Travis Pettijohn: Blog

Quotes from Kitchen Confidential:

"Saving for well-done" is a time-honored tradition dating back to cuisine's earliest days. ... What happens when the chef finds a tough, slightly skanky end-cut of sirloin that's been pushed repeatedly to the back of the pile? He can throw it out, but that's a total loss. He can feed it to the family, which is the same as throwing it out. Or he can "save for well-done"—serve it to some rube who prefers his meat or fish incinerated into a flavorless, leathery hunk of carbon, who won't be able to tell if what he's eating is food or flotsam. Ordinarily, a proud chef would hate this customer, hold him in contempt for destroying his fine food. But not in this case. The dumb bastard is paying for the privilege of eating his garbage! What's not to like?

Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn. To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living. Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food.

I just discovered this site, http://recaptcha.net/. They do the regular "image verification" stuff you see to prevent spam on web sites, except they use scans from real books. They present two words: one for which the result is known and a second for which the OCR had low confidence. If you match the known word, they assume you're probably right on the unknown word, too (and they verify it multiple times to improve confidence). I think it's a great idea: as a side effect of preventing spam, they're digitizing old books. Cool.

From The Power of One (385):

We had all cawed and moaned at the story, but Morrie, as usual, had made his point: good conversational debate is an end in itself, and talking for the love of conversation is what makes us human.

Richard Clarke (click for bio), former "Terrorism Czar" and author of Against All Enemies, spoke this evening at the U of I. He gave a fascinating talk on the status of the war on terror. I managed to get a seat in the second row (I had to jump over empty seats to bypass the jam in the aisle.) Here are some pictures that I took with my camera phone. I'll share from my notes. At the end of the talk, I asked a question, and then later got an autograph of my copy of his book.

• He began by defining the war. Terrorism is an methodology; you can't fight a war against that.
• We are at war with Jihadists who practice a "perverted version of Islam." Also people that support the ideas of Jihadists, both politically and financially.
• We must "win this war as a war of ideas."
• Polling shows that the United States government has essentially "zero credibility in key Islamic countries." Thus, the we cannot be the ones fighting the war of ideas.
• Are we making progress in the war on terror?
• Comparing the amount of terrorist activity worldwide in the 36 months before and the 36 months after 9/11, Jihadist attacks have doubled since 9/11.
• In Iraq, there are 60 to 70 attacks against U.S. forces every day.
• Bush stresses that we are fighting the war overseas so that we don't have to fight it here at home.
• Bin Laden recently told Zarqawi to send terrorists from Iraq to the U.S.
• Clarke asserts that, "Because we are fighting in Iraq, terrorists are coming here."
• "How are we doing in the war on terror? Not very well."
• 3/11 in Madrid (bombs in subway) left over 2,000 dead.
• Carried out not by suicide bombers, but people who got on, left backpacks of explosives on the train, and got off.
• ABC did the same thing in New York (with cameras instead of explosives). No one did anything to check the bags.
• 60 Minutes placed a bomb-look-alike package at a chemical plant next to a quantity of chlorine that could kill 100,000 people if released into the atmosphere. No one stopped or questioned them.
• "You can't stop everything...."
• It would cost $9 billion to implement working homeland security.
• We've spent $100-some billion in Iraq, which is exporting terrorists.
• Clarke points out that we're training police and firemen in Iraq, yet Bush's recent budget proposal will reduce those numbers here at home.
• "Frankly, I think we made a mistake after 9/11," in our emotional state, we allowed the PATRIOT Act to be passed, which is abusive.
• PATRIOT Act allows the FBI to force librarians to hand over records.
• See José Padilla, a U.S. citizen who is being held without having been charged, without access to a lawyer, and without a trial by a jury of his peers.
• We should "advocate better homeland security...and at the same time advocate for the Constitution."
• Referenced the Benjamin Franklin quote: "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."
• His book is titled "Against All Enemies." The presidential oath, part of the constitution, states that the president-to-be shall defend the Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and domestic.

