Gourmet Sunday

Comfort is a Western phenomenon, I think. There's no culture in history that has been so complacent with what they have or who they are as us.* Sometimes it takes jumping out of that comfort zone to appreciate how amazing that lazy boy actually is. Every so often over the last few years I've made the ridiculous decision to pack up and leave everything that is incredible around me: friends, family, city, bed, two-ply, whatever. I've had some amazing experiences on these adventures: Whether it is being blockaded by elderly Japanese women while jogging through residential streets in Nagoya or trying to prevent a screaming former Third World child soldier who saw his twin sibling gunned down in battle from ruining my lesson on King Henry VIII's legacy, each is a reminder of all the small and amazing things I take for granted on a daily basis.

Gourmet Sunday is sort of the same thing. It's not about preparing an amazing meal to show off to your friends how many episodes of Hell's Kitchen you've watched. It's about stepping out of your comfort zone. It's about taking risks and trying things you've never done before. Tonight's meal was no different. It didn't result in the best meal we've prepared for Gourmet Sunday, but it involved cooking dishes we had never cooked, or even tasted, before.

Hosts: Spark and Rob
Guests: Lil' Freshie, Meghan, Amy
Menu: Fresh garden salad with avocado and and a zesty citrus dressing; Lentil and vegetable stew; Vegetarian Paella.
Wine: 2005 Solaz Shiraz Tempranillo; 2007 Rene Barbier Penedes (white); 2007 Marques de Riscal Rueda (white).

As stated, Spark and I stepped out of our comfort zones and attempted something completely different. It wasn't our best work, but it was still good. More importantly, however, is that the meal exemplified the true spirit of what Gourmet Sunday is all about: Reward isn't always in the result of a completed of a task, but, too, can be found in its process.

*Opinion not fact.

This Just In.

Sharks are for wusses.

Thanks Angelune for knocking the shark off the pedestal I placed it on. What will I write about now?

Real Life JAWS.

As the Great War raged on in Europe, citizens in the northeastern United States were treated to a particularly grueling summer in 1916. A lengthy heat wave and a polio epidemic resulted in a profitable period for those in the burial business. To escape the heat residents of Philadelphia and New York made daily trips to New Jersey resort towns, such as Long Branch, Ocean Grove, Atlantic City, and Asbury Park (what’s up Bruce?).

Between July 1-12, five swimmers encountered sharks; only one survived. The first attack happened just before dinner time as a young vacationer, 25, from Philadelphia was swimming with his dog. Charles Vansant was still conscious when he was pulled from the water by a lifeguard but the flesh on his left thigh had been ripped apart. He bled to death on the manager’s desk of the Engleside Hotel. Despite the attack, as well as reports by sea captains of large sharks swimming off the coast of New Jersey, beaches all along the Jersey Shore remained open. Over the next 11 days four other attacks occurred, including three in a creek near the town of Matawan.

The panic began after the second attack. Swimming areas were fenced in using high-strength steel mesh, shores were patrolled by gun boats, dynamite was detonated, and even $100 rewards were offered to anybody who captured and killed a shark. The panic spread all the way to the top, as President Wilson scheduled a meeting with his Cabinet to discuss the shark problem. In all, the events led to $250,000 lost tourism, and a 75% decline in bathing at some beaches.

It’s not known what type of shark was responsible for the attacks, or if there were several sharks. However, on July 14 a Harlem taxidermist and lion tamer (wtf?) caught a 7.5 foot great white shark. In it’s belly was 15 pounds of human remains. Following this capture, no more encounters were reported along the Jersey Shore during the summer of 1916. These events inspired Peter Benchley's 1974 novel, Jaws.

Gourmet Sunday

Given that Spark, Matt, and Steph were all out of town for a wedding this weekend, it was unclear that Gourmet Sunday was going to happen at all. Through a little last minute planning and perseverance, however, we pulled together another successful and delicious meal. Due to time restraints I decided that something simple would be best.

Hosts: Rob & Spark
Guests: Katie, Matt, Steph
Menu: Spring Rolls (the only time frozen goods ever shall be utilized on Gourmet Sunday, as it goes against everything Gourmet Sunday is about); Vegetable Stir-Fry with marinated grilled tofu and Thai Peanut Satay sauce.
Wine: 2006 Yellow Tail Shiraz

Given that none of us had ever made a peanut sauce before it went over pretty well. The sauce had several layers to it, including a burst of lemon citrus followed by a kick of cayenne pepper. Big shout out to me for staging the rice using a perfect breast shaped mold. Mmmm, delicious.

Gourmet... Pizza Party!

You know how 7 year olds love hot dogs or Kraft Dinner? That's like me, but with pizza. I've probably even lost friends to pizza over the years. I love all pizza, big time. Although it's only Wednesday, I think it's time for another installment of Gourmet Sunday, because let me tell you, I was getting loose in the kitchen tonight.

Host: Me
Guests: Spark
Menu: Pizza: Roasted garlic and basil pizza dough; Sauteed zuchini, sweet potato, and onion; Roasted red pepper; Mozzarella; Sprinkling of sesame seeds around the crust.
Drink: Bud

I don't want to toot my own horn, but toot toot. The pizza was delicious. Spark agrees and he watches a lot of cooking shows, so you should trust him.

Just having a look around the ol' World Wide Web and found some notable news that I am sure hasn't been given too much coverage on CNN. At least, I haven't seen anything about it on the CBC.

We've been hearing all about W.'s swift and effective response to Hurricane Ike in the Lonestar state. Whether this is a response to lessons learned after Katrina, or because it's an election year, or, perhaps, because it's his hometown, is up for debate. However, I am pretty sure that when he stated "there will be a better tomorrow," he wasn't talking to the people of Cuba.

