I am exhausted from all of the anxiety from the day. I can’t imagine how Brian feels.  Except for tired because I am pretty sure he is conked out on the couch right now.

Brian found out that his new territory extends from North Charlotte to Boone. And he also found out that his boss is requiring him to work out of the Hickory office 2 days this week and he is supposed to be there at 7:30 AM. Hickory is an hour away!

Hopefully things will workout okay, but I am worried about Brian. I want us both to be happy with what we re working at each day. And I feel very unsettled right now.

I did take a break from all of the anxiety to go have dinner with my Pawpaw. It was great. I missed dinner last week so I was ready for a little quality time. We met at K&W to eat so he did not have to go home and cook after working all day. We both ate for under $12. How great is that?

Cafeteria food is not my fave because I have a tendency to be a picky eater at places like that. I am hesitant to get the veggies because I doubt that I will like them. Usually when we eat at a cafeteria we split some fried chicken and mashed potatoes, but not tonight.

Tonight I had 2 fried whiting filets with tartar sauce. It was either this or baked spaghetti for me. And I had a side salad with ranch dressing on the side.

The ranch was soooo good on the salad. I only ended up using a tbsp or so since I dipped my fork in the dressing rather than dumping it on the salad. Other than that I ate it all. I ate both filets with all of the tartar sauce and all of the salad. It was all very tasty.

The conversation was great. I had a great time hearing about Pawpaw’s week and making sure he is doing alright. Plus I got to tell on my Dad on a story that he left out a few details (i.e. thinking he broke his truck while trying to pull some plants out of the flower bed at the beach house, haha).  Before I knew it our meal was done and it was time to go.

I was glad to get to head home a little early. I am tired from all of the anxiety I have been feeling today and I wanted to get home to see exactly how Brian was feeling about everything. I am still not completely sure though.

After spending some time with Brian my mom recruited me to do some stuff online for her because her computer isn’t working. Then it was time for the tub.

I take a bath almost every night. It is just some nice quite time where I can read, or do a word puzzle, or just kind of relax and mediate and wash off the day. Unfortunately my day today is still with me. I can tell by the tight feeling in my chest and the acid reflux burning my throat and the knot in my stomach. I was comforted for a short bit while I savored a square of dark chocolate, washed down with some skim milk.

I am learning to appreciate dark chocolate. When you eat milk chocolate it is so creamy and sweet it is easy to scarf it down. The dark chocolate seems to have a better flavor when you take your time to eat it and savor it. It took me as long to eat this square as it would to eat an entire Hershey bar.

Now I think it is time for lights out so I can be nice and rested for tomorrow morning’s pre-work workout.

Some things to check out….

- Operation Chocolate Covered Kindness

- Chocolate -Covered Katie has a Big, Fat Chocolate Giveaway.

- Morgan has a Zevia Giveaway.

I am exhausted from all of the anxiety from the day. I can’t imagine how Brian feels.  Except for tired because I am pretty sure he is conked out on the couch right now.

Brian found out that his new territory extends from North Charlotte to Boone. And he also found out that his boss is requiring him to work out of the Hickory office 2 days this week and he is supposed to be there at 7:30 AM. Hickory is an hour away!

Hopefully things will workout okay, but I am worried about Brian. I want us both to be happy with what we re working at each day. And I feel very unsettled right now.

I did take a break from all of the anxiety to go have dinner with my Pawpaw. It was great. I missed dinner last week so I was ready for a little quality time. We met at K&W to eat so he did not have to go home and cook after working all day. We both ate for under $12. How great is that?

Cafeteria food is not my fave because I have a tendency to be a picky eater at places like that. I am hesitant to get the veggies because I doubt that I will like them. Usually when we eat at a cafeteria we split some fried chicken and mashed potatoes, but not tonight.

Tonight I had 2 fried whiting filets with tartar sauce. It was either this or baked spaghetti for me. And I had a side salad with ranch dressing on the side.

The ranch was soooo good on the salad. I only ended up using a tbsp or so since I dipped my fork in the dressing rather than dumping it on the salad. Other than that I ate it all. I ate both filets with all of the tartar sauce and all of the salad. It was all very tasty.