He took questions. I asked the second question: Do you feel like you're preaching to the choir? That the people who should be listening—like the policy makers who get things done—aren't listening?

Somewhat, yes, he said. There are some people who will never say anything bad about the Bush administration; these people watch FOX News (the crowed roared with approval). But we all know people who need persuading, so we need to wear them down.

Someone else asked if he thought it would matter if Bin Laden were captured now. Clarke said no. Bin Laden has become a symbolic leader. If he were gone, it wouldn't really change things. (See Che Guevara after he was arrested by the CIA.) We should have captured or killed him in the mid-90s when Clinton authorized it. Or in the months following 9/11.

Someone else asked about Bush's vision to spread democracy in the Middle East. Clarke reminded us that terrorism can still be bred in democracies (see Timothy McVeigh). He also reminded us that "the Iranian-backed party won the election" in Iraq. So there are doubts about just how democratic Iraq will be.

He was also asked if he would consider going back into public service or run for office. No, not at all, he said. He feels that he can make a greater impact from the outside than he could from the inside.

After that, there was a book signing. As he signed my copy, I told him, "I saw you on the Daily Show...I saw the smear campaign that the Bush administration had launched against you...I bought your book the next day." He smiled, gave me a wink, and said, "I wish that they had kept it up; it was great for book sales." We shook hands and I thanked him for coming.

This was a very cool experience. Clarke is a very interesting and intelligent man with a very unique point of view. I learned a lot and I hope that you learned some, too.

It's also fun to think about the people that I'm connected to through him; you know, like the degrees of Kevin Bacon game. Not only presidents, but Jon Stewart.

Friday's 8:30 bedtime of course led to an early waking on Saturday. That, in turn, led to an early bedtime on Saturday, which led to an early waking time this morning. (This might actually have been the shift I've been looking for...we'll see how long it lasts.) This morning, when I woke up at 8:00, I had to force myself to roll over because I didn't want to get up. I tossed and turned for a little while, but in the end, I was up making coffee before 9:00.

One of the side effects of waking up early is that you end up getting stuff finished earlier as well. This can be viewed as a positive; for me this weekend, it felt like a negative. I had too much time left over. Yesterday, I woke up, did laundry, ran a few errands, worked out and then got groceries. I was done before 3:00 or 4:00. Today, I woke up, read some of the current issue of Harper's and worked out. I was home before 1:30. I had accomplished everything I had hoped to do for the entire day before 1:30. What was I to do? I just read some more. Harper's is an interesting magazine. I saw the editor on The Daily Show a few months ago and really liked what he had to say. I decided that when I got my own place (this place), I would subscribe. The cost of a year's subscription was less than two issues at a newsstand, so I decided to take the risk. There's a lot to read. This month, there was a fascinating article about cadaver trade (or tissue banks). There was also an essay on how Globalism is reverting back to Nationalism. The magazine is filled with literature, politics and art. I enjoy reading it, though I never know quite what to expect.

Over the past two weeks, I read The World According To Garp, by John Irving. This was the third Irving novel I've read. The first was The Cider House Rules and the second was A Prayer for Owen Meany. Irving is a great writer. No matter what he writes, it always flows beautifully and is easy to read. Garp was no exception. It's hard to summarize the book. It's about the fears of a father and how he tries to protect them. But ultimately, his actions cause harm to his children. It's also about the polarization of the sexes. I enjoyed reading it, as evidenced by the fact that I read it in two weeks (pretty quick for me; I averaged almost 50 pages a day). I needed a new book, so yesterday I picked up The Da Vinci Code. I've heard nothing but good things about it, so I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy it. I'll start it sometime this week.

