Pot Luck

HVP salmonella recall product list up to 79... (4.00 / 3)

Since Thursday, products added to the recall list include McCormick's dip mixes and stuffings, and Reser's dressings and dip mixes and prepared potato salads sold in the deli cases at Safeway stores, amongst other products.

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 03:09:01 AM UTC

OY! (4.00 / 3)

One of the joys of consolidation. Now, instead of a bunch of small processors/materials producers, we can have one really big company, and if that company makes one mistake, it can bugger up the whole processed food works.

Now that's what I call efficiency!

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 03:26:03 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Yeah... (4.00 / 2)

I'm trying to remember the last time 79 products (and growing) were ever recalled from a farmers' market or a farm stand.  Oh that's right, it's never happened!

Wanna place any bets on where this one will end?  I don't think north of 500 products recalled will ultimately be out of the question...

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 03:29:25 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

And instead of... (4.00 / 2)

Now, instead of a bunch of small processors/materials producers, we can have one really big company

And instead of a whole bunch of people being able to make a decent living off their work, we have a handful of paper-pushers getting obscenely rich from exploiting the labors of all the rest of us who get to live like paupers if we even get to live at all.  "Efficiency", as well!

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 03:40:13 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

consoli dation (4.00 / 3)

Heehee, I swear I posted my downthread comment before I read your comment.

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by: count @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 03:47:46 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Reser's, (4.00 / 2)

an Oregon company, also sells potato salads to Costco in summer, as we have discussed.

I am very disappointed in both Reser's and McCormick. Both companies have excellent reputations, but this tells me they don't test their raw materials.  

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by: count @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 04:15:18 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Solid movie day... (4.00 / 2)

Got back in time earlier this afternoon to catch the end of Dances With Wolves, and now AMC is doing one of their regular The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, and The Godfather again back-to-back-to-back things.  Never gets old.  

And I love how they slyly acknowledge that The Godfather Part III never happened.  Just like Rocky V never happened.

;-P

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 03:27:21 AM UTC

hey not for nothing but (4.00 / 3)

The Godfather Part III is a great movie.

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by: Eddie C @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 04:05:39 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Different strokes, and all that... (4.00 / 3)

As a stand alone, it would be a pretty good movie.  But as a follow-up to two of the greatest films of all time, and one of the very few film franchises where the second film was just as good as, if not better than, the first?  That's my problem with it...

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 04:21:35 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Following up on the thought... (4.00 / 3)

The fall-off from the previous entry is what gets me.  Same as for Rocky V.  

The Godfather Part III is clearly a much better movie than Rocky V, but the drop in enjoyability between The Godfather Part II and The Godfather Part III was much steeper than the drop in enjoyability from Rocky IV (which was a pretty bad movie, but still semi-enjoyable in an 80's Cold War Kitsch kind of way) to Rocky V (which was just plain bad).  

I'll grant that that may be a somewhat unfair way to judge the films themselves, but their are expectations attached to the names of the films, imo.  One of the reasons I think I enjoyed Rocky Balboa more than any film in the Rocky series since Rocky III is because it wasn't named "Rocky VI".

Okay, I'm in full Film Geek mode tonight! :)

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 04:30:45 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Oh well (4.00 / 2)

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by: Eddie C @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 04:46:09 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Ha! (4.00 / 1)

Yeah okay, Part III does have one of the greatest quotable lines in movie history!

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 04:50:35 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Things you never notice... (4.00 / 2)

Still up, and watching The Godfather right now.  The scene where Sonny "fixes up" Connie's husband Carlo.

While he's delivering the beatdown, there's a Rheingold beer truck prominently in the background.  Nice touch, especially since (the original) Rheingold was more than well on its way out, if not completely gone already, from New York at the time of the filming (although in the scene's set time, it was NY's biggest beer).

Reminds me a bit of Ballantine Ale, where even to this day you can find an ancient Ballantine can or bottle along the Passaic River or in any random excavation site around Newark.

Rheingold was the official beer of the New York Mets

Fuck yeah!

