Just lovely.

...And now it starts snowing.
Just #*@!?ing lovely.
Luc is wishing hateful shit on us here. Thanks man!

Quick Update

Just a quick update for Constant Readers...

I'm in Buffalo NY for the NHL's Winter Classic...
An outdoor game to be played in Ralph Wilson Stadium, usually home to the Buffalo Bills, this week it is the temporary stomping ground of the Sabres and 50,000 rabid hockey fans...
When tickets went on sale, all 50,000 tickets were sold out in something on the order of 20 minutes...
This will be the place to be on New Years Day if you are in West New York State.

During my copious free time I will be striving to put together a passable narrative of the trip down to the Tortugas from 2 weeks ago...
It's coming RSN.
(Real Soon Now)

Film at 11, updates as they happen...

TBG out-

Inappropriate attire

Smart Ass: "We're all gonna chip in and buy you a jacket."

Yours Truly: "For stuff in my size they charge by the yard...and I don't think you'll raise enough to buy one sleeve, let alone a full winter coat."

TBG, Freezing my...fingers off.

The NHL's Winter Classic

...The moon, on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave a lustre of mid-day to objects below...
-From Clement Moore's "A visit from St. Nick"

This gives new meaning to "Pure as the driven snow"...

TBG out-

Wow

Anonymous NHL guy: "They can't pay me enough to do it, but they could pay you enough."

Other Anonymous NHL guy: "Yeah, I'm cheap *and* easy."

TBG- worried.

It's going to be one of those events...

JR: "Chicks dig the monkey..."

Chris: "Monkey? Is that what you are calling it these days?"

TBG, out-

Zzzz...

Now I feel better about the safety of my equipment...

Out of context: Buffalo

From the waitress at Red Robin:

"Do you want some pink?"

(We assumed she meant the hamburger...)

TBG, back in Buffalo.

Living Dangerously

Posting a blog entry via Crackberry while driving up I-95 at night is kinda like giving a ferret a shave.
No matter how careful you are, someone is going to get hurt.

But I have time to kill and the blog ain't gonna write itself.

If any Constant Readers want a real chuckle, stroll over to Zack Cline's site, http://thewrongway.com and go to his galleries.
Between his eye for composition and his choice in cameras, his photos make mine look like I'm blindly snapping away with a Kodak Instamatic.
Anyway, peruse the pics from DRTO...especially the ones of The Grand Shearing...

Ok, you have your assignment, get moving.

TBG out-

May, perhaps, might, could.

(This is the last time I'm going to beat this horse. I promise...)



Yet another cover story in USAToday concerning global warming.



"Scientists: Global warming could kill off reefs by 2050."



A dire warning by "an international coalition of scientists" in an obscure journal says coral reefs, and by extention, the rest of the world, are doomed in 42 years.



The USAToday article, and undoubtedly the report itself is full of language that screams "Doomsday!" in one breath and couches the entire report in suppositive language and a host of "possible scenarios" ranging from complete-extinction-of-life-as-we-know-it to negligible-impact-life-is-good forecasts.



The News Media today loves this kind of stuff... It lets them do a little hand wringing and it sells newspapers or gives the talking heads something to wail about...



The scientific community loves this atmosphere of fear, because in the environment of "publish or perish" that is Academia today, you can write a report filled with twisted and massaged data, get published and because it is couched in the "may, might, perhaps, possible" language, they have no accountability.

Kind of like how the hurricane forecasters give dire warnings like: "we have the potential to see the worst season for devastating hurricanes in the last five decades!" - then they shrug their shoulders and say "we said 'potential' in our forecast. Sorry!" when there are a minimum of storms that year.



The final word from Uncle Jay:

Scientists don't "know" shit.



TBG, out-

More Global Warming Bullshit

Saint Al has been bad mouthing the USA, again.

"I am going to speak an inconvenient truth," Gore told an audience of several hundred, playing on the name of his Oscar-winning documentary.

