Since it seems like Hillary is going to try turn the remaining weeks of the Democratic Primaries into a battle of race and class, I decided to whip up a banner to help her out. You know she’s a little short on campaign funds right now!
Now, you can buy this as a trucker hat on Cafepress!
It seems strange to be recommending a furniture store for some tasty and cheap food, but if you’re hungry and in West Chester, Ikea’s cafeteria style restaurant isn’t a bad bet.
I was doing a little furniture shopping yesterday after work and I thought I’d grab a quick bite to eat.
The cafeteria is very bright and clean and amazingly enough, completely furnished with Ikea furniture. It has a nice ambiance and not crowded at all. The weeknights at Ikea are not busy so the line for food was very short.
There are quite a few choices of meals to choose from with most being only $4.99. The most popular dish seems to be the Swedish meatballs. Almost every tray that I saw had one of the Swedish meatball platters on them. So, I too chose the Swedish meatballs platter and an apple cake and a drink. All for less than $10.00. The meatballs come with mashed potatoes and a lingonberry sauce.
The Swedish meatballs are smaller than you’d think from the picture but quite tasty. They have a slightly dry and crunchy exterior like they had been deep-fried. That’s probably the secret because everything tastes good when they’re deep-fried! The meatballs come with a gravy that also works well with the mashed potatoes. The ligonberry sauce tastes pretty much like cranberries but not quite as tart.
I apologize for the pictures of my half eaten meal. That’s just a testament of how good the food is.
For a drink I recommend the Ligonberry juice from the fountain. It’s not carbonated and not too sweet. The apple cake was good too, only $2.29 for a slice.
It took me a few seconds to figure out where to put the tray when I was finished. The area to put tray is slightly walled off, but is marked with a sign. You place your tray in racks just like in college!
I’ll have to stop back for their .99 breakfast! Review of the $.99 breakfast to come! 🙂
From NYTimes: Clinton Pledges to Fight On Despite Split Primary Result
“We think the results last night strengthen the case that she will be the strongest candidate for the Democratic Party in November,” said Geoff Garin, the campaign’s top strategist.
Last night, Hillary got fewer votes and lost ground on delegates. Sounds like a winning combination to me.
Sometimes I find the ads that Google serves up on my site to sometimes be amusing, sometimes frustrating. I’m an Obama supporter, so it is a little annoying to be serving up McCain banner ads to the visitors of my site.
Anyways, this banner showed up on my site. I’m not sure what the point of this banner ad is except to highlight how old John McCain really looks these days. Can this young handsome fellow really be John McCain? The John McCain of today can be described at best as “seasoned”.
So, if you want young and vibrant, you’re either going to have to get a time machine or vote for Obama.
Missouri Congressman Todd Akin (R-MO) has introduced a Federal bill which would regulate the importation of plastinated bodies. These bodies are at the heart of the controversial Bodies the Exhibition that is currently being shown at the Cincinnati Museum Center.
Bodies the Exhibition uses “unclaimed bodies” from China in its exhibit. The bodies are used without the consent of the individual or the family. Questions have been raised by ABC’s 20/20 about the source of these bodies and whether or not they may have been purchased on the black market.
From Yahoo News: Clinton lends herself $6.4M as Obama’s lead grows
Obama was 184.5 delegates shy of the 2,025 needed to secure the Democratic nomination, his campaign finally steadying after missteps fiercely exploited by the never-say-die Clinton.
I was a little puzzled by this half a delegate thing. It turns this “brilliant” idea is a way of allowing more people to attend the convention without increasing the number of votes. This is done primarily for U.S. Territories and the group Democrats Abroad.
It’s another strange quirk in the Democratic Primary process that’s really only come to light now that every vote is important.
From the Huffington Post: Clinton Adds a Half Delegate
The Democrats Abroad, a group sanctioned by the national party, has confounded delegate counters, graphic artists and political journalists since it awarded Clinton 1.5 delegates from its global primary last week. How do you explain that Clinton has 1,276.5 delegates?
Explain no more. Clinton picked up a half superdelegate on Wednesday, increasing her overall total to 1,277.
The anomaly happened because the Democrats Abroad will send 22 delegates to the Democratic National Convention, each with a half vote. The system is designed to enable the group to send more people to the convention, without inflating its voting power.
UPDATE: The DNC is going to seat all Michigan and Florida delegates but they only get half a vote.  So, if a Michigan superdelegate endorses a candidate, it’s only worth half.
The Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati was this past Sunday. I didn’t run, but I did make it out to cheer my sister who was running the half marathon.
Runners heading up Gilbert, away from Downtown. Taken with my iPhone.
UPDATE: I just saw this story and I can’t believe it happened!
From Cincinnati.com: Pig goes off-road: Leaders led astray in half marathon
The confusion prevented last year’s winner, T.J. Lentz, from having a chance to defend his title. Lentz was in second place when he followed his bicycle guide straight through the intersection at Gilbert Avenue and Elsinore Place in Mount Adams, near mile 11 of the 13.1-mile race. The course, however, turned to the right at Elsinore Place.
The picture above was actually at the intersection that the bicycle guide missed. He continued down this rode instead of turning right and heading down Reading. I must have just missed it because I saw the leader go by as I was walking up Reading towards Gilbert.
Greiwe was running in third place when he approached Gilbert and Elsinore. He and his cyclist attempted to turn correctly onto Elsinore, but a police officer there directed them and the two runners behind Greiwe to go straight on Gilbert.