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 11:08:39 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

You know it just so happens that I wrote something about that this week (4.00 / 2)

At Firefly I wrote A little "West Side Story' visual trivia for mplo

Forgetaboutit, there ain't nobody that knows that neighborhood better than me (and yes I can write the sentence in English too)

Check out this photo because I know exactly where it is or should I write where it was?

When the Shark runs up the pile of rubble he is on Amsterdam Avenue and 67th Street. Since this footage was shot the National Headquarters of the Red Cross was built there and it has already been demolished and replaced by high rise apartments.

In the background that brand new apartment building that doesn't even have windows or terrace rails yet is 365 West 66 Street. In between that brand new building and the Shark on the mound of rubble Lincoln Towers is yet to be built.

Now that building that is partially hidden by 365 West 66 Street was once a factory and I remember when the first floor was an automobile showroom but today it is ABC headquarters and the address is 125 West End Avenue. Behind that building ABC built two studios for "Loving" and Ryan's Hope." Since then "All My Children" came and went and now the studios hold "The View" and "One Life to Live."

But most important is the view of New Jersey on the right. That is the New Jersey Palisades on the right and you will never see that again from there because Since West Side Story was made new streets have been created over once vacant hilly lots to make way for Trump City.

Okay so how many people do you know that can tie "The Godfather" to "West Side Story?" Do you remember when Sonny Corleone beats the shit out of his brother-in-law? That scene, one of the great captures of a forgotten New York, was shot on West 67th Street. In the background, partially hidden by a Reingold truck because it looked to modern, was the Red Cross building that was yet to be built and is where that Shark is standing. "West Side Story" is so old that there would be a pile of rubble there again.

And one more. I think that in the background of this shot you can see the Amsterdam apartments.

I'm not sure but if I have my bearings right that would make this location somewhere in the interior of the Metropolitan Opera House.

Now about three, you should read the synopsis of and listen to the music Cavalleria rusticana for a better appreciation of the Godfather III climax. The opening scene created by the original "One Hit Wonder," it is Easter Sunday in the pre-dawn light.

Then our neighbor Turiddu can be heard offstage singing The Siciliana in the predawn light;

Then an opera of greatest pain and suffering unfolds, actually an antiwar opera, the final words screamed in anguish by a villager "Hanno ucciso compade Turiddu!"

That is the opera that Michale's son is preforming during the climax of Godfather III. And that confession to the bishop in the cloister, Forgetaboutit.  

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by: Eddie C @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 13:20:04 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I screwed up the Italian (4.00 / 2)

It is actually "Hanno ammazzato compare Turiddu." Here right after the infidelity duel has been set with Alfio, Turiddu sings to his mother sounding as if he is going off to war again, He tells Lucia that he is going outside to get some air and asks that she be a kindly mother to Santuzza if he should not return: Un bacio, mamma! Un altro bacio! - Addio! - "One kiss, my mother! One more kiss! - Farewell!".  

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by: Eddie C @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 13:39:24 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

So will you be watching The Oscars tomorrow? (4.00 / 2)

I'm so excited... But the funny thing is that I'm now more excited about the green room than the actual movies!

http://thestrippodcast.blogspo...

I always thought LA needed a little more Vegas cowbell. ;-)

Act on Principles and make equality happen.

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by: atdleft @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 05:03:44 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

From the poll at your link... (4.00 / 2)

Wtf is a "$5000 burger at Fleur de Lys"?!?!

Gack!

I'm thinking back to John Travolta in Pulp Fiction -

Vincent:  That's a pretty fucking good milkshake. I don't know if it's worth five dollars but it's pretty fucking good.

Five dollars... times a thousand?!

For a (sticking with the Pulp Fiction theme)...

Jules:  Hamburgers. The cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast.

Heh.

Which gets me thinking - what's the most expensive food item in the world?  Is there a record for such a thing?

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 05:16:40 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Perhaps "The Ono Cocktail" at XS? (Encore at Wynn Las Vegas) (4.00 / 2)

http://www.encorelasvegas.com/...

It's "only" $10,000 and it comes with sterling silver cufflinks and an 18k white gold chain with a black pearl pendant! Doesn't that sound like a steal of a deal? ;-)


Act on Principles and make equality happen.

