That Time of Year

It is a very exciting time of year--pomegranate season!



While looking for some organic tomatoes at Kroger, I found that they are selling my favorite seasonal fruit. In a slow movement towards locavorism, I'm trying to be a seasonal vegetarian. (Seasonal as in "using what is in season," not "only vegetarian in certain seasons.") I didn't find the tomatoes, which is sad; but, I forgot about pomegranates. I love pomegranates. I know they are not quite the same thing, but "Chop Wood, Carry Water" and all that jazz.

Here is a list of good reasons why pomegranates should be loved by all--or at least by me.

1. Mrs. Shanks, my 6th grade World Civilization teacher. She is responsible for my first utterance of the Greek language and my first taste of pomegranates. On that day, look ago, I remember wiping my stained hands onto the moon of my over-sized, printed tee . The howling wolf looked almost sad that the moon was bleeding above its head. I still have that t-shirt . . . okay, the shirt stuff is all elaboration. But, Mrs. Shanks still rocks!

2. Healthy, healthy, healthy. Pomegranates give you 40% of your daily amount of potassium, vitamin c, vitamin e, vitamin a, folic acid, and other goodies.

3. Antioxidants. Because cancer is kind of bad.

4. Three pomegranate seeds can keep you in Tartarus for a substantial portion of the year. Honestly. Ask Persephone, she still remembers. But maybe, while you are waiting for spring, you can become an important underworld deity. Think of the Power!

5. You can use the seeds in tandem with toilet paper to throw on people's houses this Halloween. Though, the custom may then be referred to as "tamponing," due to the stains. Finger licking good.

6. Scholars suspect that the "apple" that Adam and Eve ate from was actually a "pomegranate." So, that means that you can eat of the Tree of knowledge for months at a time. Just don't tease God by saying: "Nah nah nah na boo boo, what are you going to do about it now?" Smiting may be the answer.





7. It is called Jewel of the Winter. And jewels are a gay's best friend. Also, there is Pama liqueur, and liqueur is a gay's best friend.

8. Pomegranate lassi. Nuff said.

9. What's good enough for Needle, is good enough for me. And, if you don't know Conan the Barbarian Cartoon series . . . well, yeah.

10. There is no ten. Winter sucks, and we should all take time to remember that it sucks, and that its sucking doesn't stop until spring. So, eat a pomegranate next to your space heater and remember that some people are curling up inside a dumpster because it is the only way they can stay warm this winter.

Enjoy!


Links and Videos:

Homeless:

For the homeless, a quest to stay warm

Pama:

Pama Liqueur

Pomegranate Lassi:

Pomegranate Lassi

Conan:

Hell Hath No Fury--The Death of an Avatar

Japanese man divorces his wife on MMORPG; Japanese wife kills man . . . or at least his offending Avatar. [For those who don't know Geek Speak, MMORPG stands for Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game].

At first, I thought this story was funny, and it is. But, coming from a family of grinders [people that spend many hours on MMOs to build levels, currency, and skills], made me take a second look at this concern. Personally, I've only played Final Fantasy XI, and only for a week. Don't get me wrong: I loved it! But, a little too much. I tucked myself away every night into a private, study room on the 4th floor of the library. While sipping on Mountain Dew, and chewing absently on a cheese sandwich, I walked my cute little white mage around healing random adventurers, hoping they would give me a chance to earn some XP [experience points].

For that week of online euphoria, I gained five levels and bragged that I was the most attentive--if a little co-dependent--healer in all of Vana'diel. In the real world, of course, I was quickly becoming the creepy kid with bloodshot eyes that lurked in dark corners of the study rooms, nipping at Muggles. My boyfriend at the time, whose FF account I was using, became a little concerned about the amount of time we spent together . . . and more importantly, the lack thereof.

Quickly, I kicked the habit and have never gone back.

Though virtual life is not for me, a growing number of people receive a great deal of satisfaction from MMOs. My grandmother's hobby, for instance, is grinding on Runescape (she's level 99 in almost every skill. Eat that n00bs!). My aunt likes Guild Wars; my brother, World of Warcraft; my cousin, Maple Story. Which gets us back to this morning's article. Maple Story is the MMO in which all of these horrific facts took place.

The man divorced his wife on Maple Story, and the woman used his screenname and password to login as him and kill his character. The article is not specific, but I'm inferring that "kill" means "delete," as I don't think it is possible for a character to be completely destroyed in the game itself (Yay for re-spawning). The man's stupidity aside (what possesses you to online-divorce your tech-savvy partner and fail to change your password?), the woman's actions are both laughable and deplorable. She stands to be charged with a five year prison sentence or $5,000 for "illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data." I'm sure laws against hacking have something more sinister in mind when they are prohibiting such actions. Further, bringing criminal charges against this woman seems ridiculous. First of all, criminal charges are typically committed against a person or an entity that is legally considered a person, like a business or a nation.