“We ran all the way to Plum Street, and I realized I was well off the course,” Greiwe said. “I turned to him and said, ‘Can you just get me to the finish line?’ “
And that’s how Greiwe – after running down Vine Street and through traffic on Third Street – found himself scaling a fence behind the finish line Sunday, hustling his way to a fourth-place finish while running through the finish line in reverse. The fifth-place runner, Jeffrey Hicks was running in the correct direction at the same time.
So, do you actually get credit for coming in third if you’ve gotten off the course, scaled a fence, and crossed the finish line in reverse?
The iPhone is a phone of firsts for me. It’s the first phone that I’ve used to usefully surf the web, the first phone to watch movies with, and the first phone where I actually enjoy using the camera.
My iPhone is always on me, the picture quality is good, and you don’t have to click through a ton of menus to get to the camera function. Last week, I posted a few pictures that I had taken of some Spring flowers in Cincinnati. Greg Schmigel of Annapolis made a nice comment on them and asked me to check out his website, justwhatisee.com.
All I can say is wow!
Greg is a talented photographer, and the fact that he does it all with his iPhone is even more amazing. The iPhone is a true camera bringing both strengths and weaknesses. But like any tool in the hands of an artist, beautiful things can be made.
I’ve been interested in featuring unique websites like Greg’s and he was kind enough to answer a few questions that I had about his iPhone photography. I’ve interspersed a selection of Greg’s photos with his answers.
All photos copyright Greg Schmigel. Used with permission.
Website Feature: just what i see: iPhone photography
Q. What’s your background? Are you a professional photographer?
I consider myself an amateur, and I like to keep it that way. It gives me the desire to continually shoot better and more creative shots. I’m self taught, in the traditional sense. I finished college at the University of Maryland with a degree in Radio, Television and Film.
Q. What got you started taking iPhone photos?
I used to shoot with a Canon 40 D and a pocket-sized Leica D Lux-3, but since I purchased my iPhone, the big guys have been collecting a bit of dust. As you can see from some of my photographs, I love to shoot street photography. The iPhone, because of it’s size and discretion, gives me so many more opportunities to capture interesting moments that I might miss with a big rig.
Q. How many photos do you think you’ve taken with the iPhone?
I haven’t counted them all, and there are times when I scroll through old albums in iPhoto and I don’t even remember shooting the picture. Honestly, I would say I have shot a few thousand, maybe 3,000. I’m on my second iPhone…thank god for warranties!
Q. When you take pictures of people do they know what you’re doing? Your candid photos of people are great!
Sometimes they do. If I want to try and get a portrait-style shot, I will ask them. They are usually so intrigued by the iPhone that they forget that I am actually snapping their image.
But, most of the time, my shots are unannounced. I love to capture the raw and candid imagery of people on the street.
Q. What’s your favorite thing to take pictures of?
If you visit my site, you will see that I am a city lover. I can spend hours shooting just about anything you would find in the city. People, signage, graffiti, found objects…just about anything except myself.
Q. Any hints for taking good iPhone pictures?
Always keep your iPhone camera feature on…always keep a wall charger in your pocket. Just capture what you find interesting. I’m not much for special lighting or special gear. I just like to capture what I see, and share it with the world.
Q. How well do the pictures print out?
The iPhone is a 2MP camera, so you can actually get a nice 4X6 or 5X7 print out of it.
That’s usually the first question gallery owners will ask. “Well, how do you plan to present your images?” They can look great in an oversized mattes.
Q. Any Pet Peeves about the iPhone camera?
The battery life. Constant shooting on will last me a few hours, if I stay away from checking my e-mail. Oh, and if I stay away from making calls. Did I mention the iPhone makes phone calls, too?
Q. What improvements would you like to see in future iPhone cameras?
Hopefully Apple will move to more megapixels. Maybe a 3, at the least. But other than that, I am happy with it. It’s kind of like shooting with an old plastic point and shoot. The camera itself doesn’t have a ton of features. The camera doesn’t “make” the shot…it leaves it up to the shooter to get more creative and find the shot.
From NYTimes.com: Clinton Spurns “Elite” Economists on Gas Tax
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Sunday dismissed the “elite opinion” of economists who criticized her gas tax proposal, using a term that has dogged rival Barack Obama in recent weeks.
“I’m not going to put my lot in with economists,” Clinton said when asked to name an economist who backed her proposal.
Hillary is using the tried and true Bush tactic of ignoring and labeling people that disagree with you. Bush calls you “unpatriotic”. Hillary calls you “elitist”.
Unfortunately, there are no quick fixes for the economy, no matter what a politician promisies you.
From AP.com: ALL BUSINESS: Don’t count on gas tax cut lowering prices
That’s because the idea proposed by presidential candidates John McCain and Hillary Clinton to ease the federal gas tax would strip the U.S. government of about $10 billion for roadway and transportation projects.
And the plan doesn’t even guarantee that lower taxes will lead to lower gas prices. Just the opposite might happen if the tax holiday spurs more demand for gas at a time when supply is already constricted.
The gas tax is fixed at 18.4 cents/gallon. We can cut this 18.4 cents and the next week the price could rise 18.4 cents and we’d be back in the same place and then we’d be short 10 billion to fix roads. I mean gas has risen over 30 cents in the last couple of weeks
We’d all like to see cheaper gas, but a gas tax holiday doesn’t solve the fundamental problems we have and is just a political ploy. The gas tax pays to repair our crumbling infrastructure and actually employees people in the road construction industry.