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by: atdleft @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 06:22:24 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Ha! (4.00 / 2)

Until the Bunco Guys slip you a Mickey as a buyback, and make off with the cufflinks and the chain, eh?

;-P

Besides that, I've also heard of desserts that contain edible gold, and other stuff like that.  I figure there's probably a restaurant somewhere in Europe that has like $50,000 Russian caviar on the menu, too.

Maybe we just need a category for most expensive of any given food item.  I do have to believe a $5,000 burger is probably in a class of its own, anywhere in the world.

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 06:29:32 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

It's fun... (4.00 / 2)

It's fun to talk like it's 1910!

Until the Bunco Guys slip you a Mickey

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 06:30:45 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

And btw, about that $5000 burger... (3.50 / 2)

http://www.mandalaybay.com/foo...

Fleur de Lys at Mandalay Bay launches the most extravagant and expensive burger experience ever conceived

LAS VEGAS - In the land of $100 margaritas and $1,000 shots of whiskey, it should come as no surprise that Las Vegas is now home to an extravagant burger-eating experience to rival all others. Renowned Chef Hubert Keller of Fleur de Lys at Mandalay Bay presents FleurBurger 5000, a gastronomic jackpot.

The fois gras and black truffle-topped Kobe burger is served on a brioche truffle bun and garnished with Chef Keller's special sauce consisting of, you guessed it, more truffles. To accompany this decadent burger, guests will enjoy a bottle of Chateau Petrus 1995 poured in Ichendorf Brunello stemware, exclusively imported from Italy. After the meal, the team at Fleur de Lys will ship the glasses to the guest's home at no additional charge.

All this decadence for the price of $5,000!

Act on Principles and make equality happen.

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by: atdleft @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 06:27:47 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Oh... (4.00 / 2)

Hmmmm, well a significant part of that price has to be the wine and the glasses (and the seating), then?

I'm tempted to go there and ask how much the burger would be just on its own.  And with a slice of Tillamook cheddar.  Heh.  How fast would I be thrown out?

;-P

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 06:33:29 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Or better yet... (4.00 / 2)

Order it as a Wiz Wit'!

My Philly friends know what that means, heh...

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 06:36:00 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Well, Fleur de Lys may not... (4.00 / 2)

But you can always head up The Strip to First at The Palazzo (Remember them?) for "Philly Cheesesteak Dumplings with Siracha Ketchup"!

Act on Principles and make equality happen.

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by: atdleft @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 06:51:55 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Fiddleheads! (4.00 / 3)

Tomorrow's mission: broccoli raab and fiddleheads!

I missed out on broccoli raab two weeks ago, and I haven't been able to hit a weekday farmers' market since then.  But tomorrow, I will wake up on time, and I will grab bunches of my favorite pasta green bright and early at the Hillsdale Farmers' Market.

Also, I'm liking count's kiwi and goat cheese idea.  I think I may pick up some chevre from Fraga Farms at the market tomorrow with my kiwis.

The main thing I'm looking forward to though is fiddleheads from Springwater Farm!  Wish I knew where to get them myself, hmmmm...

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 03:35:42 AM UTC

blessings of consoli dation (4.00 / 3)

The following link gives you two items. One is the cover article in the latest issue of The Washington Monthly. The other is 90 minutes of a webcast of a discussion and Q&A about the article, a joint production of The Washington Monthly and The New America Foundation, with which the authors are associated. None of the three men in front of the camera is a good public speaker, but the video still is worth watching, and the article is worth reading.

The topic is business consolidation in the U.S., including agricultural consolidation, and how it has inhibited and curtailed (destroyed?) innovation and job creation.

From the video: Among the world's 22 richest countries, the U.S. is 21st in the percentage of its population that owns a business. Lower than France or Italy, lower  than supposedly "socialist" countries such as Sweden, it is only higher than Luxemborg.

Who Broke America's Jobs Machine?

By Barry C. Lynn and Phillip Longman

From the March 4, 2010 Webcast

Check it out.

