Rumor Control and Status Check

2007 06 04: Ok - so I had the surgery. Here's what they stuck in my hip - a "gamma nail," as it's called, for some reason. We're home (poor Linda stayed with me for two nights, in a barca-lounger in the hospital room -- not a great sleeping experience), and I'm gimping around and complaining. Painful, but looking at this picture, I'm surprised it isn't more so, I guess.

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Didn't you always sort of suspect?

If you get the Sunday NY Times, have a look at the "Fashion Magazine," and in particular, the ad for Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, in Atlantic city. It features a woman doing something with nautical decor, but it's about their restaurant, Sea Blue, "by Michael Mina."

The tag line is, "When food becomes an art, an appetite is entirely optional."

So if the chef uses enough silly prep techniques (liquid nitrogen) or chemistry class ingredients (Methylcellulose) or wierd presentation (savory lollipops), it won't matter if you're hungry? You'll still pay top whack just to say you were there, whether the food tasted like anything or not? I guess that's what it takes to compete in casino towns or no-class towns (Atlanta and Houston come to mind). But it still seems strange to admit it in your promotional material.

By the way, if you look at the Michael Mina link, you'll find him in a number of no-class towns, mostly Las Vegas, but also, strangely, San Francisco. Wonder if his ads for that place focus just a bit more on taste and less on "art?"

Joe's Chemo Crunch

So I'm not much of a breakfast guy, but these days, I need to quickly gobble something fairly substantial along with the steroids. Later on, Hobbit-like, I tend to have second breakfast, but in case you have any interest, here's the formulary for a bowl of gunk that seems to buffer Dexamethasone pretty effectively.

• 1 cup of some kind of sugar-free oat Os. Doesn't matter which one.
  
• 1 handful dark raisins
  
• 2 dried apricots, chopped
  
• 2 tbsp salted cashews
  
• 1 or 2 large strawberries, chopped
  
• 1/2 banana, sliced
  
• milk to taste
  

Mix; share bites with dog. Drink most of remaining milk. Allow dog to lick bowl.