A History Lesson

For those of you who may not have known, I live in what was once a hospital.  What I didn’t know was the detailed history of where it came from and what it once was.  It’s been around for quite some time, caught fire a few times, and finally found use as a condominium building.

This website offers a glimpse at historic buildings in St. Louis.  My favorite is the St. Louis Insane Asylum, originally built in 1869.  There are some cool details I won’t bore you with (such as the fact that I swim right next to it at the YMCA), and some other sites you can peruse.

http://www.builtstlouis.net/arch.html

I am Kevin’s consumer desire.

I win out against Kevin’s populist rage.  I make him a hypocrite.

I am a Five Guys cheeseburger and fries.

Food, Inc.

Last night I stayed in and watched a movie all by my lonesome.  I had a few choices on Netflix up for grabs, and I wound up settling on this one.  Food, Inc. is an Academy-Award nominated film about the food industry and the way in which we have no clue what we’re eating or where it comes from.  It touches on a lot of the issues of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Fast Food nation.  It really got under my skin and has made me a more aware consumer, which I like.  Allow me to share.

First, they spend a good bit of time on the health issues that surround food.  Diabetes, obesity, and the onslaught of preventatable illnesses that arise from a poor diet are scoured, as are the cases of E. coli contamination in meat and the inexplicable inability of companies to recall that meat.  Apparently, cows have started contracting E. coli because their diet is entirely corn-based, when it should be grass-based.  Rather than feed the cows grass, they have come up with elaborate tech fixes that mitigate the symptoms but don’t have any impact on the actual problem.  It’s a poignant example of the expert-based culture in which we live and the desire for “progress” outweighing common sense.

This leads to the nature of large-scale conglomerates running your food.  Everything from Tyson making all your chicken to Monsanto owning all your soybeans.  A few multinationals have swept up the rest of the smaller companies, leaving substandard products in their wake.  It is the omnipresent capitalistic desires of speed, efficiency, and low cost that have given us chickens and cows that are raised so fat they can’t walk more than a few steps, live and die knee-deep in their own excrement, and eat food that they shouldn’t be.  The power of these companies stretches into the regulatory agencies that follow them as well, with FDA and USDA directors being shared by the board of directors of these multinational firms.

While this stuff does a fine job of stirring up my populist rage, the most interesting thing I pulled from the film was what exactly it was that I’m eating.  I wasn’t that, despite the illusion of variety, pretty much all food is made from corn.  Or some bastardized version of corn cooked up in a lab.  If you see these ingredients, you’re eating corn: high-fructose corn syrup, Dextrin/Maltodextrin, mono or di-glycerides, sorbitol, ascorbic acid, or xanthan gum.  While most of these products are naturally produced in some other fashion, the low cost of corn has caused companies to used corn-based varieties instead.

There’s a lot more that could be said, but I’m sure it would be much more interesting to simply watch the movie.  If you have Netflix, you can grab it on the instant streaming, which is convenient.  And if it’s any testament to the effectiveness of this documentary, I’m going to buy my weekly groceries from one of those hippie health stores.

Rating: 9/10

Check out the website here:http://www.foodincmovie.com/index.php

That Folksy Feeling

New song I can’t seem to get out of my head:

Little Lion Man by Mumford and Sons

Workout 1/27

I think I’ve mentioned my swimming before.  If not, then I am now.  I have made a habit of swimming every Monday and Wednesday evening at the local YMCA with a lovely Masters team.  There are a few people that I work out with that really push me and it’s all around a fun time.  And most importantly, swimming on my terms (NOT at 5 in the morning).

Tonight’s workout:

Warm-up 400

4×50 descend 1-4 @ 1:00

Main set:

1×100 @ 1:40, 1×100 @ 1:30, 1×100 @1:20

1×100 @ 1:40, 1×100 @ 1:30, 2×100 @1:20

1×100 @ 1:40, 1×100 @ 1:30, 3×100 @1:20

1×100 @ 1:40, 1×100 @ 1:30, 4×100 @1:20

1×100 @ 1:40, 1×100 @ 1:30, 5×100 @1:20

200 WD

I wound up holding 1:07-1:08s on the fast 100s (the ones on 1:20), which I felt was pretty good.  More mundane aspects of my life to come!

Bonus for anyone who has read this far:  On my way home, I saw a man smoking a cigarette.  He also happened to be the guy who drove the gasoline truck.  And it was pumping gasoline.

Yep, I’m talkin’ Zoolander style.

Movies So Far

Sleeper (1973, Woody Allen)….6/10

Not my favorite Woody Allen film by any stretch of the imagination, but still entertaining.  About Woody Allen being cryogenically frozen and waken in the future.  Hilarity ensues, or something like that.  I think I was cooking, which resulted in me missing about half of the jokes.  Still decent, though.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998, Johnny Depp, Terry Gilliam)…..7/10

Standard Terry Gilliam fare (Brazil, 12 Monkeys), wrought with grisly, slimy sets and weird creatures.  Sure, the entire movie is one long drug trip, but can’t we do without all the slime and grime for once?  I’ve felt downright uncomfortable in every Gilliam movie I’ve watched.  This was no different, but in the words of my roommate it kind of “sucks you in.”

Waltz with Bashir (Some dude and his friends, 2008)…..9/10

Critically acclaimed animated film about memory gaps, particularly in regards to war and trauma.  The director tracks down some old war buddies and tries to piece together his soldiering life in the Lebanese war.  Beautiful animation, beautiful story, beautiful music, cool theme.

Inside Man (Clive Owen, Denzel, Spike Lee, 2006)…..7/10

I’m a really big fan of Clive Owen for some reason, so I checked this one out.  It’s about a bank robbery and a smart criminal (Owen) trying to outwit a smart detective (Denzel).  It’s a good Sunday-afternoon movie.  Smart, action-packed, nice plot twists.

The International (Owen, Naomi Watts, 2009)….3/10

Cool plot, but I was freakin’ confused.

Netflixed

Yes, I realize I have not updated my short-lived blog in quite some time.  No, I am not dead.

There are a variety of factors that have contributed to the demise of my blog, one of which is Netflix.  My mother gifted me this joy for Christmas, and when combined with my other recent acquisition, my PS3, it means that I spend most of my free time watching 30 Rock and not blogging.

Lucky for you, I can also give you very brief movie reviews, so stay tuned.

Printers

I got a GREAT new printer for my new job as a teacher.  My only beef?  This very issue has been plaguing me for months:

From theoatmeal.com (hilarious) via gizmodo

The World (According to 9-year-olds)

First, I haven’t updated my blog lately because I haven’t been feeling particularly inspired.  The winter does crazy things, one of which is the unrelenting desire to melt into my bed and be lazy.

My mother passed this on to me, and I thought it was a pretty accurate glimpse at what I work with every day.  A filmmaker interviewed a class of what I can only assume are third graders, asking them some questions about the past decade.  They offer their thoughts and concerns regarding celebrity, terrorism, global warming, fear, and more.  The first bit is a little boring and the pictures fade around kind of oddly, but it’s an outstanding representation of what’s going through these kids’ minds.  The video is on vimeo (which I don’t know how to imbed), so you’ll have to follow a link to see it.

The decade according to 9-year-olds via mentalfloss

Moosicka

I hadn’t heard of this band before, but I immediately fell in love with it on the first play.  Also couldn’t find anything on them, so enjoy the song without any sort of context.

Tap Tap – Half Moon Street