Chinese are reading me

Yesterday I participated in a Chinese anti-KFC protest, and now my picture (looking strangely in great pain) is in at least four Chinese newspapers, which include my name in both Chinese and English! I was also filmed for TV, interviewed in Chinese, and I spoke the worst Chinese of my life, the grammar was terrible, the answers hardly intelligible. It will be so embarassing if it airs -- and yet, I hope it does. Better ignominy than anonymity :P

You can see the articles in 世界日報(World Journal), 星島日報(Singdao Daily), and 明報. If you can't view pdf's, I found one of them, the World Journal, online. I also made the Chinese posters -- thanks go to Tsoching for the translation.

Afterwards, yummy food at Buddha Bodai (mmm, jellyfish), shopping at Mei Wah -- a market that exclusively sells fake meat (one I hadn't been to since visiting New York with Keng-hui so many years ago) some trying on clothes in Soho, and then over to Dumpling Man in the East Village, where I had their delish pumpkin dumplings. Ah, such food as we have here!

I had more to say, but I'm slow to blog and now I forget. Good news: Chicago banned foie gras, an ordinance I had worked on. I haven't been able to find a new fruit, but on Saturday I'm signed up for a yoga class, which will be one more off my list.

Bell fruit

I have finally discovered the English name for the fruit 蓮霧 (lianwu). I've long searched Chinese-English dictionaries for it, but this fruit, among the many strange fruits I ate in Taiwan, stood alone in having no translation. However, I finally managed to track down its Latin species name, and from there it was easy. For now on, I will refer to it as the bell fruit (which I think sounds better than "wax apple").

Yesterday I had malawach with finio (chocolate), bananas, and strawberries at PressToast in the Village. It is so good! Some foods I enjoy but some are just perfect... I also got hummus at The Hummus Place. Best hummus in the city. And that makes it likely the best hummus in the country. I need to eat more unhealthy food, or it's such a waste to be living in New York!

Animal Liberation

I have put the first chapter of Peter Singer's Animal Liberation online. It presents the main idea of animal rights. It was reading this very chapter that completely changed my beliefs and led to my current career. It's not often that reading an essay can have such a dramatic effect, but it's done just that to millions. Read it and see for yourself -- even if you're not convinced, you will definitely be challenged and have something very interesting to think about. Most people think they know what animal rights is about, but they really don't. Too subtle to put in a sound bite; it's easier just to say things like "You wouldn't eat your dog" or show animals being skinned alive for fur. But so many people now disagree with animal rights without even knowing what it really is. Now's your chance to find out.

This photo is not taken on the street, but inside Tyson's Corner mall. This store has the coolest facade ever. Ruehl is the higher-end version of Abercrombie & Fitch. I'm not crazy about the clothes, but I love the idea.

I'm enjoying a bottle of pomelo aloe juice. I never thought of putting pomelo juice and aloe juice together, but it's quite good.

Reggaeton

Do you know what Reggaeton is? It's really popular here in NYC, but I don't know if that means it's popular everywhere or if we just have a big puerto rican population. This mix of Latin and Reggae, influenced by hip hop, is actually quite catchy. You can listen to some of the most famous examples, Gasolina (click on "Gasolina by Daddy Yankee") and Oye Mi Canto (scroll down to the "Videos" section and click on the song by N.O.R.E., not by Reggaeton Ninos, unless you want to hear it sung by kids with "clean" lyrics). For both songs, it's better if you don't watch the video. Stupid stupid videos. If you're wondering what they're saying, it's better not knowing. Stupid, stupid lyrics, virtually meaningless. Anyway, it's not like I'm a huge fan, but it is catchy. I went to a club where they were performing these very songs, which I'd never heard before, and left singing it in my head for a long time after. (The club, Spirit, has been closed for drug sales and underage drinking in a recent police sweep.)

Me, broadcast to the world! (WBAI)

This morning I was interviewed on WBAI's radio show Eco-Logic from 11am to noon. It didn't go well (frown). You can listen to it here. The second half hour the guy wouldn't let me get a word in edgewise, unfortunately.

If you want to hear my last interview, in Colorado, which I think went very well, you can listen here.

I know I haven't been very personal lately, but I will catch up soon, I promise.

What not to eat (Pesach)

This is a really interesting article on how we are unconsciously biased: I'm OK, You're Biased.

In case you're wondering: What can't Jews eat on Passover? Both Ashkenazi and Sepharadi Jews agree that 5 grains are forbidden -- barley, oats, rye, spelt, and wheat -- except when making matzah, in which case any of the 5 chametz grains MUST be used so that it simulates the situation that the Hebrews experienced when they tried to bake their bread as they prepared to flee Egypt. They also agree that it is forbidden to come in contact with or even have in their possession in their household any chametz, which incldues leavened foods, drinks and ingredients that are made from or contain wheat, rye, barley, oats or spelt. Therefore, all grain products such as breads, cereals and other breakfast foods, grain alcohol, grain vinegar and malts, are forbidden during Passover.