As I mentioned, my shopping yesterday also included a trip to the local grocer. I picked up a lot of produce. I've been trying to reduce the amount of refined sugar I consume. I'm also trying to reduce my total fat intake. To achieve these goals, I'm trying to eat more fruits and vegetables. I got an eggplant, some spinach, fresh broccoli, Santa Sweets tomatoes, portabella mushrooms, carrots and some regular iceberg lettuce. I've really been enjoying how I've been eating lately. I made a sandwich tonight with portabella, eggplant and red bell pepper marinated in balsamic vinegar then cooked in olive oil. I got the inspiration from a lunch I had a Biaggi's recently. It was very tasty. Later this week, I'm going to make some eggplant parmesan. I'm excited for that.

I think I saw the baton girl at The Fitness Center today. She looked familiar to me, and I had the thought that it was her, but I didn't really think anything of it. But then, she and I left at about the same time. I noticed her license plate: TWRL UI 7. It must have been her. She was definitely decked out in orange and blue clothing, so I'm pretty sure it was her. I feel like I've seen a celebrity!

This has gotten long and it has no point. Just rambles. I enjoy when I write blog entries that are succinct little stories. When I started this, I used it mostly for journaling. Then I started reading Renice's blog and I loved how she told cool stories. Whenever I visualize very short stories like that, they are semicircles. They start succinct, expand enough so you get a body, then quickly wrap back up. I love it. I've done it successfully a few times, but tonight was not one of those times. Tonight was a need for something to do, so I filled it with a summary of my weekend. Conclusion: I need more to do with my time. Working out is a start, but it is just a start.

Every once in a while when I open my mouth and speak, I hear myself pronounce vowels in a manner that I do not recognize. "Ahs" come out like "awes" and "oohs" sounds like "ooes." Granted, writing a subtle difference in pronunciation is a little difficult. I think the easiest way to describe this slight shift in my vowels is almost as a drawl. It's too faint to really notice by anyone other than me, but I do notice it, and it bothers me.

I finished Touching the Void last night. I couldn't stop, even though I knew I had to get to bed. I read about fifty pages each Monday and Tuesday, then the remaining 100 pages last night. It is an amazing story. I mean, I knew he was going to make it (he wrote the book and I saw him on Letterman). But the story kept building. He was almost dead, he was delusional, rambling. He had been without food or water for four days. If he had delayed another few hours, stopped to sleep that last night, he would have made it back to an empty camp and died after all that struggling. But when he was rescued, it made me excited, happy, and relieved. I was filled with joy. A book has never brought about such emotion in me before. It was truly amazing for me. Maybe I should read one of those books with Fabio on the cover so I could experience a whole different kind of emotion. :p

Last night, I was invited to go the Illinois vs. Michigan State basketball game. It was a blowout, 75-51. I think this means that Illinois has a share of first place in the Big Ten. I don't really know. I'm not a big sports guy. Actually, last night was my first Illini basketball game ever. I was a student for four years, and I never made it. Only when a coworker had a complimentary ticket (I think he got it from another coworker who works for DIA; not sure) did I finally make it to a game. I'm glad I finally went to a one.

Right now I'm reading a great book. I think it might go down in the record books for me as the fastest read ever. It's called Touching the Void, by Joe Simpson. It's a true story about these two guys who are climbing a mountain in the Andes. On their way down, Joe falls and breaks his leg. He said that the bottom half of his leg went up through his knee, shattering it. His climbing partner, Simon, has been lowering him down the side of the mountain, 300ft of rope at a time. Eventually, they're out of rope and Joe is hanging from a cliff. Simon is falling. Joe feels jerking as he falls...inch by inch as Simon loses control of the belay. Simon had to make a decision to cut the rope. Either one of them dies or both of them die. Joe managed to survive the fall, but Simon doesn't know that, leaving Joe and his broken leg in the bottom of a crevasse. That's as far as I've read. It's very easy to read, and the imagery is pretty vivid.

In my previous entry, I wrote about laundry and how underwear is my litmus. Brad told me that he never washes his underwear. He just wears each pair once and then sells it on ebay. I thought that was pretty funny. How much would you bid for a pair of Brad's dirty underwear?