And in low tones he added: "My own country the United States is principally responsible for obstructing progress in Bali," spurring rapturous applause and cheers.

I'm tired of this asshole.

Read a REASONABLE opinion from one of his Nobel Co-Laureates:

Dishonest Political Tampering with the Science on Global Warming
Written By: Christopher Monckton, Denpasar, Bali
Published In: News Release
Publication Date: December 5, 2007

As a contributor to the IPCC’s 2007 report, I share the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore. Yet I and many of my peers in the British House of Lords - through our hereditary element the most independent-minded of lawmakers - profoundly disagree on fundamental scientific grounds with both the IPCC and my co-laureate’s alarmist movie An Inconvenient Truth, which won this year’s Oscar for Best Sci-Fi Comedy Horror.

Continue reading this article...

TBG out-

Buffalo

This weather is insane.

For the life of me, I can't figure out why anyone lives up here.

On the way to the Stadium this AM...


That's a nice glaze of snow and ice on the highway...

In the stadium...


This will be a perfect place to play an outdoor hockey game...


I have to walk up and down these steps in sneakers...

I'm going to kill myself...

TBG, freezing-

Welcome to Misery

Population: Me

From Google Weather:

Buffalo, NY
27F,
Wind: E 10 mph
Hum: 74%
Thu: 27F-30F, Snow (...and lots of it.)
Fri: 18F-33F, Chance of Snow Showers
Sat: 17F-26F, Chance of Snow

Schools are closed and flights are canceled.
I am ill-prepared for the weather here. I need warmer clothes, a knit cap to keep my noggin from freezing, and some boots with good traction.
My sneakers slide on the snow and ice - if I don't take a serious fall between now and Friday night I'll be amazed.

Obligatory Food Content:
I went to the Anchor Tavern for wings last night...
I have to say, they were pretty tasty.

TBG, out in the snow.

Career Development Seminar

- or -
Tortugas Drinking and Fishing 2007

Annie in SC
(Formerly Annie in KW)
Asks a particularly timely question...

"And how come no posts/pics from DRTO?"

Well... There are two good reasons...

First, I've been either behind the wheel of a vehicle or getting on a plane for the majority of my waking hours since my return... and second... No pics, because no camera.

Well... I have my Crackberry camera, but that's pretty pitiful...
I also still have my old sony, but since the screen on the back is cracked, it makes it a bit hard to preview the pics... I have to shoot a bunch and hope for good results...

There is a nice post coming covering our "Career Development Seminar", including such tales as "The Grand Snapper Outing", "The Stuttgart Carnivore", "Miss Costa Rica and the White Asses", and the ever-popular "There have been complaints..." story.

Stay tuned, film at 11.

TBG, out-

Extremes. I go to them.

Before...



After...



Responses so far:

1. Damn. How much rum did you guys drink?

2. Wow. Did you lose a bet?

3. Who's the convict?

4. Holy crap! (initial response from several people)

5. Jeez. There is no middle ground with you, is there?

6. Dude. Sunscreen. Quick.

7. Man. You look mean. Looks good on *you* though... (said while backing away)

8. Wow. Is it time for the Masters already?

9. Dude, the glare is killing me.

10. Did you fall asleep around a bunch of drunk guys?

11. Oh, Dude. You've got to get a new motorcycle to go with *that* look!

12. Hey man, the WWE called- you're scheduled for a match tomorrow night.

13. Nervous laughter.
(initial response from several people, usually cut short by a very hostile look...followed by a comment such as "man, you really look angry."

-------------------------

Just for the record, this was a planned tonsorial adjustment.
It was time for a change...

TBG out-

An Inconvenient Asshole

Disclaimer:
If you are a bleeding heart liberal card-carrying member of the ACLU commie symp left-wing moonbat nutjob, please click here.

The following is an Opinion, and more importantly, it is MY opinion, and since it is my blog I can say anything I want.
If you choose to rebut this opinion, just feel free to start your own blog...
But I won't publish your opinion here. If you don't like it, too damn bad.
Take your dolly and go play elsewhere.

