty—hot and crisp, not exactly mind-blowing on their own, but with that sauce, wow.My only complaint? There were a lot of fries and we could have used another ramekin of sauce.
I only had a couple bites of our friends’ dishes but my quick thoughts are this: the black market burger (made with lamb and beef) ($13) was good. I liked the nice fire roasted flavor in the meat, and that it wasn’t cooked to death.It was quite juicy. I also liked the pickled tomatoes and goat cheese topping giving it the right balance with the rich, smoky meat.What I didn’t like was the bun was a little too big and dense to eat the burger easily—my friend cut it in half to eat it.Our other friend had the herb roasted lamb ($18) which was not exactly what we were expecting either, but was still good.It was sliced and heavily seasoned—almost like fancy gyros meat.It was served with a similar creamy sauce that you would get with gyros too.It was good, but could maybe use a little more description on the menu—as this would not be what I was wanting if I ordered “herb roasted lamb.”
We had a dessert-the banana bread with butterscotch and chocolate whipped cream ($5).This was a dish that didn’t look that good when it was sat down on the table—it was basically a banana muffin with the butterscotch sauce and the whipped cream on the side.I feared the muffin would be dry, but a mix of all the flavors together was terrific.You could taste the banana without being overwhelmed by its sweetness.The desserts may be a little on the small side compared to what we are used to in Indy, but I liked that, although I shared it, I could have eaten the whole thing myself.It was just the right portion.
Overall, this is a place that is certainly going into my regular rotation.I don’t think they take reservations, so at some point, it might be more difficult to get into, but we had no problem.I was also really impressed with how well the front of the house was working.Our service was spot on all night, never a delay in anything.Our server gave us honest and really good recommendations. She knew what she was talking about.I would say this kind of service would be impressive in any Indy restaurant, but particularly one that has only been open just over a week.You really ought to go check it out.
The New England Revolution got on the score sheet early, but they failed to hold on as the Seattle Sounders(8-4-7) came back with two first half goals and held on in the second half to defeat New England(3-8-6) 2-1. After two disappointing draws against the Chicago Fire and the Vancouver Whitecaps to start the month of June, the Sounders have won 3 in a row in a string of 8 days against Toronto FC, Red Bull New York and now the New England Revolution and are inching closer to the top spot in the Western Conference, only four points behind the Los Angeles Galaxy. The Revolution are halfway through their 2011 season and have only picked up 15 points which puts them in a tie for last place in the Eastern Conference with Toronto FC. With the month of July approaching means that we'll be seeing more signings, trades and more players sold through the summer. The Sounders have 5 guys on trial including Sammy Ochoa and Myron Samuel. We've had rumors and speculation about Cillian Sheridan signing with the Sounders. He was on trial for a week and did very well, but now it looks like he's actually going to sign with the Portland Timbers which was absolutely uncalled for. The Sounders didn't want him at the price he was asking for. And that's just disappointing because I was excited to see him play for this team and help with our attack and ditching him just for the price tell's me that the staff are being a bunch of pussies. I mean, what? You think you'll go bankrupt for signing him at a huge price? Stupid. Just stupid. Anyway, let's talk about the match....
In the 3rd minute, it was the visitors who struck first. Benny Feilhaber, who missed the last four games do to injury which also knocked him off USA's Gold Cup squad, took the corner from the far hash mark and played a short ball to the top of the penalty area to Sainey Nyassi ripped a hard shot on frame. Kasey Keller got a hand to it but was unable to keep it out. It was the first set piece goal Seattle has conceded in 2011.
In the 23rd minute, the Sounders started to push after Pat Phelan nailed Servando Carrasco at midfield and only picked up a yellow card, but that could easily have been and should've been a straight Red Card. Three minutes later, Carrasco picked up a yellow for his tackle from behind on Benny Feilbaber.
In the 34th minute, the Sounders would pull level off another set play. Mauro Rosales collided with Ryan Cochrane just outside the New England penalty area. The referee gave the free kick to Seattle. Erik Friberg and Tyson Wahl we're behind the ball in an area where you would think Tyson Wahl's left foot would favor it. And I was Tyson Wahl who weaved his magic and curled the ball around the wall and into the far upper 90 as Matt Reis had no clue which direction he was going. It was the first Major League Soccer goal for Tyson Wahl who became the 13th different player to score for the Sounders this season. It was also the 8th set piece goal in the last 8 matches for the Sounders.