The conversation was great. I had a great time hearing about Pawpaw’s week and making sure he is doing alright. Plus I got to tell on my Dad on a story that he left out a few details (i.e. thinking he broke his truck while trying to pull some plants out of the flower bed at the beach house, haha).  Before I knew it our meal was done and it was time to go.

I was glad to get to head home a little early. I am tired from all of the anxiety I have been feeling today and I wanted to get home to see exactly how Brian was feeling about everything. I am still not completely sure though.

After spending some time with Brian my mom recruited me to do some stuff online for her because her computer isn’t working. Then it was time for the tub.

I take a bath almost every night. It is just some nice quite time where I can read, or do a word puzzle, or just kind of relax and mediate and wash off the day. Unfortunately my day today is still with me. I can tell by the tight feeling in my chest and the acid reflux burning my throat and the knot in my stomach. I was comforted for a short bit while I savored a square of dark chocolate, washed down with some skim milk.

I am learning to appreciate dark chocolate. When you eat milk chocolate it is so creamy and sweet it is easy to scarf it down. The dark chocolate seems to have a better flavor when you take your time to eat it and savor it. It took me as long to eat this square as it would to eat an entire Hershey bar.

Now I think it is time for lights out so I can be nice and rested for tomorrow morning’s pre-work workout.

Some things to check out….

- Operation Chocolate Covered Kindness

- Chocolate -Covered Katie has a Big, Fat Chocolate Giveaway.

- Morgan has a Zevia Giveaway.

I am exhausted from all of the anxiety from the day. I can’t imagine how Brian feels.  Except for tired because I am pretty sure he is conked out on the couch right now.

Brian found out that his new territory extends from North Charlotte to Boone. And he also found out that his boss is requiring him to work out of the Hickory office 2 days this week and he is supposed to be there at 7:30 AM. Hickory is an hour away!

Hopefully things will workout okay, but I am worried about Brian. I want us both to be happy with what we re working at each day. And I feel very unsettled right now.

I did take a break from all of the anxiety to go have dinner with my Pawpaw. It was great. I missed dinner last week so I was ready for a little quality time. We met at K&W to eat so he did not have to go home and cook after working all day. We both ate for under $12. How great is that?

Cafeteria food is not my fave because I have a tendency to be a picky eater at places like that. I am hesitant to get the veggies because I doubt that I will like them. Usually when we eat at a cafeteria we split some fried chicken and mashed potatoes, but not tonight.

Tonight I had 2 fried whiting filets with tartar sauce. It was either this or baked spaghetti for me. And I had a side salad with ranch dressing on the side.

The ranch was soooo good on the salad. I only ended up using a tbsp or so since I dipped my fork in the dressing rather than dumping it on the salad. Other than that I ate it all. I ate both filets with all of the tartar sauce and all of the salad. It was all very tasty.

The conversation was great. I had a great time hearing about Pawpaw’s week and making sure he is doing alright. Plus I got to tell on my Dad on a story that he left out a few details (i.e. thinking he broke his truck while trying to pull some plants out of the flower bed at the beach house, haha).  Before I knew it our meal was done and it was time to go.

I was glad to get to head home a little early. I am tired from all of the anxiety I have been feeling today and I wanted to get home to see exactly how Brian was feeling about everything. I am still not completely sure though.

After spending some time with Brian my mom recruited me to do some stuff online for her because her computer isn’t working. Then it was time for the tub.

I take a bath almost every night. It is just some nice quite time where I can read, or do a word puzzle, or just kind of relax and mediate and wash off the day. Unfortunately my day today is still with me. I can tell by the tight feeling in my chest and the acid reflux burning my throat and the knot in my stomach. I was comforted for a short bit while I savored a square of dark chocolate, washed down with some skim milk.

I am learning to appreciate dark chocolate. When you eat milk chocolate it is so creamy and sweet it is easy to scarf it down. The dark chocolate seems to have a better flavor when you take your time to eat it and savor it. It took me as long to eat this square as it would to eat an entire Hershey bar.

Now I think it is time for lights out so I can be nice and rested for tomorrow morning’s pre-work workout.

Some things to check out….

