Monday, June 25, 2007
Dr. Flappy-cakes is Staying in Colorado!
Congratulations to Dr. Brandon Fain, M.D. (soon enough, anyways), for gaining acceptance to University of Colorado Medical School in Denver. Now you can stay close to home and continue to cheer for your Broncos, Nuggets, Avalanche and Rockies. Congratulations, Bro.
A Tale of Three Burgers: Genre Triggers Eating Strategy
I've had three different cheeseburgers in the last week or so, and I wanted to share my thoughts about them with you all.
Dick's
If you are the kind of person who likes solidified American cheese that is stuck to burger wrapping paper, I've got a recommendation. A buck-thirty or so will buy you a cheeseburger at my local Lower Queen Anne Dick's, and fries are the same price. They are approximately comparable to McDonald's cheeseburgers, though they are a bit more expensive, and maybe a three quarters of a step better in the class category (though class admittedly counts precious little in the realm of delicious cheap eats). What counts for more is the quality of french fries, which are of the hand cut variety and, glistening with glorious grease, are practically begging for you to let them make the nearest piece of paper on your desk translucent.
Of course it'll take a few Dick's cheeseburgers, plus the fries, to put a dent in your hunger, but I'm okay with that, because after tax I still find myself in the four dollar neighborhood. Not a bad neighborhood to be in when you are hungry and in a hurry.
In the genre of cheap fast food burgers, Dick's gets a solid "A."
Burgermaster
This drive-in is located up on Aurora, somewhere between 85th St and the Canadian border. Closer to 85th, I think. It's like a Sonic, only with a much more mom-and-pop feel, less annoying uniforms, and a cooler, less technologically advanced way to order (turn on your headlights for service). It's not in the same class as Sonic though, because a cheeseburger combo ("Burgermaster w/ Cheese") is something like $6.34 plus tax. With me giving them more of my money, standards must be raised. The cheeseburger was delicious (Austinites - think Player's), and the fries were comparable to McDonald's, in a good way. One problem I had was the drink that came with this combo. It was only 10 oz. You can easily upgrade it for a bit more money, which I didn't do because I wasn't thirsty at all, but in a world where a small at Jack in the Box or Taco Bell is the size of an average pitcher, I think you can afford to give be a bit more to drink. Even though I didn't want it. This is America, dammit; waste some carbonated beverage on me.
If the benchmark is Players in Austin, I'll give them only a B because they are a bit overpriced and they have Mr. Pibb instead of Dr. Pepper. At Players on MLK I can get a jalapeño cheeseburger, thick fries and a bottomless Dr. Pepper for about $5.25. But be kind, this is Seattle, and the burger options are far less diverse.
A note from the bad pun department: Anyone who thinks this burger is master needs to get out more.
Mcmenamin's Queen Anne
A northwestern chain of brewpub/restaurants, I'm partial to the one a few blocks from my apartment in Uptown Seattle at the bottom of Queen Anne Hill. I don't really have anything bad to say about this place. The beer is delicious (try the Terminator Stout) and is brewed a few feet from where you sit, and the cheeseburger is priced reasonably enough at $7.10 to justify not ordering from the Happy Hour menu. This is a sit down restaurant, so clearly a class or two higher than Burgermaster, but surprisingly less than a dollar more expensive (before tax and tip), a notable feat in a city where the industry standard restaurant burger price is an over-confident ten bucks. And this burger is better than most ten dollar Seattle burgers, and might be the best burger I've had in the Seattle area (see also Red Hook brewery in Woodinville - evidently the ability to make good beer also comes with the ability to make good burgers). Of course the fries are delicious and hand-cut, and I can get Tabasco and beer, two things that were lacking at the other two establishments.
All told, in the Seattle restaurant burger scene, Mcmenamin's gets an "A".
Dick's
If you are the kind of person who likes solidified American cheese that is stuck to burger wrapping paper, I've got a recommendation. A buck-thirty or so will buy you a cheeseburger at my local Lower Queen Anne Dick's, and fries are the same price. They are approximately comparable to McDonald's cheeseburgers, though they are a bit more expensive, and maybe a three quarters of a step better in the class category (though class admittedly counts precious little in the realm of delicious cheap eats). What counts for more is the quality of french fries, which are of the hand cut variety and, glistening with glorious grease, are practically begging for you to let them make the nearest piece of paper on your desk translucent.
Of course it'll take a few Dick's cheeseburgers, plus the fries, to put a dent in your hunger, but I'm okay with that, because after tax I still find myself in the four dollar neighborhood. Not a bad neighborhood to be in when you are hungry and in a hurry.
In the genre of cheap fast food burgers, Dick's gets a solid "A."
