Iron-looking Chef

Have you ever seen the show "Iron Chef"? Did you know it was all staged?

The chefs know the "secret ingredient" ahead of time. There's no huddling and planning with sous-chefs. They all already know what recipes they're doing and go do it. Nor is there any time pressure, as everyone cooks in a humdrum and relaxed manner. On top of that, the dishes you see them cook are not the dishes the judges taste. Rather, afterwards the sous-chefs recook for the judges, and what the judges taste includes ingredients not on the ingredient table. Ah, TV, is there nothing real? [Source]

Pure Food And Wine

I went to Pure Food and Wine, a raw restaurant in the East Village. The garden area was absolutely beautiful, one of the most beautiful places I've seen in New York, just stunning. I've never eaten at a raw food restaurant, but the food was very tasty. However, the portions were tiny and the prices exorbitant. My entree was beet ravioli, and with it I got six pieces of miniature ravioli, each the size of a quarter, for $26. My dessert, a strawberry shortcake, was one mouthful of cake for $16. So, it was good food but it would really have to be incredible food to justify the price, and that it's not.

Lessons in Happiness Research

Some miscellaneous facts on happiness:

• "A systematic study of 22 people who won major lotteries found that they reverted to their baseline level of happiness over time, winding up no happier than 22 matched controls"
• "Within a few years, paraplegics wind up only slightly less happy on average than individuals who are not paralyzed"
• "In wealthier nations ... increases in wealth have negligible effects on personal happiness"

The basic message is, things you think will make you happy really don't make much difference in the long-term, and things that you think will make you unhappy don't make that much difference in the long-term either. So, when travesty strikes, keep in mind that the suffering won't last, our ability to cope is far stronger than we conceive. And don't worry about money -- it can make some things easier, but it won't make you happier in general.

One interesting finding: "Unlike money, which has at most a small effect, marriage is robustly related to happiness..." although it's not clear what causes married people to be happier than unmarried people. (Children, on the other hand, are not correlated with increased happiness).

Republican surveys

As a follow up on Republicans being truly nuts, here are some statistics that astound me.

• A Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll released last Friday found that 28% of Republicans don’t believe that Barack Obama was born in the US and another 30% are still “not sure.”
• A Gallup poll last summer found that 6 in 10 Republicans said they thought that humans were created, in their present form, 10,000 years ago.
• A Pew poll last month found that only 6% of scientists said that they were Republicans.

Now, not all Republicans are crazy people utterly detached from reality. Conservative ideas aren't wrong just because so many people who hold the beliefs are off the deep end. But the crazy ones are, it seems, in control of the party and the debate, alas.

Wingnuts

Sarah Palin, calling Obama's health care plan "downright evil", actually said this:

"In the America I know [people shouldn't have to] stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care."

Are Republicans totally insane? How could anyone believe this is part of the plan? (It isn't!)

It's not just Palin, who may be insane but seems to have more than 40% public approval. This plan of attack is the organized Republican strategy. The whole party seems way off the deep end. Like the conspiracy theories that Obama is not an American, I can't believe the Republican mainstream is taking this stuff seriously.

(500) and Ariyoshi

Thumbs up to (500) Days of Summer. I definitely enjoyed the movie, and it made me think about the stuff I'd been through and inflicted in relationships. However, later on looking back, I think the movie was ultimately small. The insights weren't deep and the subject simple, not the kind of thing you'll think about long after it's gone. Still, it was sweet and made you leave happy. In spite of the subject, it would make a good date movie, because as the narrator says at the beginning, it is not a love story, but it is a story about love.

Also enjoyed a new restaurant, Ariyoshi (810 Broadway) has nice decor and the food was yummy and seemed very authentic Japanese. I ordered the soba soup with mountain yam, which apparently is a white tasteless goo with a consistency like that marshmellow fluffernutter spread. I liked it.

Happy Rakhi and Tu B'Av

Happy Rakhi.

As I described last year, Raksha Bandhar (aka Rakhi) is a national Indian holiday in which sisters tie a string bracelet around their brother's wrist as a bond of protection, meaning that if she needs help (say, when her husband is away), her brother will be there for her. The brother gives the sister presents. It doesn't have to be between biological sisters and brothers, it can be for anyone who takes that role for the woman. How sweet.

So if you want presents, you should give me string :)

Also, Happy Tu B'Av. I didn't know about this Jewish holiday, never having heard of any traditional celebration. Apparently, according to the Talmud, Tu B'Av was a joyous holiday in the days of the Temple: Unmarried girls would dress in simple white clothing and go out to sing and dance in the vineyards surrounding Jerusalem. It is considered in modern times to be a sort of Jewish Valentine's day.

80 billion animals

I calculated how many animals each American meat-eater killed in 2008 -- the most complete such calculation that exists. [Note: these figures have been corrected and updated, so don't use them. See: AnimalDeathCount.blogspot.com]

In total, Americans killed 80 billion animals for food last year, including 9 billion land animals (almost all chickens), 6.5 billion fish, and 64 billion shellfish. The good news is, that's 3% less than the year before -- 300 million fewer land animals and 3 billion fewer animals overall. Huge numbers saved!

The average meat-eater killed 270 animals last year, including 1 1/2 fewer land animals and 1 fewer fish than the previous year. That breaks down to:

• 1/7 of a cow
• 1/2 a pig
• 1 turkey
• 27 1/2 chickens
• 22 fish
• 218 shellfish

Over an average lifetime, that amounts to 21,000 animals killed for food.

I'm sure many factors influence the drop in animal consumption, but it's encouraging to know that efforts to educate people about the benefits of vegetarianism are contributing to a very real reduction in suffering and death. Each person can make a difference -- and what a difference! Tens of thousands of lives spared!

So, vegetarian readers, feel good about yourself! And anyone else wanting in on that good feeling, the place to start with the most impact is chicken and fish -- really, how hard would it be to cut those out?

Interestingly, the Washington Post just had an article on the importance of cutting out meat for addressing global warming. Cool to see the work I started getting out there.