- Operation Chocolate Covered Kindness

- Chocolate -Covered Katie has a Big, Fat Chocolate Giveaway.

- Morgan has a Zevia Giveaway.

This is the flag of Slovakia. Get nice and familiar with it, Medal Podium.

GateHouse — I don’t write about sports very often, which is too bad, since we as a nation are running pretty low on providers of completely superfluous sports commentary (maybe we can get some of you guys on a cable TV show or something), but nevertheless I am here to report the SPORTS SHOCKER OF THE WEEK, one which will melt your face, light your mustache on fire and make it seem like you’re being punched in the tongue by Terry Bradshaw. Before you read further you may wish to sit on something concrete and put on a welding mask. (You should probably do that anyway, as swine flu is caused by the radiation that comes out of computer screens, obvs.)

Here we go: Last Saturday, the U.S. men’s national “soccer team,” which according to my research and the Internet computer machine has been around for like totally a bunch of years, lost to the nation of Slovakia in soccer, or as they call it overseas, “football, the wildly popular sport that many Americans believe to be totally boring although many of them watch baseball, things Charlie Sheen is in and movies about vampires in high school.”

The final score of the U.S./Slovakia throwdown: 1-0. ONE TO NOTHING, because when the U.S. takes on Slovakia in anything it’s always a shootout. As per Slovak custom, the afterparty was held at the White Castle in Whiting, Ind. Needless to say, the Knights of Columbus served as the hotel lobby.

.

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And even though soccer is America’s 35th most popular sport, just ahead of international yacht racing, unsettling contests involving Incredible Dogs and the NBA, this is a BIG DEAL for my homeland of Slovakia. And those guys could really use it these days, partly because most of you reading just went, “What the hell is Slovakia?” which is kind of the national chamber of commerce’s first problem, really. (The second is this Actual No. 2 Google News headline for Slovakia right now: “Voter Indifference Has Bottomed Out In Slovakia.” See, I told you it could be worse, South Carolina!)

Indeed, not much happens in Slovakia, except when the Von Trapp kids wander over, and yet when the U.S. faces off against Slovakia in soccer (or anything, really, although you’d be surprised how infrequently these two countries compete in anything that doesn’t necessitate a bobsled or a goat) I am a man torn between two loyalties, like Spock in the new “Star Trek” movie or Steven Tyler. In fact shortly after learning that Slovakia was winning, I took to the Twitter to tweet or twort or twunk a good-natured pro-Slovak chide that read something like YOU SUCK, AMERICA, which when taken out of the context of international soccer fury pretty much assures I’ll be denied air travel for the rest of my life.

Because, as I’ve written many times before in an attempt to snag free entrance to Whiting’s annual Pierogi Festival, I am of Slovak descent, and Slovakia — or whatever country Slovakia was when my family came over, that was like three or four names ago — is enjoying a sports resurgence, the likes of which haven’t been seen since Pavol and Peter Hochschorner took Olympic gold in Canoeing Slalom in the 2004 Olympics (Bratislava got TORE UP that night, y’all). Which is helpful, because our only other recent claim to fame, pop-culture wise, was serving as the setting for the hilarious family comedy “Hostel Part II,” in which meaty, thick-handed Slovaks went all torture-y on some nubile American blondes or whatever.

So for the moment have to resort to offer congratulations and a hearty cheers with a mug full of dark beer and sauerkraut to both sides, and avoid having to pick a favorite nation for now. It is a plan I hope to hold onto as long as I can, or at least until the next Canoeing Slalom event rolls around.

A few weeks ago I had to drive north into Whiting, Indiana and shop at Strach and Van Til’s, on 199th Street and Calumet Avenue. Somehow I remembered that the site of the store used to be the site of of Towne House Bowling Lanes back in the ’50’s and ’60’s into the ’70’s. I used to bowl there sometimes with friends as a diversion to being bored. I wasn’t a very good bowler, but at least it was a sport I could do without too much shame.

My dad, however, was a good bowler. In fact he once won a tournament at Towne House lanes in 1962, I believe. I don’t remember what his series score was, but he pretty proud of the achievement.