Burgermaster
This drive-in is located up on Aurora, somewhere between 85th St and the Canadian border. Closer to 85th, I think. It's like a Sonic, only with a much more mom-and-pop feel, less annoying uniforms, and a cooler, less technologically advanced way to order (turn on your headlights for service). It's not in the same class as Sonic though, because a cheeseburger combo ("Burgermaster w/ Cheese") is something like $6.34 plus tax. With me giving them more of my money, standards must be raised. The cheeseburger was delicious (Austinites - think Player's), and the fries were comparable to McDonald's, in a good way. One problem I had was the drink that came with this combo. It was only 10 oz. You can easily upgrade it for a bit more money, which I didn't do because I wasn't thirsty at all, but in a world where a small at Jack in the Box or Taco Bell is the size of an average pitcher, I think you can afford to give be a bit more to drink. Even though I didn't want it. This is America, dammit; waste some carbonated beverage on me.
If the benchmark is Players in Austin, I'll give them only a B because they are a bit overpriced and they have Mr. Pibb instead of Dr. Pepper. At Players on MLK I can get a jalapeño cheeseburger, thick fries and a bottomless Dr. Pepper for about $5.25. But be kind, this is Seattle, and the burger options are far less diverse.
A note from the bad pun department: Anyone who thinks this burger is master needs to get out more.
Mcmenamin's Queen Anne
A northwestern chain of brewpub/restaurants, I'm partial to the one a few blocks from my apartment in Uptown Seattle at the bottom of Queen Anne Hill. I don't really have anything bad to say about this place. The beer is delicious (try the Terminator Stout) and is brewed a few feet from where you sit, and the cheeseburger is priced reasonably enough at $7.10 to justify not ordering from the Happy Hour menu. This is a sit down restaurant, so clearly a class or two higher than Burgermaster, but surprisingly less than a dollar more expensive (before tax and tip), a notable feat in a city where the industry standard restaurant burger price is an over-confident ten bucks. And this burger is better than most ten dollar Seattle burgers, and might be the best burger I've had in the Seattle area (see also Red Hook brewery in Woodinville - evidently the ability to make good beer also comes with the ability to make good burgers). Of course the fries are delicious and hand-cut, and I can get Tabasco and beer, two things that were lacking at the other two establishments.
All told, in the Seattle restaurant burger scene, Mcmenamin's gets an "A".
Sunday, June 24, 2007
A word from Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Those who remain alone with their evil are left utterly alone. It is possible that Christians may remain lonely in spite of daily worship together, prayer together, and all their community through service - that the final breakthrough to community does not occur precisely because they enjoy community with one another as pious believers, but not with one another as those lacking piety, as sinners...However, the grace of the gospel, which is so hard for the pious to comprehend, confronts us with the truth. It says to us, you are a sinner, a great, unholy sinner. Now come, as the sinner that you are, to your God who loves you. For God wants you as you are, not desiring anything from you - a sacrifice, a good deed - but rather desiring you alone."
-Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
-Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
Overrated Item of the Day: Pretzels
I could live without them. They are completely useless to me except as a conduit for salt. So why don't I just eat salt? At least salt won't make me quite as unnecessarily thirsty as pretzels do.
Some people really like pretzels, and I think that's great for them. But as far as I'm concerned, pretzels are nothing more than the stuff that gets in the way of the good stuff when I'm trying to eat Chex Mix.
Some people really like pretzels, and I think that's great for them. But as far as I'm concerned, pretzels are nothing more than the stuff that gets in the way of the good stuff when I'm trying to eat Chex Mix.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Changing Paradigms in Camera-ology
My Nikon D40 came in the mail a few days ago and I've been really having a great time figuring out how to use it.I took this one with my new camera (which needs a name) resting on a playground set at a dog park a few blocks up from my apartment. If I owned a tripod then that building might not be in the way. This picture is way better than what my old point and shoot would have taken under the provided lighting conditions. Speaking of which, maybe now would be a great time for a moment of silence to honor my old 2.0 Megapixel Canon Digital Elph.
She took many an amazing photo, and I'd pit her against any other point and shoot out there when it comes to quality of print.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Overrated Item of the Day
Seattle's collective taste in coffee.
Generally speaking, Seattle, in spite of its reputation as a city of coffee, has horrible taste in coffee. Starbuck's sucks and Tully's is worse, and both chains are wildly popular and well thought of by the average Seattleite. I'm more and more convinced everyday that very few of them have any idea what good coffee tastes like. I bet you could take Folger's, or maybe that stuff they brew at 7 Eleven, slap a green circular logo with some smiley lady with a crown on it and most people here would think it's delicious.
Not to say that Seattle isn't well above average when it comes to the availability of good coffee: Cafe Vita and Zoka's are both of high quality, and I've heard great things about Uptown Espresso and several other places, but it could definitely be said that largely the average resident of Seattle couldn't tell a good cup of coffee from a good cup of water.