This woman did not attack her ex-husband; she attacked his avatar, which has not been deemed legally as a person . . . at least not to my knowledge. Still, this electronic avatar should probably be considered a piece of electronic property. The ex-husband did spend a great deal of time developing this avatar (though my cousin's avatar could probably have p00ned him). Add to this that some avatars are sold on e-bay for money. There is an EVE character that someone is selling on E-bay with a bid of $510. So, avatars have economic value like any piece of physical property.

The fact that this woman has criminal charges against her is ridiculous; but, she should be sued for property damage.

If anyone tried to delete any of my family's avatars, legal wrath would rain down upon there heads in the key of Ka-ching Ka-ching.

Link to Yahoo! Games News Article:

Online divorcee jailed for killing virtual hubby

Is Anything Green?

On an episode of Boston Legal (S. 4 Ep. 10 "Green Christmas"), one of my new favorite characters, Katie Lloyd (played by Tara Summers), argued that a man who champions a green organization was not being green while driving his hybrid. She claimed that the nickel used to make the batteries of the beloved hybrid Prius are mined at a Canadian site that throws off so much pollution that the area has become a dead zone. NASA now uses the surrounding miles of this nickel plant to emulate moon missions. 

The horrors do go on. I've known Kelley's writing (who is the creator and head writer of the show) to be very preachy, but typically accurate; still, I was skeptical. 

An internet search revealed several articles discussing the economic effect of the Prius on both sides. To be honest, whether it is cost effective or not doesn't interest me as much if there is even question whether it will be environmentally effective. Finally, I stumbled on a Canadian blog that quoted an article on the carbon footprint of manufacturing hybrids. 

Success, I thought. But as I read the post, I realized that the quote was Katie Lloyd's speech--nearly verbatim. "For shame!" to some writer, but it is difficult to determine which one (Kelley, Blogger, journalist?). 

Unfortunately, the link to the aforementioned article was broken, and I've tried to use the Wayback Machine, also to no avail. 

I think I fell naively into the Green Fad without considering that even this supposedly green option comes with a substantial cost. Maybe it is worth it. And maybe the hybrid succeeded in the long run because it started loosening Big Oil's grip on the automobile industry (if it has even done that). Despite all of that, I think that I can't be satisfied that we are out of the woods because Toyota is successfully selling hybrids.

In the meantime I will still be trying to walk as much as I can . . . though I have heard that this can have environmental effects as well, but that's just being greenly obsessed.  

Post Script (10/24/08): Here is the hyperlink to the original article. The Wayback machine came through for me on a subsequent attempt.

Prius Outdoes Hummer in Environmental Damage

I assert the Affirmative

This weekend I had the honor of judging the JCPS debate tournament. The debates were in Lincoln/Douglas format, and the topic was the following question: "Is it moral to kill one person to save many?" 

I was stoked, and it turned out to be well worth getting there by eight thirty in the frickin' morning on a Saturday. For the most part, most of the debaters I judged either argued for utilitarianism or deontology, citing Mills and Kant respectively. My joy, however, didn't come from hearing new arguments, so much as seeing high schoolers and their bright eyes, awkward hand gestures and earnest dispositions. Most of the young adults I judged were over-joyed by my elaborate praises and thorough critique of their work. They hurriedly jotted notes, and two of them thanked me profusely for the detail and attention. To be honest, it made me a little sad to walk back in to teach a required course this morning. The attitudes are very disparate. 

Some of the highlights of the debate tournament:

A 8th grade girl from a rural county that rocked the house. Her cross-examination was exhilarating, and I know that she has a career waiting for her in law.

A pair of brothers whose fast talking prose proved to be both practically significant and philosophically grounded. 

A young man with a cute emo haircut who approached the debate with the most interesting and philosophically rigorous slant. He actually managed to convince me that John Rawls and Ayn Rand could agree in terms of this one issue. (That woman's visage still haunts my never-ending nightmares, however.)

In conclusion, I am a huge nerd.

I stand ready for cross examination. 

The Food Industry Has It Out For Me

The LSAT is coming up this weekend, so I've been a bit flustered. In my rush to get in a practice section before work this morning, I forgot my lunch, usually a can of beans. "No problem," I thought, "I'll just go to UofL's wonderful (and over-priced cafeteria).

Looking over my options, I thought about a salad. Paying anyone six dollars to throw vegetables into a bowl and hand it to me seemed a little ridiculous. If times were really hard I could gather grass and leaves into a bowl myself. Ultimately, I opted for sushi. Since, I allow myself to eat fish every now and then, and I thought having protein rich meal would keep me focused and functioning for tomorrow, I choose what looked like Crab Philadelphia Roll (Phili rolls with the salmon are my favorite when in fish-meat mode). Half-way through the meal, however, my stomach cramped up like it does when I'm eating something it hate (i.e. gluten). I stopped my meal and checked the ingredients sticker attached to my plastic sushi box (that must be what I pay so much for!). Sure enough the answer became clear:

Imitation Crab has wheat in it.

They use wheat among several other ingredients so that the pollock paste (that is a type of fish they grind up) can hold its shape. I am astounded by my lack of knowledge of what goes into my food.



Locavorism is starting to look better everyday.