And by the way, sorry about the profanity.

There's a file on my desktop called "FuckAlGore.txt".

I had planned and half-written a scathing link-filled post with details info on why Al Gore and his family are such duplicitous hypocrites. After working on it for hours, I have abandon the effort. He's not worth it, and it would be a disservice to Constant Readers.

But I do want to give you the gist of the thing, because this whole concept of man-induced global climate change catastrophe theory does piss me off.
Let me give you a few facts and links that you can ignore and then you can go on to read your favorite web comics or go look at soft-core porn featuring Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Obligatory attention-getting picture.
(Has nothing to do with this content of the post, but it is needed for the people who read this blog for the pictures.)

I'll try to keep it short. I promise.

Ok, here we go...

I keep getting assailed about Global Warming and the US non-ratification of the Kyoto Protocols... It's like the entire world believes there is this huge pipe that runs from America up to the Arctic Circle and is spewing out steaming hot carbon dioxide, melting the whole place and killing all the polar bears.
So how to explain the increase in the polar bear population from 5,000 in 1950 to 25,000 today, as documented by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service? The ecozealots are noticeably quiet. Could it be that the facts don't fit with their campaign of exaggerations, half-truths and outright lies?
(BTW- Australia didn't ratify the KP either... I guess their pipe is heading to Antarctica and killing all the penguins.)

At the same time I'm getting lots of "Al Gore is a god!" hogwash thrown at me... Seems he's a real hero for alerting everyone to the menace of man-induced global warming.

Constant Readers, Listen to your Uncle Jay, nothing could be further from the truth.

Al & Tipper Gore are loudmouth, publicity-hungry, money grubbing political whores.

Do a little Google searching and find out what kind of flip-floppery went on in 1985 and 1988 when Al & Tipper took on the Music Industry with the PMRC- An attempt at the worst kind of censorship- the government evaluating and rating music and lyrics...
In 1988 the Gores tried to pretend they had no role in the whole thing when they went to Hollywood looking for money to fund Al's brief run at the Presidency.
That's not just a waffel- that's pure pandering to secure funding.

We all know he wound up playing 2nd fiddle to Bill "The Wandering Penis" Clinton in '92 & '96, and all the moonbat nutjobs think he got the shaft from the Supreme Court in 2000, bemoaning the fact he won the popular vote and got screwed by the electoral college.
(That's the reason for the Electoral College, people. If it didn't exist, candidates would only campaign in New York and California and one or two other population centers and all the representative decisions would be made by idiots and Yankees. Knock off all the bitching, losers. Back to topic...)

Now Al has decided to save the world from Global Warming and he would like the world to believe that the entire solution is to throw money at the problem*...
Oh goodie.

So he narrates a piece of speculative fiction called "An Inconvenient Truth" and gets an Oscar and a Nobel Peace Prize... Which to me, amounts about as much bullshit as the Grammy does for the Dixie Chicks. That was more a payoff from the Entertainment Industry for pandering to an international audience and getting their asses handed to them back home for being stupid on a foreign stage.

Al "The Sky Is Falling" Gore and the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) got the Nobel Prize jointly... since they are "sharing" the prize, you might think they were singing from the same hymnbook.
Nope. Sorry, they are not in synch at all.

Al is painting a picture of global catastrophe... My favorite, being a Floridian, is the horseshit about the 20' rise in global seal level in the next 100 years.
He ignores the findings of his Nobel co-winners, who conclude that sea levels will rise only 6 inches to two feet over this century, with their absolute worst expectation being about one foot. That's similar to what the world experienced over the past 150 years.

Likewise, Gore agonizes over the accelerated melting of ice in Greenland and what it means for the planet, but overlooks the IPCC's conclusion that, if sustained, the current rate of melting would add just 3 inches to the sea-level rise by the end of the century. Gore also takes no notice of research showing that Greenland's temperatures were higher in 1941 than they are today. There are also navigational charts (Piri Reis and other Portolan Charts) drawn in the 1500's that show an accurate representation of the north coast of Greenland, indicating that during the end of the 1400's and early 1500's that area was free of ice.