Generally speaking, Seattle, in spite of its reputation as a city of coffee, has horrible taste in coffee. Starbuck's sucks and Tully's is worse, and both chains are wildly popular and well thought of by the average Seattleite. I'm more and more convinced everyday that very few of them have any idea what good coffee tastes like. I bet you could take Folger's, or maybe that stuff they brew at 7 Eleven, slap a green circular logo with some smiley lady with a crown on it and most people here would think it's delicious.
Not to say that Seattle isn't well above average when it comes to the availability of good coffee: Cafe Vita and Zoka's are both of high quality, and I've heard great things about Uptown Espresso and several other places, but it could definitely be said that largely the average resident of Seattle couldn't tell a good cup of coffee from a good cup of water.
Some Thoughts from Heschel's The Prophets
"The principle to be kept in mind is to know what we see rather than to see what we know." (p. xi)
"It is not a world devoid of meaning that evokes the prophet's consternation, but a world deaf to meaning." (xiii)
"Prophecy, then, may be described as exegesis of existence from a divine perspective." (xiv)
"Instead of showing us a way through the elegant mansions of the mind, the prophets take us to the slums." (3)
"Of what paltry worth is human might - yet human compassion is divinely precious." (6)
"Instead of cursing the enemy, the prophets condemn their own nation." (12)
From The Prophets: An Introduction Vol. I by Abraham Heschel
"It is not a world devoid of meaning that evokes the prophet's consternation, but a world deaf to meaning." (xiii)
"Prophecy, then, may be described as exegesis of existence from a divine perspective." (xiv)
"Instead of showing us a way through the elegant mansions of the mind, the prophets take us to the slums." (3)
"Of what paltry worth is human might - yet human compassion is divinely precious." (6)
"Instead of cursing the enemy, the prophets condemn their own nation." (12)
From The Prophets: An Introduction Vol. I by Abraham Heschel
Monday, June 11, 2007
A recent return to meditating with Meister Eckhart
"Apprehend God in all things,
for God is in all things.
Every single creature is full of God
and is a book about God.
Every creature is a word of God.
If I spent enough time with the tiniest creature -
even a caterpillar -
I would never have to prepare a sermon. So full of God
is every creature."
"Now I shall tell you something I have never
spoken of before.
God enjoys him/herself.
In the same enjoyment in which God enjoys him/herself,
S/he enjoys all creatures.
God
finds joy and rapture
in us.
All that is good in creatures -
all their honeysweetness -
comes from God.
All things are pure and noble in God."
"God's being is my being
and God's primordial being
is my primordial being.
Wherever I am,
there is God.
The eye with which I see God
is the same eye with which God sees me."
"God created all things in such a way
that they are not outside himself,
as ignorant people falsely imagine.
Rather,
All creatures flow outward, but nonetheless remain
within God.
God created all things this way:
not that they might stand outside of
God, nor alongside God,
nor beyond God,
but that they might
come into God
and receive God
and dwell in God.
For this reason everything that is
is bathed in God,
is enveloped by God,
who is round-about us all, enveloping us."
"If you were to let a horse
run about in a green meadow,
the horse would want to pour forth its whole strength
in leaping about the meadow.
So too
it is a joy to God
to have poured out
the divine nature and being
completely into us
who are divine images."
"The seed of God is in us.
Now
the seed of a pear tree
grows into a pear tree;
and a hazel seed
grows into a hazel tree;
a seed of God
grows into
God."
Taken from Matthew Fox's Meditations with Meister Eckhart
for God is in all things.
Every single creature is full of God
and is a book about God.
Every creature is a word of God.
If I spent enough time with the tiniest creature -
even a caterpillar -
I would never have to prepare a sermon. So full of God
is every creature."
"Now I shall tell you something I have never
spoken of before.
God enjoys him/herself.
In the same enjoyment in which God enjoys him/herself,
S/he enjoys all creatures.
God
finds joy and rapture
in us.
All that is good in creatures -
all their honeysweetness -
comes from God.
All things are pure and noble in God."
"God's being is my being
and God's primordial being
is my primordial being.
Wherever I am,
there is God.
The eye with which I see God
is the same eye with which God sees me."
"God created all things in such a way
that they are not outside himself,
as ignorant people falsely imagine.
Rather,
All creatures flow outward, but nonetheless remain
within God.
God created all things this way:
not that they might stand outside of
God, nor alongside God,
nor beyond God,
but that they might
come into God
and receive God
and dwell in God.
For this reason everything that is
is bathed in God,
is enveloped by God,
who is round-about us all, enveloping us."
"If you were to let a horse
run about in a green meadow,
the horse would want to pour forth its whole strength
in leaping about the meadow.
So too
it is a joy to God
to have poured out
the divine nature and being
completely into us
who are divine images."
"The seed of God is in us.
Now
the seed of a pear tree
grows into a pear tree;
and a hazel seed
grows into a hazel tree;
a seed of God
grows into
God."
Taken from Matthew Fox's Meditations with Meister Eckhart
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