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by: count @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 03:44:52 AM UTC

Saturday market opens... (4.00 / 3)

Dagnabbit, I missed it!

If Portland Saturday Market ever needs a standard to measure opening days, Saturday was it.

Portland Saturday Market is the outdoor weekend craft fair, not to be confused with the Portland Saturday Farmers' Market at PSU, which opens again for the 2010 season in 13 days.  

Fun place to wander, especially on a nice day, maybe pick up a bar of soap (or other things like clothes and art and whatnot, for those who are better-off than me these days), some lunch from one of the food carts there, and sit down with a cup of beer from Rogue Brewing's booth while listening to the bands on stage.  I like getting a plate from Horn of Africa, and eating while sitting in the sun at the waterfront railing, myself.

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 04:09:26 AM UTC

What the hell's going on at PSU? (4.00 / 3)

What an odd story this is, I haven't heard anything about this until tonight -

(AP) - PORTLAND, Ore. - One afternoon last November, a Portland State University economics student gave a class presentation on what he described as the U.S. military's flawed reliance on the Colt AR-15 rifle.

As a visual aid, Zachary Bucharest hauled out a duffel bag and withdrew the disassembled parts of an AR-15, which the military calls the M-16. For the next 15 or 20 minutes, he held Professor John Hall's class in thrall as he lectured about the weapon's inferiority to the foreign-made AK-47.

PSU policy forbids firearms on campus by anyone except police. But no one in the economics class-not even Hall, a tenured professor-reported the incident to campus security or administrators.

Bucharest's presentation marked a pivotal moment in a drama that now threatens to scrub the career of a beloved professor and sully the reputation of a promising student leader.

The climactic event came in the closing moments of class on Jan. 14, when Hall denounced Bucharest as a government informant and killer. He then reported to school police that he suspected Bucharest of carrying a gun on campus. The professor also sent a letter to the head of Oregon's FBI asking whether the bureau was bankrolling Bucharest as an agent provocateur.

Campus administrators responded by suspending Hall with pay, saying he dishonored the university and violated Bucharest's privacy. They ordered Hall to turn in his office keys and barred him from campus while they investigated.

In his comparative economics class that afternoon, Hall glanced at the clock and-with 15 minutes left in the session-began to accuse Bucharest of being a government snitch. The professor put a letter on an overhead projector and began reading portions of it aloud to the roughly 40 students in his class, including Bucharest.

The three-page letter, addressed to Arthur Balizan, the FBI's special agent in charge for Oregon, made a series of disjointed accusations. Hall's letter accuses Bucharest of trying to draw innocent students into crimes and tells Balizan he suspects someone in the FBI office of promoting his work.

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 04:36:23 AM UTC

Wow (4.00 / 2)

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by: Crider @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 06:49:26 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Sounds like they're both loons (4.00 / 3)

Lars Larson talked about this incedent on his radio talkshow a month or so ago.

Contrary to popular belief and what the school districts and colleges would have us all believe, it's not illegal for someone with a concealed carry permit to carry concealed on campus. Not unless the state legislature itself has prohibited conceal carry in that venue. Years ago the state reserved the right to restrict concealed carry on campuses and in other public venues to itself. Portland Public Schools was even advised by its own legal council that their prohibition was illegal. Essentially, council said that they could go ahead and continue breaking the law until someone decided to take them to court over it.

One school district, I think it was in southern Oregon, did manage to prohibit a teacher from carrying concealed, but they were able to do that based on their authority to regulate employees while on the clock at work, same as your employer can prohibit an employee from wearing certain clothes, jewlery, etc.. So the school can prohibit an employee from carrying, but not the public, and I don't think they can prohibit a student from carrying concealed with a permit.

My big question is why bring the parts of the rifle to begin with. Pictures should have been sufficient. Of course in this day and age, he could have been kicked out of school for just showing a drawing of a gun or its parts....

If the presentation was about the inferiority of the AR-15 to the AK-47, I doubt that many if any members of the class were sufficiently familiar with both or either weapon to really understand the differences between them and what makes one better than the other, either economically or mechanically. And brining one disassembled would be about as effective as bringing an Chevy engine disassembled to class and trying to explain to one's fellows why it's inferior to an Audi engine.