The politician-asshole-moviemaker loses sleep over a predicted rise in heat-related deaths. There's another side of the story that's inconvenient for him to mention: rising temperatures will reduce the number of cold spells, which are a much bigger killer than heat. The best study shows that by 2050, heat will claim 400,000 more lives, but 1.8 million fewer will die because of cold. Indeed, according to the first complete survey of the economic effects of climate change for the world, global warming will actually save lives.

This idiot has sounded the alarm and if you swallow the load of bullshit he's feeding you, it makes him look like a fucking hero.
Don't you believe it.
I've had several people lauding him, saying he ought to be the next President...None of these people were voting Americans, and their opinions come from the international media. They are not in touch with reality. Their view of reality is from the Left-centric news and watching a fucking movie. Pathetic.

Go over to Junk Science and look at the data and the reasons that "An Inconvenient Truth" is a steaming pile of carbon-dioxide emitting camel shit. While Al "Bullshit Artist" Gore is getting accolades from his Hollywood friends (and previous enemies) for alerting mankind to the fact that the weather changes from time to time, REAL issues continue to plague mankind...
Issues that are unarguably more serious than Al's self-proclaimed doomsday scenario.
I really like John Stossel's video piece from 20/20 debating the concepts of "An Inconvenient Truth".

Gore calls on world leaders to cut CO2 emissions, yet there are other policy changes and programs that would go much further to improve life for more people on the planet.
For instance:
Over the next hundred years, developing nations will be increasingly dependent on food imports from developed countries.
This is not a result of global warming, but a consequence of more people and less arable land in the developing world, and in my not-so-humble opinion, a by-product of US (mostly Democratic) efforts to throw money and aid at every third-world shithole, encouraging them to breed like little bunnies without actually improving their self-sufficiency... because we will continue to send food and money to them regardless.

The number of hungry mouths to feed depends much less on climate than on demographics
and income and/or foreign aid.
Extremely expensive cuts in carbon emissions (a la the Kyoto Protocols) could mean more malnourished people. If our goal is to fight malnutrition, policies like getting nutrients to those who need them are 5,000 times more effective at saving lives than spending billions of dollars cutting carbon emissions.

Likewise, global warming will probably slightly increase malaria, but CO2 reductions
will be far less effective at fighting this disease than mosquito nets and medication, which can cheaply save 850,000 lives every year. By contrast, the expensive Kyoto Protocol will prevent just 1,400 deaths from malaria each year. Are you doing the math here, kids?
You have to fight the *right* battle, not just the one that sounds best in a 30 second sound bite on the news and makes you look like the savior of the planet.

While we worry about the far-off and most likely imaginary effects of mankind-induced climate change, we do nothing to deal with real, immediate issues facing the planet today.
This year, malnutrition will kill almost 4 million people. Better start making that movie, Al-hole.
About 3 million lives will be lost to HIV/AIDS, and 2 1/2 million people will die because of indoor and outdoor air pollution. A lack of micro-nutrients and clean drinking water will claim 2 million lives each.
Better start making those movies... Or is the science too real?
Can't dress up the computer models to find a way to show that corporate America is responsible for these problems?

Look, don't you think it would be a good idea to first tackle the problems with the best solutions, doing the most good throughout the century? If we focus on solving today's problems, we will leave communities strengthened, national economies stronger, and infrastructures more robust. This is known as "results-oriented problem solving"...
The problem is that Democrats think that any problem can be solved by throwing money at it. Preferably someone else's money. Republican/Conservative money if possible.

