07/20/10 01:04 - 70.ºF - ID#52243

Healthcare: Expensive =/= Effective

Just read this critical, well-written and well-researched piece on why healthcare in this country is so expensive and yet so ineffective and wasteful: (pdf version of the report).

Healthcare might well be the biggest bureaucratic easy money-making scheme in the US - if you are on the right side of the bed. It's a pity that socialistic medicine is mocked and labeled with such derision by the section of the population that prides itself on understanding fiscal independence so well. Capitalistic healthcare is an oxymoron and always will be.

Related interesting statistics:

Permalink: Healthcare_Expensive_Effective.html
Words: 102
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 07/20/10 01:20

Category: eating in

07/15/10 08:18 - 71.ºF - ID#52170

Perfect breakfast

... which I can't have right now. :/

- Pumpkin Seeds
- Toasted almonds
- Toasted steel-cut uncooked crispy oats
- Dried figs
- Slices of granny smith
- Fresh blueberries
- Fresh strawberry slices
- All dunked in super cold vanilla sunrich soymilk.

Instead I just had granny smiths and carrots tossed in lemon juice, salt and pepper with kiwis. Because I don't have any of the other "perfect breakfast" ingredients at home.

Permalink: Perfect_breakfast.html
Words: 72
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 07/15/10 08:18

Category: art

07/13/10 12:24 - 74.ºF - ID#52161

Shaken but not Stirred

'twas bleak.

Permalink: Shaken_but_not_Stirred.html
Words: 4
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 07/13/10 12:25

Category: opinion

07/10/10 10:03 - 72.ºF - ID#52144

Tourism is overrated...

when there is a bucketload of work hanging on your head.

I recently visited with my brother in NYC (he is a brand new New Yorker). In the past, whenever my brother and/or I have been to the city, there was never enough time to do all the things we wanted to do. But now that one of us actually lives there, suddenly, there seems to be a dearth of things to do.

We hardly went out and cooked non-stop at home (a hidden sign of stress and general worry). We made some awesome complicated meals - but that is hardly touristy. The desire to do touristy things seemed to have vanished. I thought it was just me, but apparently my brother who has been in NYC for a month now hardly veers out of his home-office-gym-home route.

A tiny voice in my head keeps saying that I am not working hard enough and that my commitment to effectively fast-track academic milestones needs to quadruple. I think I agree with the tiny voice. But, all the same, it makes me sad that the romance of NYC seems to have suffered from a work-related paralytic stroke.

Permalink: Tourism_is_overrated_.html
Words: 196
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 07/10/10 10:03

Category: music

07/08/10 09:26 - 83.ºF - ID#52126

I feel the earth move!

How cool is acoustic Paul Gilbert singing Carole King?

Yep. Ãœbercool. The complete version in it's full glory. Check out the blow-your-mind guitar solo!

Oh, and this has got to be the coolest musical theatre parody of the song:

Permalink: I_feel_the_earth_move_.html
Words: 50
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 07/08/10 09:32

Category: the odes

06/30/10 02:08 - 54.ºF - ID#52062

Topical laughs

Ha. Ha.

{For those not caught up yet. ;-)}

Permalink: Topical_laughs.html
Words: 16
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 06/30/10 09:56

Category: eating in

06/26/10 05:36 - 74.ºF - ID#52046

Spirit of summer salad dressing

And you thought it was impossible to capture the essence of summer in a salad dressing, didn't you? Well... you were mistaken.

The inspired spirit of summer salad dressing:
-- Extra virgin olive oil
-- Granny Smith Apples
-- Super ripe heirloom tomatoes

-- Garlic (smashed with the apples, oil and tomatoes in a mortar and pestle)
-- Ripe oranges
-- JalapeÃ±os
-- Green onions
-- Salt
-- Black pepper.

Blend all of this together in a blender and voila, you have spirit of summer in the blender jar. I recommend tossing kale, red-onions, roasted almonds and strawberries with this dressing for a super-awesome summer salad. :-)

Permalink: Spirit_of_summer_salad_dressing.html
Words: 110
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 06/26/10 10:47

Category: science

06/25/10 11:48 - 70.ºF - ID#52033

What everyone needs to know about glycemic indices.

I was getting ready to rant about how glycemic indices are not the whole truth for diabetics. However, I found that this fine woman has done it for me already and written it REALLY well.

I highly recommend that all of you check out her article when you get a chance. We may not all be diabetics but I can guarantee that many of us are living with some amount of insulin resistance.

The take home point is that the sooner we get rid of a good portion of pure carbohydrate sources in our diet (and replace it with raw/cooked produce), the longer we can expect to live without diabetes and other chronic diseases. There is no such thing as "good carbs" - it is just a euphemistic marketable term for carbohydrates that are complexed with more fiber. Why not then just consume more fiber sources (produce) that are complexed with natural micronutrients (minerals and vitamins)?

It's about time the food and dieting industry stopped misinforming and influencing the population. And by population, I do mean doctors and nutritionists as well.

Permalink: What_everyone_needs_to_know_about_glycemic_indices_.html
Words: 182
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 06/25/10 11:51

Category: music

06/19/10 11:40 - 71.ºF - ID#51971

Unsyncopated Ensemble Beats

Apparently this track has some of those.

What on earth is an unsyncopated ensemble beat? Do people outside of Pandora's offices even know whatever it means?

Unsyncopation aside, electronic musicheads on (e:strip) - any tips on finding music similar to this particular track? The track sounds a bit like Prodigy's staggered-big-beats-bass-line old stuff but I am not sure who else sounds similar - any clues?

PS: Yes, I know it's on the Matrix soundtrack but most of the other tracks are lame - perhaps they aren't unsyncopated enough. Who knows... I tried building a song-based channel but Pandora's similar music engine seems to be churning out pretty dis-unsyncopated music. I also sampled Rob Dougan's other stuff. But most if it is rather slow and puts me to sleep. The Rob Dougan radio on Last.fm switches to E. S. Posthumous and the rest of the neo-cinematic ilk - but this is clearly an underground big-beat club dance track.

Permalink: Unsyncopated_Ensemble_Beats.html
Words: 162
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 06/19/10 11:47

Category: buffalo

06/19/10 09:50 - 72.ºF - ID#51970

Have scissors. Will travel.

I got a smashing haircut from an actual celebrity hairstylist today. Not just a celebrity in the hairstyling world in NYC but a celebrity in the true Hollywood sense. :-)

You can see him in the wedding scene in a recent film called "When in Rome".

He has cut and styled Robert DiNiro's and Madonna's hair and till recently, used to run a hair salon right in the heart of Union Square, NYC. However, ownership of a big and affordable house and westside Italian family roots beckoned in Buffalo and he moved here earlier this year.

So, if you are game for a celebrity hairdo and some riotous banter, head over to SuperCuts near Delaware and Amherst and ask for Roberto. I guarantee it will be an entertaining one. ;-)

Permalink: Have_scissors_Will_travel_.html
Words: 133
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 06/19/10 09:51

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