Ashkenazi Jews also prohibit kitniot, basically anything that can be ground into flour, which includes a lot of foods including, rice, corn (yes, corn syrup too), beans, and so on. They don't include potatoes because that was a staple in the middle ages. It all sounds rather arbitrary to me. Unlike chametz, you're allowed to have these in your house, you just can't eat them.

I'm dying for a Builder Bar. I'm so craving one...

Wealth distribution

So, half the people own 2.8% of the wealth. More than half the wealth is owned by just 5% of the people.

Do you think that this is a fair distribution of wealth? Do you think people get about what they deserve in the US?

Let's just better understand what we're talking about here. If we took less than 10% of the wealth from just the richest 1% of Americans, we could instantly double the amount of money of half the country -- everyone with one house suddenly has two, everyone with two cars suddenly has four. I'm not recommending doing this, but it does illustrate what a rich country we are. The richest 1% would barely notice the loss, but 150 million Americans would be celebrating the windfall of a lifetime.


Yesterday I tried a kiwiberry, and it was so good! They look like something like slightly oversized grapes, but when you bite them the inside looks like a little skinless kiwi, though the taste is sweeter. So yummy! But expensive.

Also yesterday I ate at Sushi-ko, which I must say is probably the best sushi I've had in DC (and second to Sushi Samba, the best sushi I've ever had!). It's not cheap, and the place is small and not well decorated, but after eating so much sushi that is more or less the same wherever I go, this is a large step above. My review: yumyum!

If you want to sign P!nk's petition to KFC asking them to stop the worst abuses of animals (boiling birds alive, burning off their beaks, and such), you can do so here, signing using your mouse, which is fun.

And yet another interview

I am being interveiwed on the WBAI radio show Eco-logic on April 18, isn't that cool?

I spent today waiting in the tax accountant's office, in order to get him to reduce my deductions so that I pay more taxes. My integrity is worth more than money I think. I arrived 15 minutes after they were supposed to have opened (but they hadn't) and there was already a line of 15 people. When they finally got to me, they told me I should come back when the accountant that worked my taxes before is in. So, I had some yummy steamed spinach dumplings, and came back. The good news is that I actually end up paying less taxes, so my honesty paid off.

Kickboxing

Yesterday I went to try kickboxing at San Da kickboxing. I was expecting a regular gym, all slick and nice, with a locker room, weights, and everything, but it was like those boxing gyms you see in the movies, basically a big empty area with mats on the floor, a boxing ring, and some hanging punching bags. The class wasn't what I thought either, it was basically a regular work-out, but it involved a lot of kicking and punching. (I didn't get to kick someone like in the picture on the right.) Exercise is fun, and I liked pushing myself and feeling a little sore the next day, but it wasn't anything I couldn't do at home. Maybe I should have tried the contact lessons, which would teach me to actually hit and defend myself, but that would be like taking one class of karate -- what can you really learn? Anyway, if you're in NYC, you can try a class there for free.

I love Vegefarm products! Their whole chicken, their mackerel, and their salted chicken balls have all been so yummy. Cheers for this company from Taoyuan, Taiwan.

For all you fans of Jonathan Safran Foer (I'm not really one of them, and I don't think anyone who reads this is, but he wrote Everything is Illuminated, which was a movie with Elijah Wood), you should listen to this interview with him on his diet. (If you think kosher means humane, you can watch his new video on that subject.)

To do

I'm putting together a list of things that I have to try in the next 6 months:

1) Visit a new New York sight
2) Eat a new fruit
3) Kickboxing
4) Yoga
5) Go to somewhere in Brooklyn

I need more! Suggestions?

Wheels are already spinning. I plan to go to a kickboxing class tomorrow!

(By the way, for all of you who enjoyed The Meatrix, you can now see the sequel: The Meatrix 2.)

More innocent people at Guantanamo Bay

The New Washington Post reported on two British citizens who have never done anything wrong, but have been imprisoned for months now because they refused to act as informants for the government. They were acquaintances with a radical Islamic guy, so the government asked them to try to get info out of the guy and inform on him. At first they volunteered to do this, but later they didn't want to any more, so Britain had the US throw them into its prison system for enemy combatants and told them they would be freed only if they agree to work for the government as spies. They have refused, and languished in prisons in Guantánamo Bay, Afghanistan, and other countries. Totally innocent people.