Committing to massive cuts in carbon emissions will leave future generations poorer and less able to adapt to challenges.
Some people think Al "Do as I say, not as I do" Gore has passion for his cause and is doing everything in his power to stop global warming.
Sorry, 'taint true.
He would have us believe that everyone on the planet should step up and do their part. Unfortunately, he also thinks it shouldn't apply to him...
His house in Nashville has a $3,000 a month electric bill... He jets about on private planes when he ought to be riding mass transit and thinks that purchased "Carbon Credits", basically purchasing the right emit more CO2, because someone else did the actual sacrifice of resources, is appropriate.
Sorry. I'm not buying it.
You're either doing your part, or you're fucking it up. No middle ground, no buying your way out of the issue.
Oh, and one more thing...Gore buys his carbon off-sets from himself-- from Generation Investment Management LLP, "an independent, private, owner-managed partnership established in 2004 with offices in London and Washington, D.C." of which he is both chairman and founding partner.
Isn't THAT interesting?

Well... Sorry.
This was as short as I could make it. Sorry about all the yelling.

The next motherfucker in a bar who gives me shit about the US role in the global warming fight is going to get an extra-large ground-glass-and-fish-hook enema. Right there in the bar. I am tired tired tired of these motherfuckers.
Asked and answered, you Honor.

TBG, off my soapbox, still suffering from jetlag-

* BTW if you really want to get a chuckle, read this. And this.

Still alive...

Greetings, Constant Readers, and happy Thanksgiving!

I've made it back to Jax in (mostly) one piece.
Slept most of the day yesterday. Alas, no fried turkey for friends and neighbors. Maybe at Christmas.

Heading to the office today to see if I still have a desk and telephone.
Word around the campfire is my attention is needed in Montreal, Tampa and a couple other places.

We'll see how it all shakes out once I see how things are piling up.

TBG, waking the tiger, out-

No downgrade!

W00t! W00t!

Luxury!

Thanks Continental!

TBG, stretching my legs out!

A new wrinkle...

Decisions decisions!

I got my upgrade... As I was checking in at the airport this morning, the agents for Continental took many minutes looking at my tickets, the upgrade certificate, and their system... I was a bit concerned.

Finally they tagged my bag, and printed a boarding pass.

Business First.

Then came the Sell.

Suit: "Ah, excuse prease. Smarr probrem."
Oh shit.
(Constant Readers and OCHs (Old China Hands) will know that "Mei wen tai" means "no problem". When someone says "No probrem", there *is* usually a problem.
When they come out and say there *is* a smarr probrem, there is usually a BIG problem.
Suit:"So sorry, Business crass overbooked."
Ah! The light dawns. The close scrutiny of my ticket and upgrade was to find a flaw so they could deny my upgrade without loss of face, and/or compensation.
Suit: "We want to offer you compensation to take voruntary downgrade."
Yours Truly: "Hell no. 15 hours in coach? Again? You must be crazy."
S: "Mei wen tai! 2 seats...we give you two seats- No probrem."
YT: "Two seats? that's all you got? No way."
S: "No no no! We give mires and ticket compensation too!"
YT: "You don't understand. Me- tall guy- 15 hours in coach. No."
S: "Ok ok ok. 3 seats. 20,000 mires coupon for onepass."
Mmmm. Tempting.
But...No! I'm. Not. Sitting. In. Coach!
I'm sticking to my guns here.
YT: "No. Sorry. Bu yao."
Suit: "No! No!... Ok ok ok. 20,000 mires. $2000 fright coupon. 3 seats."
Wow. $2000 and 20,000 miles?
YT: "Well...ok."

I'm such a pushover.

So I'm sitting in the Biz Class lounge, dreading my flight again.
But three empty seats will go a long way to making coach comfortable.
And the flight vouchers and will come in handy for travel this year.

Man. If I could only get them to cough up a camera... Nah. Too much to hope for.

We'll see how it goes.

TBG, on the road again.

Finally!

Only SpongeMark will *really* be able to appreciate the importance of this picture.

TBG, having a night cap.

Traveling

Well, karma is catching up with me...

The last 24 hours started out okay, but took a dive around 12 last night when I took my eye off my camera for 30 seconds in a crowded bar and it was stolen.