Six minutes later, the Sounders would pull ahead. New England defender Kevin Alston broke his shoe and rather than going to the bench to get a new shoe, he stayed on the ground and played everybody onside and the Sounders took advantage of it. Mauro Rosales fed a good ball into the penalty area for Roger Levesque who tapped it to Alvaro Fernandez who finished with the inside of his right foot to put the Sounders up 2-1. Fernandez is now tied for the team lead in Goals with Brad Evans with four goals.
Lamar Neagle had a good chance in the second half to make it 3-1. Drifting out to the right, Neagle took on left back Darrius Barnes. Took a couple of touches before having a go and he wasn't far away. Neagle has one of the greatest strikes on this team, and he managed to show that on the road at Real Salt Lake.
New England had some chances as well including Shalrie Joseph who forced a save by Kasey Keller from point blank range off the corner, while forward Rajko Lukic just missed the far post with a searing volley. In the 85th minute, A. J. Soares fed Zach Schilawski at midfield. Schilawski turned and ripped one from distance but the crossbar saved the Sounders the 3 points. In the end the match ended 2-1 Sounders.
Scoring summary:
New England Revolution - Sainey Nyassi 1 (Benny Feilhaber 2) 3'
Seattle Sounders FC - Tyson Wahl 1 (unassisted) 34'
New England Revolution - Pat Phelan (caution; Reckless tackle) 23'
Seattle Sounders FC - Servando Carrasco (caution; Tactical foul) 26'
New England Revolution - Ryan Cochrane (caution; Reckless tackle) 72'
New England Revolution - Rajko Lekic (caution; Dissent) 78'
Seattle Sounders FC - Tyson Wahl (caution; Delaying a Restart) 87'
New England Revolution - A. J. Soares (caution; Dissent) 90'
Lineup:
New England Revolution - Matt Reis; Kevin Alston, Ryan Cochrane (Zach Schilawski 81'), A. J. Soares, Darrius Barnes; Sainey Nyassi (Zak Boggs 62'), Pat Phelan, Shalrie Joseph, Benny Feilhaber, Ryan Guy (Kenny Mansally 62'); Rajko Lekic
Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Jeff Parke (Patrick Ianni 17'), Tyson Wahl; Lamar Neagle, Servando Carrasco, Erik Friberg, Alvaro Fernandez (Pat Noonan 69'); Mauro Rosales (Nate Jaqua 89'), Roger Levesque
(Taste the Rainbow. Cookie Consumption Equality Now!)
It's Pride Week here in New York, and I am proud to say that I have not had cookies in 25 weeks! I think there were only two times this week where I came upon someone eating a chocolate chip cookie and wanted to impulsively snatch it out of their hands and shove it down my throat before they could react. That's a very low percentage considering how often I come across people eating cookies. I don't seek them out. These people are ALL OVER. Anyway, I am proud of myself for exercising restraint for another week.
I had no dreams about soda this week, for the first time in a long time. I thank my unconscious mind for the reprieve. Although, a funny thing happened on Friday night. Right after the State Senate announced that the Marriage Equality Act would become law, I felt such a wave of happiness and relief that I ran into my kitchen looking to celebrate with a glass of coke. Not wine, or champagne (not that I have champagne on hand). but who mentally thinks, "This event calls for a celebration! Bartender! Your finest cola!" ??? Apparently, I do. I have issues.
Next week is the big milestone. 26 Weeks. Half a Year without Cookies or Soda! On Friday, when the calendar hits July 1st half of 2011 will be gone. Seriously, people. If you set goals for yourself in 2011 at the start of the year, you have half as much time left as you did then to make them happen. Don't let the summer pass you by! See you next week, for the big celebration!!
Congrats to Rafa on a very hard fought victory against Gilles Muller on Friday/Saturday in the 3rd round of Wimby. The first two sets of his 7-6 (8/6) 7-6 (7/5) 6-0 win were insane. Muller was serving with unbelievable speed and accuracy throughout both those sets. Rafa was certainly no slouch either, and he came through in both tie-breaks when he needed to. As you can imagine, playing the best he possibly could for two sets and still having nothing to show for it on the scoreboard, really broke Muller down mentally. The third set was no contest. It's too bad, because his play in the first two sets was exceptional. Rafa just converted on the big points. That's just what we can expect from Rafa!
