bring on the bacteria burgers!

I’m reading Gina Mallet’s Last Chance to Eat. It won the 2005 James Beard Award for Writing on Food, so I think I expected more.
It’s not riveting, which is what I was hoping for. But it’s interesting enough, sort of a cross between Eric Schlosser and MFK Fisher. And she makes very good points about how people, particularly Americans, are consumed by “food fear.” (Personally speaking, for instance, *why* can’t pregnant women eat sushi? I mean, thousands of Japanese women can’t be wrong, can they? And I happily scarfed down some lovely Camembert last weekend with nary a thought to the fact that I was eating a semi-soft cheese, also a pregnancy no-no.) Mallet deals with some classic food scares, such as the egg/cholesterol freak-out of the eighties, and the E. coli frenzies. She talks about the way cheese production has been industrialized. She addresses the American desire for food to be predictable, for everything to taste alike, like, oh, say, the way all Big Macs taste the same everywhere. The book did make me want to go buy a nice runny Brie and some organic eggs…and risk my health for taste!

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So far this season the mighty mountain Sagarmatha (Nepali) / Chomolungma (Tibetan) (Everest to us Americans) has claimed two lives: Canadian Sean Egan died April 29, from an apparent heart attack, and Sunday, May 3, American Michael O’Brien fell while crossing the Khumbu Icefall. A helicopter rescue of two Canadians, two Americans, and a Sherpa took place early this morning, following an avalanche that thundered through Camp 1 Thursday. No one was killed – amazingly – but several climbers were seriously injured. Due to weather conditions, their rescue had to be delayed until this morning. It’s crazy to realize that even now, during prime climbing (pre-monsoon) season, snow and hurricane-force wind storms can sweep the mountain. And here in Pittsburgh we’re just waiting for our frost date…

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And making the transition from frivolity and pointless death to something more meaningful:

The campus is hopping – but the library is not - due to graduation. The lots were filling up when I got here this morning, and there are traffic cops everywhere.
Also, apparently there is a protest outside the Palumbo center involving the formation of a student gay and lesbian association. This Post-Gazette article details the ongoing debate, and
this article by Duquesne student Matthew Pratter is what started the whole thing. I have to say, this is a tough case. Just to set it out there to start, I couldn’t care less who’s gay and who’s not; frankly, I don’t care what goes on between consenting adults as long as I don’t have to hear about it EVER. I don’t want to hear sexual details of anyone’s life – straight, gay, whatever. So…on one hand, it’s a Catholic school, you knew that coming into it, why would you make life harder for yourself as a gay man? Why not go to a public university where no one cares? I understand that there are religious issues, that homosexuals can also be devoutly religious, but just in the interest of self-preservation (or maybe I am just a coward, or not as much of a troublemaker as I like to pride myself on), I would go where it was not even an issue. But, on the other hand, as a religious institution, how about exhibiting some of that Christian love, charity, and acceptance touted by Jesus Christ? You know, “He who is without sin cast the first stone,” or even better, “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” Jesus welcomed everyone to His fold, not just the purely socially acceptable. Don’t you think it might be worth our while to try to live up to that example, and “live peaceably with all men,” and be tolerant and caring? It could always be you, don’t forget. Just because it’s not, today, just because today it’s the homosexuals, or the Jews, or the Arabs, or the single mothers, or the women, or whomever – tomorrow it could be you. The possibility always makes me remember this little composition I read ages ago somewhere.

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Just a one-off:
This picture breaks my heart. Something, *something*, has to be done in the Middle East. But what?