That's what I get for drinking tequila with Leo G, Bruce from Transportation and Deni down on Tongren.

So content on the 'site is going to be a tad dry and pictureless until I find a replacement.

I really liked my Canon Digital Rebel XT... Not sure I'll be able to find as good a deal as I got on that one... I got it for miles on continental.com's auction site. Now that I got a taste of using a D-SLR, I don't know if I could go back to a regular digicam.

Time will tell.

Well, I'm on the train to Hong Kong... I have two teenagers (18 & 19 y\o) from Hong Kong sharing my compartment, two guys who just spent 3 days riding their bikes at the huge skatepark in Shanghai...



Expect a long post about the last day of the TMC...

No pics though. No pics of the post party, or the great dinner we had at a different Hunan place.

Oh well, next update will be from Hong Kong...

TBG, cameraless, out-

Postscript!

Breaking news from Shanghai...

I got a message from SpongeMark late last night...turns out it was fortunate that I left when I did, and probably good that SpongeMark didn't make it...

The message read, basically, that Leo spent that night in jail in Shanghai.
Details are sparse, but the the gist goes that after I left, things got out of hand and some sort of altercation ensued.
Putting on my "Carnac the Great" turban and looking into the "what-might-have-been" I could see being there still when the fight started, getting involved, my camera getting stolen anyway, and spending the night and perhaps more in jail...
Had SpongeMark been there, the camera (presumably) wouldn't have been stolen, and then the same as above, but probably both of us would have wound up in the hoosegow.
Wouldn't that have been nice?...

Awesome news from Continental today...

Woohoo! My upgrade came through!!!

Business Class for the trip home!

Happy happy joy joy!

(SpongeMark hit me as I was doing my Upgrade Dance... Seems like *somebody* will be sitting in Coach for *his* flight home. Ha ha hee hee ho ho!)

TBG - still doing Upgrade Dance... W00t! W00t!

Of Menus and Coolers

The Gearhouse Guys are a never-ending source of amusement to me...

There has been an on-going issue about the need for a cooler out in the TV compound.
They require a cooler for beverages and food that needs refrigeration.
Almost every office, skybox and hospitality suite has a large glass-front cooler in it, all of them labeled with Heineken or Pepsi logos.
It's not an unreasonable request for TV Land to have a cooler...

Well... They finally got one yesterday... on day 5 of the tournament.

"What happened? Wait... You didn't steal it, did you?" I asked Boundsie.
(Again, you have to ask. Because if it was a case of appliance theft, there is a good chance that I would be fingered for the crime.)

"No, mate. It's all good." he replied.
"How's that?"
"They didn't need it any more. No more drug testing after Wednesday." he told me.

Lovely.
So the 'fridge they are keeping their food & beverages in has, up until yesterday, been used to store urine.
I guess if they use it to store American beer it will feel right at home.

----------------

Fun on the menu - Minhang

Speaking of Boundsie, he sent along a menu to be included here...
Its from a restaurant not far from QiZhong Stadium. He said last year they used to go to this restaurant
quite often. Me? I'd go once, but after seeing the menu, I'm not sure I'd return...



Click to view full size...

Horror scope - Friday Nov 16

Gemini - May 21 to June 21

There’s no business like show business Gemini, and that’s no business for you to contemplate for even a second. Monday evening brings the temptation to go center stage at an after-work karaoke escapade, a temptation to which you will quickly wish you hadn’t succumbed. The video clip taken by a workmate will be posted on YouTube and will receive 172,980 viewings. Most of those viewers will be laughing at you, not with you. You will not go into work on Tuesday, which will turn out to be a wise decision. On Wednesday you will receive news of a distant relative’s win on the lottery. You will eat a mediocre pasta dish on Thursday evening and drink a little too much red wine. On the weekend you will see a bizarre accident involving a person dressed in a bear costume and a clothes rack. Your sleep will be disturbed by dreams of escaped bees.