Up next in the Round of 16, Our Hero faces the always dangerous Juan Martin Del Potro. This match up always makes me nervous. Del Potro totally crushed Nadal in the 2009 US Open Semis. The sting of that lost remains etched in my memory. A lot has happened since then so you can't really compare that match to now. First, this is grass, not hard courts, so the game is different. Second, Del Po is still coming back from serious injury in 2010, though he is in increasingly better shape. And third, Nadal still has a winning record against him (5-3), and won their last match at Indian Wells earlier this year. So we'll just have to watch and see. It should be a very exciting match on a big day of tennis at WImby! Week 2 of the tournament starts tomorrow! Vamos!
We just got an opportunity to take our kids to Disney and the beach for a few days to celebrate the end of the school year.It was my son’s first time in Disney, and needless to say, he was very excited. I thought doing a review or two might be helpful since so many Indy people seem to travel to Disney World, and Florida in general. Overall, I found the food in Disney to be pretty much what I expected—mediocre park food, and our dinner at Chef Mickey’s not much better than the food in the park.It was a buffet—the real purpose of this restaurant was to meet Mickey Mouse and his friends, and for that purpose, it was exactly what we wanted.I didn’t eat a lot there, because it was one of those meals that felt a bit like a waste of calories.
Our last night in Disney though, I had made a reservation for the California Grill which is at the top of the Contemporary hotel.It is a very large place, but has lovely windows almost all the way around with very nice views of the parks.There was even a rainbow over Epcot while we had dinner.While it is a nicer restaurant than a lot of the Disney choices, it is still quite loud and kid friendly.Most tables had kids (as did ours).The kitchen is open, and it was interesting to see all the things coming out of there.A lot of good looking stuff, I have to say.
So hubby and I shared a couple of things—the yellowfin tuna sampler($23)(and they have a large selection of sushi as well) which was quite good. Probably the best thing we had all night.It was tuna tartare, seared sliced tuna (tataki) and tuna poke (large cubes).Each part came with its own little sauce and accompaniments.There was also a little dish of this soy and pickled onion relish that was delicious with all the different things on the plate.We really enjoyed it.
We also shared the local corn soup ($11) which was made with pureed corn and Portobello mushrooms –it was a very thick soup.It was meant to have lobster in it as well according to the menu, and there were a few little dices of something on top when it was served, but they were so small, it was hard to really tell if it was lobster.It did add a little texture, but the soup was so thick already, even that you didn’t notice that much.The whole thing was drizzled with white truffle oil and ended up being a pretty decent combination of flavors even without the lobster.The sweetness from the corn and the heartiness of the mushrooms were nice—and mushrooms are always nice with a little truffle.It was so rich though, and thick, like I said, that we didn’t even finish it.
For my main, well, they had soft shell crab sliders on the menu, and you know I wasn’t passing up soft shell crabs even if they were in the form of sliders ($18).They were an appetizer, but there were two of them which was more than enough for me.They were on little brioche buns (one small crab per bun), and topped with roasted red peppers and corn, and had a spicy aioli on them as well.The buns were nice and soft and the crabs were fried nicely—it was maybe just a little too much for me with all that stuff—you couldn’t really get the flavor of the crab.By the time I had gotten to the second one, I mainly was just pulling the crab out of the sandwich.
The kids enjoyed it too—my son appreciated a kid’s meal that included a decent steak (“fire-roasted” he kept pointing out to me) and he ate every bite.Hubby had the veal dish ($44) and liked it, although didn’t love it. It was veal tenderloin with potatoes, beans and a morel/spring veggie vinaigrette.But we were both really happy to have food that was fresh and had some care put into making it. Also a decent wine list.And the views are some of the best in Disney.This is a great place to come watch the fireworks that are set off every night around Cinderella’s castle.And even if you eat before the fireworks start, you can come back up and enjoy their balcony.It is a bit of a mad house, but if we do a return trip to Disney, this is a place worth repeating.My next Florida review includes some places from St. Pete Beach, which was where we were off to next.
By Money Mike
Lamar Neagle had a good chance in the second half to make it 3-1. Drifting out to the right, Neagle took on left back Darrius Barnes. Took a couple of touches before having a go and he wasn't far away. Neagle has one of the greatest strikes on this team, and he managed to show that on the road at Real Salt Lake.
