Thanks (e:jbeatty,45440) for providing this fun time-waster... it's making me hungry...

Incidentally I just read Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma. Great book. As a result of reading it I am really trying hard to buy locally grown, organic foods. Years of buying cheap, industrially produced food makes it awfully hard to pay 50 percent to 300 percent more for the good stuff, but having read the book in its entirety, it's hard to go back to the old way.

My VGT Omnivore's Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile/ Alligator (as jerky)
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat's milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald's Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S'mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs' legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette (I think-in Korean soup)
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill (depends)
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare (if you mean rabbit, yes)
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Wow! I'm just short of the halfway point. I'm looking at this as a glass half-full, though -- so many exciting things left to try!

Couldn't help but notice that there's no Ethiopian/Eritrean food on the list... if you're using these lists for inspiration, try a stewed meat flavored with berbere. Beg wat (lamb or goat) is particularly savory and delicious; mesir wat (lentils) is a good vegetarian option.

Also, no fine (traditional) wine on the list!

UPDATE: Regarding my '92 Dodge Spirit ("Chuck"): I was very tempted by (e:metalpeter) 's advice (i.e., enter the Dodge in the America's Fair demolition derby...see comments below) but went with a more boring option, sort of a variation on (e:mrmike) 's advice. Instead of trying to get money for it, I donated the car to the National Kidney Foundation's Kidney Cars program:

I am now officially sans auto! Carbon footprint: reduced a little bit more. And no worries about on-street parking this winter!

Of course the downside is that I'm now officially a ride-moocher. But hey, I sortakinda already was one anyway.

Chuck, I salute you! And thank you for your nearly seven years of faithful service. I'm sorry that tree fell on you during the October Storm of 2006. I hope your new owners, whomever they may be, will give you the tune-up and repairs you deserve. Or tear you up for parts...I suppose it doesn't hurt.

Hey friends,

Long time no post... have had the busiest craziest summer in terms of work, plus the typical trying-to-take-advantage-of-good-weather-whenever-possible types of shenanigans in and around Buffalo. Highlights: Spiritiualized at Town Ballroom (utterly fantastic), Sam Roberts Band at ArtPark, Babik and Latin jazz at Bidwell, and getting caught in the downpour at Taste of Buffalo, plus a long weekend in Niagara Falls Ontario. Good stuff.

In other news: after some soul searching, I have decided: I am letting go of my car. I'm sure I'll regret this sometime in January, but I live close enough (2 blocks) from the NFTA rail station to make this work on a daily basis, and my gf has a car, so groceries and occasional trips to Hertel, Amherst, etc. remain fairly easy. The trouble is, it's been a good car to me, and I hate to see it go.

That said, anyone need a "beater"? There's nothing pretty about the car... it's a 1992 Dodge Spirit, sort of a grandpa car. Well, actually, it is a grandpa car -- it's a two-owner car (my grandfather and me) with just under 100,000 original miles. It's light blue and has a relatively clean interior. It needs a little work but nothing overly dramatic. Here's the skinny:

The Good

---

low miles for old car
4 cylinder with no known motor trouble
automatic transmission
good tires
reliable battery
mechanic once said, "the only thing that'll stop this car from running is a tree"
front wheel drive, good in the snow
no serious accidents, ever; clean title
"The Dude Abides" bumper sticker

The Bad

---

clunking right front end, needs repair (prob tie rod) immediately
needs tune-up to bring gas mileage to where it should be
trunk leaks a little

The Ugly

---

grandpa car -- see pictures below
some peeling paint
small dents in trunk lid and beat-up front driver's side fender (but all lights are intact and work, last I checked)
"The Dude Abides" bumper sticker

I'm looking to sell it for $100. I believe that after repairs it will still be a little less than what Edmunds would suggest is fair market value for the car. Obviously this is NOT a luxury car or something that will improve your social status in Buffalo. But if you need a set of four wheels, four seats, and an internal combustion engine to propel you around town, you're all set.

If interested, let me know ASAP by email.
NOTE: I am not interested in fixing the car to sell, I just want someone to take it as-is. I've got too much going on at work to spend the time fixing the car.

Here's a photo off the internet of another 92 Spirit, same color and styling, with representative wear-and-tear:


If you want to see the real thing, it's parked on upper North Pearl just north of Allen Street.

Here's a front-angle shot of a slightly cleaner 92 Spirit, same color and styling:

Interesting article in the Washington Post about some brain-imaging research. Don't know whether the study is any good, methodologically, but if there is a neurophysical similarity between gay men and straight women and between lesbian women and straight men, then... well, I don't know what exactly, but it's food for thought.

MRI and PET scan studies are showing remarkable similarities between the brains of gay men and straight women, and between those of lesbians and straight men. For example, the brains of straight men and of gay women share certain common features: both are slightly asymmetric, with the right hemisphere larger than the left, ... [while] the brains of gay men and straight women are both symmetrical.

Similar trends emerged when scientists tracked connectivity in the amygdala, the region of the brain involved in emotional learning and in activating the fight-or-flight response. They noted strong similarities between gay men and straight women, and lesbians and straight men.

rainbow brain image courtesy of stianrasmussen.com

...an ice-cold brewski out of a brown paper bag really takes the edge off of fighting for dryers at the laundromat.