Over the years, my Dad developed a lot of friendships and such at that bowling alley. In the late ’70’s (1978, I believe) the bowling alley burned down one cold morning in late fall. When my Dad heard the news he rushed out to see the smoking ruins of the fabled bowling establishment. It was a total loss: nothing but ashes and twisted steel. His home away from home for him and his cronies gone forever.

He and his friends gathered aroud to mourn the loss of their old stomping grounds. They lost balls, shoes and other equipment in the lockers they rented at the place. Most of all they lost a place to meet and carry on their friendships. There are not many places where a guy could feel comfortable and enjoy the comraderie of their fellow bowlers.

Many scattered to other bowling places. I don’t know if all the friendships survived in the loss of the Townw House, but I kind of think of my Dad and his buddies when I’m shopping in the cereal section. It should be about the middle of the 15th lane. A lot of pins were knocked down there, now a lot of cereal is bought there.

Most important, a lot of friendships were made back then, You can still hear the pins falling and the conversations taking place if you havve an imagination and a vision of a time passed by.

I remember eating fish almost everyday when I was growing up. It was just a staple. But in the past few years, I’ve felt so bloated with an almost all-meat diet. Not good. I’ m just now trying to fix that problem and get more seafood in my diet. hey, I’m getting there.

Here’s one that involves a whiting fillet baked with small pieces of asparagus. My version of fish n chips.

Ingredients: Whiting filet, Asparagus, Lemon Juice, Salt and Pepper, Herb Seasonings, Olive Oil, Hot Sauce

Directions: Dice asparagus into small pieces and scatter on baking sheet along with filet. Season everything with salt, pepper and herbs. Drizzle lemon juice and olive oil. Bake in oven until fish is cooked. Arrange on a plate, grate lemon zest on top and sprinkle with hot sauce. Eat up!

Not detered by my inability to catch a lot this morning I headed for my local mark after a Bass from 18:00 – 21:00.

I had a load of prawns left over so floated them on a Star light, which was tricky tosee to say the least.

Had 1 small pollock and one small whiting, no bass.

My old college sure is growing up. Calumet College just  added a Student/Athletic center to its Whiting Campus. With its six story academic building, it has come a long way from its storefront image back in the ’60’s and ’70’s.

graduated from Calumet College back then (1975). Whule the college these days has a better image then back when I studied on the East Chicago campus. I enjoyed my time at the old campus. It had an attitude as a rough place, sort like the area that it was located in. If you could survive there, you could survive anywhere, at any job.

For the most part, we did. Many of us made it in the working world. We had dedicated professors there and  tough as the campus.

It wasn’t much, just a little piece of hell turned into heaven. No basketball, soccer or baseball team. We didn’t have student athletes. Just working class stiffs that wanted to get a college education- and that’s what we did.

Calumet College is different. Better? Perhaps. I won’t knock it. It’s just different, that’s all.  Growing up today I still might like it. But I had a heck of a good time then and yes, I got educated too.

Dear Ms. Jackson, what is going on with BP's refinery located in Indiana?

Did you know that 19 members of Congress from the Great Lakes Legislative Caucus called for the investigation after U.S. EPA announced that a BP refinery located in Whiting, Indiana had been in violation of the Clean Air Act from 2003 to 2008.  In a June 3, 2009 letter to EPA administrator Lisa Jackson, members of the Great Lakes caucus called for a “comprehensive review of all ground, water and air pollution discharges at all British Petroleum refining facilities in the Great Lakes basin.”

 The letter points out that BP requested that it be able to increase the amounts of pollutants it released in the Great Lakes region. That request was denied after local legislators and activists united to stop it.

Around the time when the letter was sent, U.S. EPA cited BP Products North America Inc. for alleged Clean Air Act violations at the company’s petroleum refinery at 2815 Indianapolis Blvd., Whiting, Ind. EPA alleges that for calendar years 2003 through 2008 BP failed to manage and treat benzene waste from the facility as required by the national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants.  The facility’s 2008 report showed that benzene waste was almost 16 times the amount allowed.  To date, the matter remains unresolved.

Benzene is known to cause cancer in humans. Acute health effects from benzene exposure can include dizziness and lightheadedness; eye, nose and throat irritation; upset stomach and vomiting; irregular heartbeat; convulsions and death. Ecological effects include death in exposed animal, bird and fish populations and death or reduced growth rate in plant life.