----

So, let me get this right... He's dressed in a bear costume and a clothes rack?
And...Oh Ghod, not another mediocre pasta dish. Shit.

I'm staying in bed next week.

TBG out-

Snacks

For your consideration:


Colon?


It is easy to open your colon.


Kinda looks like little colon segments...

---

Appearing for the first time here in Shanghai...
Don Key!

He likes the little magic mushrooms...

Mmmm.

TBG Out-

Signs of the Apocalypse, part 2

No matter how I redo the punctuation I still can't figure this sign out.

---

We have nice maps at the site to show where things are located or where to find a particular service...


The grounds map.

Sometimes I think when they made the maps they weren't too specific with the instructions about what icons to use to represent the services...


Either that, or they are going use RVs to ferry the media to and from the hotel.

---

From the elevator lobby in the hotel...
(SpongeMark pointed this one out to me...)

Not IF...but WHEN...
Implying that there *will* be a fire during our stay.

Well... That will be keeping me up at night.

TBG out-

Street Meat

-or-

Barbecue, Shanghai Style

Neal (Shanghai Sound Guy) came over to our corner (a/k/a The Dark Side) as we were packing up to leave last night.
"Hey- you up for some barbecue?" he asked me.
Constant Readers who know me will affirm that I'll eat a half-cooked mouse if there is enough cumin and coriander on hand.
"Sure." I said.
I checked with SpongeMark to see if he was interested-
He said he'd take a pass. He and Olivier headed back to the Mayfair as I left with Mal, Michelle and Neal, heading to what was being billed as "Street Meat. You know, Meat on a stick."

We drove up into the neighborhood near Hongqiao airport around midnight...
There was a sweatshop where little Chinese women were cranking out Michelin Man parkas, and right next door on the sidewalk there was a large refrigerated case full of skewered goodies.
(To tell the truth, I was a little surprised to see the refrigerated case. I'm used to seeing the piles of kebab meat just sitting on a plate on a table, exposed to the elements and/or worse.)

The "restaurant" was a 10' x 10' room off lit by a TV set showing a Hong Kong police drama. There were 4 tables inside this space each holding 4 to 6 Chinese diners.

The Larder

The case of...things to eat.


Neal & Michelle picking out our dinner.


Eggplant, fungus, potato & lotus kebabs.


More goodies-
Corn on the cob, fish on a stick and mystery meat.


You give your bin of groceries to the girl...


...and she puts it in the queue to be cooked by the GrillMaster.


The Grillmaster slathers on chili oil or some dry spices as he cooks the Street Meat...
Everything gets the same treatment...Enoki mushrooms get the same treatment as potatoes, the same for fish or lamb or any of the other items.

A table inside the "restaurant" cleared out and the four of us moved in to await our dinner. We ordered 2 large bottles of "Snow Beer" and waited for our food.


Dinner begins to arrive.
Shrimp, lamb, chicken wingtips and octopus...


Cauliflower, eggplant, bread & potato chips.


Mushrooms, eggplant and potato chips.

One thing about the food... Since it is all cooked the same way, and the spices are used the same way for everything, it all pretty much tasted the same...
The only difference between the lamb and, say, the mushrooms is the texture...


I had a great time... and since I'm at work with no ill effects, I'm either starting to get immune to the Shanghainese food-poisoning bacteria, or maybe the restaurant was just cleaner than the average hotel kitchen and dining room.
(A distinct possibility. Unlikely, but possible.)

TBG out-

Food for thought

Over breakfast at the hotel-
Olivier: These pancakes are awful.
SpongeMark: He says that like it's a suprise.

I don't think I'm going to tell him that they weren't pancakes.

TBG out-

Event food - Shanghai 2007

-or-

"What does that sandwich have on it?"

They have food brought in for staff during setup out here at Qizhong.
We really appreciate the effort since until the actual event there is no food service within 5 miles.
The sandwiches are interesting, to say the least...
They are labeled "Chicken Salad", "Roasted Beef" or "Ham and Cheese".

