Author: David Wright

The idea of a comfort zone is a powerful one. Carl Froch offers some fascinating commentary in the video in this link:

I could do 15 or 20 rounds in the gym at my own pace against guys lighter than me or not skillful enough to match me technically. But I was sparring with a guy who was a Cruiserweight/Light Heavyweight and after 5 or 6 rounds I was feeling the pace, thinking “what’s going on?”

We’re also told that Wladimir Klitschko’s trainer has been concerned with the pace of training and WK pulled rank, basically saying “it’s my gym, I’m the star, I dictate the pace.”

Doesn’t bode well, does it!

Here is the Washington Post with a depressing article, summed up thusly:

The Republican-led House voted to slash domestic and international food aid Thursday while rejecting cuts to farm subsidies.

Shove this one firmly into the “fuel for leftist fire” file. Stop helping low status people! Keep helping (GASP!) Agribusiness!

Maybe that’s the right analytical conclusion. I doubt it.

The great power of ideology is that it lets you infer motivation from outcomes. The great weakness of ideology is that it’s wrong.

It’s wrong because its input isn’t real information (is it even possible to understand who all the losers and winners are in this bill, much less why?) And it’s wrong because nobody actually makes decisions based on ideology.

That’s a reason why voters find politics so frustrating. Why won’t candidates genuinely bind themselves to actions during the election process when ideological posturing is at its peak?

Well, because decisions driven by ideology are usually nonsense. Real decisions are made with far more information than the public could possibly process during a campaign.

So here we have a narrative developing that is cloaked in a powerful ideology. And it’s no accident, either. The press knows that’s the only way they could hope to interest readers in all this byzantine garbage. And again, maybe it’s what is really happening. I don’t know.

What I do know is that I refuse to get worked up about something I don’t understand and I refuse to spend the time trying to understand what is really going on.

So I’m gearing up for a trip to Buffalo to meet the old man for father’s day. How am I getting there?

I’m spending 9 hours on a bus. Each way.

My wife and coworkers think I’ve lost my mind. But I have a few projects on the go that could, in ideal circumstances, easily wipe out 18 hours of my life. Actually, the chance to bash away at them for this kind of stretch has me excited.

There’s allegedly wifi on this bus (accused on the interwebs of being inconsistent and slow) and, more importantly, plugs, so I’m bringing my laptop to code.

I’m expecting the web not to work, so I’m using this post to warm up the wordpress email interface (on my bb right now) so as to keep the post-a-day streak alive.

I have fond memories of long train journeys in my college days, so hopefully the assuredly less comfortable bus is at least tolerable.

No, my dad isn’t getting any other gifts.

From Mark Suster:

Best quote in a long time “If you can’t code and you can’t sell – get the fuck out!” – @arijacoby of @solvemedia

[Watching the hockey game…]

I like to cook. I enjoyed this.

It’s true that the easiest way to make your food taste better is to add fat and salt to it. I’ve done it and been impressed with the results.

But I think there are a few more complex things that I feel like I’ve learned that seem to work.

1. Cook it longer and undercook it.

A paradox! Sorta, but it’s important to present these things together. Cooking does something amazing to strong flavours; it blunts them, softens them, makes them harder to pick out but ‘complex’ to the palette. But don’t overcook. Overcooking destroys texture, which is a seriously underappreciated quality to food for us amateurs. Solve the contradiction by finding foods that can take a beating from the heat.

2. Rest food after it’s done.

I noticed that the stuff I cooked tasted better at seconds. Something happens when food sits for 5 minutes.

3. Don’t use water.

There are lots of alternatives, believe it or not. For instance, never throw away the ‘juice’ from canned food. Cook the rice in it! Canned tomatoes are best for this. Use wine, use beer. Seriously!

4. Oh, yeah, and never cook with fresh tomatoes.

They’re tasteless garbage. Michael Smith taught me (from his show) that canned whole tomatoes are cooked (once) right after being picked, while chopped tomatoes are cooked twice. ‘Fresh’ tomatoes are NOT fresh, but ripened en route. Ugh.

5. Cook with Canola Oil. Only.

I read something recently about how all oils all taste the same after they’ve been heated. This means your super-expensive olive oil tastes just like cheapo canola when coating your frying onions. Don’t throw away the nice olive oil, though, just put it on later with minimal heat.

6. Except. Butter does taste different.

And better. Cook with butter when you can.