Watching the travel channel one day we caught a glimpse of the Pierogifest in Whiting Indiana. Seeing as how we have relatives in Chicago we decided to make a quick trip back home and see what all this silliness was about. We spend the day at the Pierogifest eating good polish food, listening to the Polka band, and a Polish Elvis! Bought myself a pierogi bracelet, some pierogi soap, a pierogi pin, well you get the idea-Pierogi everywhere! To see more click here.

Mom and Barb stand for liberty! and pierogi.

Pierogi's cooking everywhere

a feast...

Pierogifest 2009

 Company Introduction:

Dawoodi Pulverizing Works has been producing and supplying Microfined Whiting Chalk Powder of unique grade and unsurpassed quality for more than five decades. This unit was established in 1953 and since then focusing its attention on rigid quality control and customer satisfaction, it has made steep rise and daring development at both its wings of production and sales.

The unit is having its own vast mining areas around Porbandar, which is the only place in Asia yielding Whiting Chalk of desired and exclusive chemical composition. The processing wing of this unit is located at the Industrial area in Porbandar where the raw chalk is pulverized and transformed into the final product known as Microfined Whiting Chalk Powder which is of 300 to 500 mesh fineness. This product is being presently supplied by the unit to its more than 350 customers spread all over India and abroad.

It is worth mentioning that the unit has captivated ‘Transworld Tradefare Gold Medal’ in 1981 for its outstanding quality performance in producing Microfined Whiting Chalk Powder. The product was also given the I.S.I. Certificate earning the honour of being the first ever such product to secure this authentic certification. All this has obviously been realized due to the unit’s uncompromising tradition of ensuring that “Quality always goes in before the product goes out”.

Microfined Whiting Chalk Powder : A Brief Product Overview

The city of Porbandar, already famous for being Mahatma Gandhi’s birth-place, is also the largest manufacturer and producer of High Quality Natural Chalk Powder. For over five decades, this Chalk Powder has been used as one of the prime raw-materials in the rubber, paint, distemper and putty industries. Be it the synthetic chemicals, plastic, cosmetic or paper industries, they rely on the Chalk Powder from Porbandar. As compared to the quality of Chalk deposits in different parts of the world, the quality of Porbandar’s Whiting Chalk is much better in terms of elasticity and plasticity, making it suitable for wider scope of industrial applications.

Some of the widely known industrial application areas of Microfined Whiting Chalk Powder include:

• Paint Industries
• Distempers
• Rubber Industries
• Manufacturing of Tyres & Tubes
• Shoe Compounding
• Wall Putty
• Glass Putty
• Chemical Industries
• Printing Inks
• Plastic Industries
• Cosmetic Industries
• Paper Industries
• PVC Floorings
• Ceramics
• Wielding Electrodes
• Allied Industries

Contact Details:

Office Address:
Dawoodi Pulverizing Works
1st Floor, Hawda Building
Near Bhavsinhji Park
PORBANDAR – 360 575
Gujarat (India)

Factory Address:
Dawoodi Pulverizing Works
226, G.I.D.C. Industrial Estate
PORBANDAR – 360 577
Gujarat (India)

Contact Points:
Mobile: +91-9825230205 (Mr. Kamil Hashim Merchant)
Office: +91-286-2247057
Telefax: +91-286-2242984
Gram: WHITEGOLD
E-mail: info@dawoodipulverizing.com
Web: www.dawoodipulverizing.com

Holy Pierogi! Can the weekend really be over already?? Yes, I know it’s Monday, but we have actually been out in the world:

Swimming,  Party-ing, Food-ing, Cake-ing, Picture Taking, Food-ing, Driving, More Food-ing, More Driving…we packed it in these last three days. (Our weekend started with Friday…lucky!)

Let’s start from Sunday, and go back…One guess…

Pierogi Fest! What? You don’t know? You are either,

1. Not Polish

or, 2. Not from around here

or, 3. From around here, a Polack, but still not know what this is!

All very likely. That was us three years ago. Now we know. This is the Official Website below:

Pierogi Fest / Whiting, Indiana

Here’s more pictures!