This one worried me...


I had to ask "So... Is this really made out of truck driver?"
Because in China, you *have* to ask, otherwise you might be in for a rude awakening.

TBG out-

Check, please.

"I'll throw the teapot on the floor, then slam the beer bottle against the wall.
Then I pull my wallet out and wave money around.
That's how *I* ask for the check.
The teapot to get their attention, and the beer bottle to show I mean business."
-Spongemark Squarehands, at the end of dinner tonite.

TBG, wow.

Miss Communication.

On Thursday the Gearhouse Guys(TM) told us the bus was departing the arena at 6:00 PM. When we arrived in the TV compound at 5:20 we saw the bus turning the corner heading back to town.

SMS message to GG Big Cheese: "Dirty bastard."
GGBC:"Oh. I forgot about you guys."

How do you forget the two biggest guys in this *country*?

We spent the next hour trying to flag down a taxi. Not the easiest thing in Minhang the week before the tournament...

On Friday, SpongeMark went out to TV to check out the bus schedule...
"So, what time are you leaving us behind today?"
Said he wanted to ask in person just to see Boundsie's face.

We missed the bus that day too.
No taxi this time. Ian & Bruce set is up with a Mercedes.
Nice.
TBG out-

Fun on the Menu - Di Shui Dong

A few evenings ago I posted a pic via my Crackberry of a menu entry at a restaurant here in Shanghai.
SpongeMark and I returned there on Thursday Night to sample the delicacies of Di Shui Dong, a Hunan restaurant on Maoming Lu near the Shanxi metro stop in Shanghai.

Di Shui Dong serves....Wait for it...

...Although I think they need to use a different word here.


There were several goodies on the menu here...so in no particular order...

Dog
The classic - Dog. Shitzu or Great Dane, I don't know.
But only in cold weather. Why?
We surmise it's easier to catch the dogs when the weather turns colder.
They just leave the kitchen door open and the pups come in to get out of the cold.

Paw
I don't know which is more unappetizing.
Chicken Paw or Shredded Pig's Ear.


Braised bullfrog.
Not frogs legs... Just plain bullfrog.


Tripe tip or Fried Bullfrog.
(They have lots of ways to prepare bullfrog at Di Shui Dong.)


(Sorry about the focus)
Spongemark: "I don't care how many ways they flavor it. I'm not eating it."


Stinky tofu.
Truth in advertising.


Pig Bone.
No Meat. Just bone.


Matrimony vine?
I guess if you can get someone to eat blackbone chicken, you would have to marry them.


It wasn't so lucky for the pumpkin, was it?


Human...Pickles.

Wow.

Now, I don't want you to think that the entire menu was a horror.
Actually, it was some of the best food that I have found in Shanghai.

Hunan cuisine is very spicy... Lots of garlic, chili, peppers and chili oils.

Some of our dishes from dinner on Thursday...


An awesome fried rice... Fried egg, pork, green beans, mushrooms, green chilis, red chilis, a hint of chili oil and other spices.


Green beans with pork belly (a/k/a Bacon) and chili oil.


Fried Eggplant with peppers and chili flakes


Shrimp with fried garlic and chilis.
After the shrimp were gone, SpongeMark ate an entire spoon of the garlic & chilis all by themselves. Of course, about 5 this morning he was regretting it...


Get a close look at all this garlicky goodness... the fried shrimps, the chili and green onions. Oh. My.


Fried corn in chili oil with pine nuts.
This was great...


My favorite dish... Spare ribs.
You have to see a close up of all the spicy goodness...


Look at all the goodies here... Peppers & chilis, caraway, cumin, coriander...
I could eat 3 plates of these all by myself.


And at the end of the meal... Toffee Bananas...
Battered & fried banana slices with a crystallized toffee glazing.
Crunchy and hot and sweet and amazing.

Oh, we're going back... even if they *do* have dog on the menu.

TBG, dining out-