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 16:08:21 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Wow. Thank goodness I got my ticket for Bradley Ogden... (4.00 / 2)

@ Vegas Uncorked when I did! Now I know the food is great...

http://www.vegasuncorked.com/e...

And apparently, it's now ALL SOLD OUT! Phew! ;-)

Act on Principles and make equality happen.

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by: atdleft @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 04:47:42 AM UTC

OMG, the Joel Robuchon cooking class/lunch is also SOLD OUT! (4.00 / 2)

Damn, I'm lucky!

http://www.vegasuncorked.com/e...

I guess this is why one can't wait to buy tickets.

Act on Principles and make equality happen.

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by: atdleft @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 05:01:21 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Ten films... (4.00 / 1)

Ten Films I Don't Have On DVD But Would Like To Watch Right Now:

• Serpico
  
• Raging Bull
  
• Once Upon A Time In America
  
• The Shawshank Redemption
  
• North By Northwest
  
• Shaft (1971, of course)
  
• The Longest Yard (1974, of course)
  
• Casablanca
  
• Dirty Harry
  
• The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 05:04:25 AM UTC

Ummm... (4.00 / 1)

Can we say "reckless driving"?

A Springfield woman who told police she was trying to unwrap a cheeseburger was cited Thursday following a four-car chain-reaction collision on Dirksen Parkway at Ridge Avenue.

Ellen A. Indermark, 76, of the 6900 block of Mechanicsburg Road in Springfield, was heading south on Dirksen at 3:20 p.m. She reprtrtedly [sic] was in the process of unwrapping a cheeseburger when her car crashed into a line of other vehicles.

[...]

Indermark was cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.

Oh, so I guess if she had reduced her speed while focusing on the attempted unwrapping of a cheeseburger behind the wheel of tons of speeding heavy machinery, everything would have been okay then?

Does Illinois not have a reckless driving statute?  Seems that fits perfectly here, especially considering she caused a 4-car pileup.  And if they don't have that, well maybe they should revisit their motor vehicle laws based upon this incident.  "Failure to reduce speed"?  Really?!  That's it?

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 06:21:21 AM UTC

Disturbing Outback commercial? (4.00 / 1)

I've been meaning to mention this for a while now, but I kept forgetting.  

Is anybody else bothered by the slickly produced Outback Steakhouse commercial that's been running for a few weeks now, showing all kinds of patriotic military homecoming scenes, and ending as an Outback Steakhouse ad offering a free "Bloomin' Onion" to veterans and active duty US military personnel, with of course a disclaimer at the end in small print along the lines of "participation may vary"?

I find those ads tasteless and disgustingly exploitative, especially as a way for some chain restaurant to wrap themselves in the flag.

Anybody seen these?  Anybody have the same reaction I do?

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 07:50:23 AM UTC

Yes, it's just disturbing... (4.00 / 3)

And when it comes to that place, I've always thought this commercial would better suit them.

Act on Principles and make equality happen.

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by: atdleft @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 17:33:21 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Conventional produce report (4.00 / 2)

I found this Market Report (pdf) on a produce distributor's website. They seem to update it every Friday, but the link stays the same. It covers future crop availability and price fluctions. It includes 6,000-mile crops from Chile and 3,000-mile crops from Mexico, too.

I'm still trying to figure out how the produce food chain works.

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by: Crider @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 18:42:45 PM UTC

Ojai Pixie Tangerines (4.00 / 2)

Saw them at our local non-chain supermarket. I don't know how they get ahold of them because their distribution is very, very limited. I think they're the absolute best tangerines in the world. They were $2.99 a pound so we only got four little tangerines for a total of $2.36.

Check out the Ojai Pixie Tangerine website.

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by: Crider @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 18:46:51 PM UTC

cara cara (4.00 / 1)

Yesterday I bought a bag of cara cara oranges (Sunkist). I noticed them for the first time last week, although they have been commercially available for a long time. I'm not very observant, apparently.

I haven't eaten one yet.

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by: count @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 20:43:36 PM UTC

[ Parent ]