What a bunch of Polish people!

I think this speaks for itself

I’m lucky to have children who love to eat fish. Even luckier, I believe, that fish in New York is pretty inexpensive and pretty fresh. Family favorites such as Red Snapper (Synagrida) run between $6.99 and $7.99 a pound while Porgies (Tsipoures) and Sardines (Sardela) can be found for $2.99 a pound.

I went to the fish market yesterday intent on buying Barbounia (Red Mullet, which were $6.99 a pound) as we hadn’t had these tasty little fish in a long while. But when I got to the store, I quickly snapped up the smaller Bakaliarakia (Whitings) that I know the kids really enjoy. And at just $2.99 a pound, these tasty little fish were definitely a steal.

Almost all Greek tavernas around New York–and there are A LOT of them–feature fried bakaliarakia (whiting) on their menus. They serve these small but meaty fish with some garlicky skordalia and the dish is a favorite among most patrons.

As such, it was only natural that I fry our bakaliarakia yesterday and serve them with some skordalia. It’s an easy enough dish without much hullabaloo but there are a few cooking points I’d like to note:

• I find that when frying my fish, double-dipping it (i.e. in egg, then flour, then egg again and finally flour again) creates a much nicer crust.
  
• Season your flour well with your choice of seasonings but also season your fish with salt and pepper before dipping.
  
• When frying anything, heat your oil really well–you will never get a crisp, well-browned crust if your oil is not hot enough the second your fish touches it.
  
• As your fish finishes cooking, place it on paper towels to drain to keep the crust from getting soggy.

I served our bakaliarakia with some skordalia (garlicky mashed potato/bread) that I updated a bit by adding some chopped capers to. The tangy capers provided a great dimension of flavor and went well with the fish.

Note: I like to make my skordalia by simply mashing the ingredients with a fork as opposed to blending everything in a food processor–I just like the chunky texture as opposed to the smooth, sometimes elastic texture this dip gets when blended by the processor.

Bakaliarakia Tiganita–Fried Whiting

2 1/2 pounds small Whiting, cleaned
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon dried Greek oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 eggs, beaten
Oil for frying

Wash the fish well with water; pat dry and season with some salt and pepper. Heat about an inch of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Combine flour, oregano, paprika, salt and pepper on a large plate. Place the eggs in another plate. Begin dipping the fish in egg, then dredge it in the flour (making sure to shake off the excess), dip it again into the egg then give it one final dredging in the flour. Place it directly into the hot oil and fry just a few minutes on each side until well browned. Remove fish to a dish lined with paper towels and serve warm along with some skordalia, a salad and some crusty bread.

Skordalia me Kappari–Caper Skordalia

2 medium potatoes, washed, peeled and boiled until tender
2 slices of white bread, crusts removed
1 large clove of garlic, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
Olive oil (about 1/4 cup)
2 teaspoons finely chopped capers

Drain potatoes well and place them in a large bowl. Begin mashing the potatoes with a fork and then set aside until somewhat cooled.

wet the bread with some water or milk and squeeze out any excess. Add it to the potatoes along with the garlic, salt, pepper and vinegar and stir and mash the mixture with a fork until well combined. Begin adding some oil in a steady stream stirring constantly. Once you’ve added enough oil to reach your desired consistency, stir in the chopped capers.

Allow the skordalia to sit for a while, then serve with fried fish, fried eggplant/zucchini slices or some fresh bread.

Tania, the blogger behind The Musing Bouche, shows us the more or less correct way to gut the whiting she received from Cape Ann Fresh Catch.

More featured video…

Here is a list of the fireworks displays in the area, along with links for additional information.

Lacey Township:  Friday, July 3, Lacey Township High School (info)

Beachwood: Saturday, July 4, on the beach (info)

Seaside Heights: Saturday, July 4, on the beach (info)

Manchester: Saturday, July 4, Harry Wright Lake, Whiting (info)

Stay safe and have a Happy July 4th.

Fun times last night. Came home from work at 9 and had to gut like 16 whiting.

My CSF originally advertised that my fish would arrive whole, but gutted. However, they also said that we’d be getting whatever the fishermen happened to catch that week, which in this case was whiting, a creature considered “too delicate” to gut ahead of time. (Given the way they smelled when I picked them up, I’m fairly certain “delicate” was a euphemism for something else. Or maybe that’s me being delicate.)

One of the reasons I signed up for the CSF was because I knew it would force me to figure out uses for fish I’d never encounter/buy at the grocery. Of course, knowing this intellectually and getting elbow deep in it at 10 p.m. on a Tuesday night are two very different things, as I learned yesterday.

Whiting are a fish so insignificant that Wikipedia doesn’t see fit to have a full entry on them. Some internet research revealed that they aren’t actually a species at all, but rather “whiting” is a colloquial term used to describe a broad range of fish with white bellies. Wait, isn’t that like every fish?

Despite this, I tried hard not to look down my nose at the whiting, which one friend suggested I put back on a hook and throw into the sea in the hopes of catching something better. I’m still trying to find their redeeming qualities amongst the entrails, bones and smell…

Gutting was bad enough, but suffice to say that cooking them was as close to a disaster as dinner can come and still be edible. I thought I could fry these babies whole, like a sardine, but upon hitting a pan of hot oil they disintegrated almost instantly … heads fell off, fins mixed with flesh… I might as well have thrown a hand grenade into the pan. It might have tasted better.

Contemplating a new use for our dinner party Thursday. Stay tuned.

Courtesy of Flickr User fotonchop

It’s been a rough week for BP.

First the EPA reveals that they’ve caught BP’s Whiting refinery red handed, subjecting toxic benzene on the surrounding communities and the environment.

As a result, 19 members of congress have signed on to a letter demanding some accountability.

And now this.

GCM and its partner citizen organization CalProject (based in Hammond, IN) have given notice to BP that we intend to file suit under the Citizen Suit provisions of the Clean Air Act.   After conducting a thorough file review at the EPA’s District 5 offices in Chicago, we turned up sufficient evidence of wrong-doing to move forward with a case.

The notice, which was delivered to BP officials on Thursday, brings to light the fact that the BP Whiting refinery officials began construction of the tar sands processing unit as far back as 2005 without attaining the proper permits and emission controls.

It’s admittedly troubling when a large corporation bypasses the permitting and regulation process laid out under the Clean Air Act.  BP’s omission is all the more egregious when one realizes that this is just one step in the fool’s rush to obtain and process dirty Canadian Tar Sands.

If you don’t know about tar sands oil, it’s time to educate yourself.  This dirty crude oil is destroying the environment and the health of communities around the globe.  The environmental degradation wrought on the natural environment during themining of tar sands is enough to turn your stomach.  Unfortunately, the destruction of the Boreal Forest is coupled with the destruction of communities in Canada and the U.S.

As GCM’s efforts are geard towards assisting U.S. refinery communities, I’ll leave it to others to hold forth about the horrors being suffered by the indigenous people of Alberta.  Here in the U.S., a number of oil refineries across the midwest (and as far west as California) are clamoring to get their hands on this “stuff.” (I hesitate to call it oil, because when it comes out of the ground, it isn’t even liquid).  “It’s a safe and secure source of energy, and unlike th oil in the Middle East, these huge reserves of petrolieum are not subject to the whims of international deplomacy or war,” the oil companies tell us.

What they don’t tell us is that Tar Sands Oil wreaks havoc, among other things, on the communities where it is refined.  Tar Sands Crude,  which has already been “upgraded” at the point of extraction (i.e. in Canada) just so it will flow through a pipeline, is some of the dirtiest crude oil on the planet.  The refinery has to subject the crude to immense heat and pressure just to squeeze out a few drops of usable oil, which is then further processed to remove the high levels of sulfur, all before going into the normal refining process.  There’s a reason those in the oil industry call it “sour crude.”

The processing of Tar Sands crude produces three times as much pollution, two times as many greenhouse gases and uses three times as much fresh water as the processing of “sweet crude” (the type that bubbles from the ground).   Extremely high levels fo carcinogens and neurotoxins leach into the soil and are released into air.  The communities surrounding the refineries are left to suffer the consequences, which are most accutely experienced by children.

As you might imagine, it takes a special capacity to process the oil, and several refineries throughout the U.S. are constructing the necessary facilities.  These facilities are always couched in the rhetoric of “upgrades” and “a step forward.”  Here’s a thought for you: If Tar Sands is such a good thing, why have these refineries shown disdain for the legal permitting route, while secretly circumventing environmental regulations?  These an other questions will be asked, and one can only hope answered, as the proceedings around our potential suit move forward.

So, next time oil executives and refinery managers look at you and says that tar sands oil is good for the U.S., look back at them and say “I know better.”  That’s what the residents of Whiting, IN are doing, and their community will be healthier because of it.

Peter Queal - Guitar and Vocals, Curt Landes - Piano and Vocals, Karnell Roberston - Drums, Jon Whiting - Vibes with a special guest

Jazz at the Monarch

I would like to invite you to the Randy Bacon Studio on College St. tonight for the opening of In the Moment the Jazz Photography of James Radke. The photos were shot in the Oakland and San Francisco Bay Area during the years 1993 thru 2003.

The following night several of my close friends and great musicians are driving in on their own from Laramie, St. Joe, St Louis and Springfield. These guys are known now as The Snapshot Jazz Band. The doors open at 7:30 and show starts around 8:00. Tickets can be purchased tonight at the Art Walk or at the door on Saturday. What a wonderful way to start the summer with Jazz at the Monarch

If your business needs a commercial and an editorial photographer or if you just wish to purchase a print, please contact James Radke at 417-569-7169 for information and pricing.

After a brief reprieve, the residents of the Calumet region of Indiana (Whiting, East Chicago, Hammond) are once again being inundated with the excess pollution generated by the BP Whiting refinery’s 95,000 barrels per day “sour crude” processing unit.

The unit has been shut down for the past several weeks for “scheduled maintenance,” but, according to Reuters, the unit is up and running once again.

That’s bad news for the area’s residents, considering that the refining of “sour crude” produces 3 times as much toxic pollution as normal refining.

Yay! A new blog post with lots of new pictures! Yesterday, was another long day of shooting for “The Unseen OC” project. First was Red Rock Canyon. This is a 51.9 Megapixel stitch, of 11 different photos taken vertically. Each at 17mm. That should tell you how BIG this was, in person.

(View Large on Black)

Then, was the 8 hour hike to and from Black Star Canyon waterfall; which by the way, is MUCH bigger than the pictures make it look!

And on the way to the major waterfall, there were (of course) some smaller ones in the creek.

Then, after Black Star, was a short hike over to “The Sinks.” By the time we got there, the sun was JUST dropping below the horizon, so it was a little too dark to get the red of the canyon to “pop.”

Oggi infatti Massimo, Trent Whiting, Valeriano D’Orta e i due dirigenti Luigi Peruzzu e Mauro Murgia hanno accolto l’invito della Dirigente Scolastica Dr.ssa Maria Anna Galisai e della insegnante di educazione fisica Prof.ssa Carla Puligheddu e si sono recati nella palestra della scuola media n.

Chessa playmaker sassarese in Legadue con la squadra della sua città e Whiting, guradia statunitense al suo secondo anno in maglia biancoblù che risponde in inglese alle domande dello studente più coraggioso ( e bravo) nella lingua straniera non potevano aspettarsi accoglienza più calorosa.

Superato l’imbarazzo iniziale gli studenti hanno ordinatamente fatto la fila davanti al microfono per porre le domande ai due giocatori e al vice allenatore Valeriano D’Orta, arruolato stabilmente nelle visite agli studenti, perfettamente a proprio agio nel ricordare ai ragazzi e alle ragazze l’importanza dello sport, la bellezza della pallacanestro e a coordinare le gare di tiro fra i giocatori della Dinamo e gli studenti più coraggiosi.

I saluti finali ed il ringraziamento per l’adesione al progetto “Io Protagonista” 2009 con la consegna del Poster , del pallone ufficiale autografati dagli allenatori e da tutta la squadra e di tre palloni da minibasket con i quali iniziare questo bellissimo sport.

fonte: http://www.basketnet.it/news/101806/whiting_e_chessa_a_scuola_per_un_giorno