Within a span of two weeks Cuba was hit by both Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Combined they did more damage than any other natural disaster faced by the island in history. $5 billion dollars damage: 63,249 homes completely destroyed, with another 150,000 severely damaged; Crops destroyed, including 340,000 hectares of sugar cane (half the annual crop); not to even mention essential services such as electricity.

Interestingly, a $5 million donation from the U.S. to help hurricane victims was refused on account the Cuban government would not accept relief while still under the 1963 trade embargo. I get it, but I bet Marcos 'the rural farmer' could give a shit about a 49 year old revolution when he's just lost his entire yield to flooding.

What Should You Know...

You should know that "What Should You Know" is the best thing on the internet.

http://www.5min.com/opensermo

Sharks Do It Better.

Sharks like it rough. Scientists have observed bite marks on female sharks that were evidently inflicted during both courting and mating rituals. Some female species have even developed thicker skin to protect themselves in the bedroom. The thing is, though sharks enjoy such liberties of the flesh, they take years to reach sexual maturity (12 years for some species) and produce a small number of offspring.

As a result, they are particularly vulnerable to over-fishing. 11, 416 sharks are killed every hour: a pace that far exceeds any species ability to reproduce. Obviously shark populations around the world are in trouble, but of particular note is that of the Mediterranean. Due to contrasting and/or conflicting laws and over-fishing the International Union for Conservation of Nature recently published a report stating that 40 percent of shark and ray species in the Mediterranean were threatened with extinction.

We can’t expect humans to do anything to resolve this looming disaster, as we have never resolved anything. However, all is not doom and gloom. In 2001, a female hammerhead, who had not had contact with a male shark for over three years, gave birth to a pup. Following three years of intensive research, and after determining the shark born lacked any paternal DNA, it was confirmed that at least some species of sharks are capable of asexual reproduction. It is not known, however, how often this behaviour occurs in nature.

Now if only female humans could perform magic like that on the regular (Mary did it once, right?), males would be given their pink slips, and our species might have a fighting chance at surviving the century.

Gourmet Sunday

Gourmet Sunday is a new weekly feature here at Systems Overloaded. It will cover, well, mostly good food and wine.

Hosts: Spark & Rob
Guests: Amy & Ben
Menu: Bruschetta; Angel Hair pasta with portebello, garlic and olive oil; Steamed Broccoli with a splash of lemon; Eggplant Parmesan.
Wine: Texts weren't received before the LCBO closed and therefore we were stuck with Sparkling Peach and Grape juice (which was quite delicious).

With Rennick out of town for the weekend, we took advantage of not having to prepare a vegan main. Big shout out to Spark who did the Eggplant Parmesan. It was fantastic and I can't wait for the leftovers. Oh, and coming soon is dinner at an actual kitchen table. Get stoked.

Me and My Buddy Sean.

Sean hates my blog because it doesn't have pictures of all our friends (read: him). He says he's going to start his own blog. He probably won't. But if he does, it'll be absolutely outrageous and the best thing on the internet. Probably not much shark content though. Oh yeah, he's getting married soon.

Update: Hilarious.

The Greatest Shark Attack Of All Time

The U.S.S. Indianapolis is notable for a few reasons. In the Second World War it transported key parts for the first atomic bomb- later dropped on Hiroshima August 6, 1945. The ship was attacked at 12:14 am July 30 by a Japanese submarine and became not only one of the last U.S. navy ships to be sunk during the war, but also the single worst loss of life at sea in the navy’s history. All pretty cool, right, but not really my focus here. My focus, rather, is on the 900 men who were left floating in the Philippine Sea for four days, without life rafts or food.

Twelve minutes after being hit by two Japanese torpedoes the surviving crew members of the Indy, who had been instructed to abandon ship, watched as the final visible parts of their ship succumbed to the ocean’s floor. They were alone… except for the SHARKS!

It wasn’t until late afternoon the following day the sharks arrived and the screams started. The disturbance caused by the torpedo hits and the sinking of the ship; the splashing around of 900 navy men fighting for food and life jackets; and the smell of blood and burnt flesh all must have forced the sharks’ sensory systems into overload. Oceanic Whitetip Sharks live in warm open water and are known to be aggressive and opportunistic and will often converge on one source of food. However, it is not the sharks’ bloodlust that leads to the eventual feeding frenzy, but its competitive and goal-oriented nature. The Whitetip would rather compete for and exploit a single source of food than seek an easier meal elsewhere.

Thus, for the next three days between 120 and 150 sharks competed over the remnants of the Indy’s crew. Usually arriving in the late afternoon the sharks targeted the already dead. Limb, torsos, and chunks of flesh were scattered, if not missing altogether. Fear and desparation set in as the sailors struggled to survive. On occasion the sharks encountered a living loan sailor, who may have been pushed from the group due to a bleeding wound that was believed to attract sharks.

Most of those who died succumbed to a combination of exposure, dehydration, and drowning. Although, it is estimated that between 60 and 80 sailors were killed by sharks, of the 1,196 original crew members of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, 321 were rescued and 317 ultimately survived.

Chlorophyll... More like borophyll

Sharks hunt and eat other fish so why can’t we hunt and eat them? Apart from providing our children with summer beach holidays that are safe (read: free from shark attacks) and memorable, and our CEOs with fantastic photos from their eco-holidays to the Galapagos Islands to share with office workers over the inter-office email, those who hunt sharks are saving millions more fish who have the otherwise regrettable destiny of living below sharks on the food chain. It’s like the first line of troops in battle: Is it so wrong to knowingly sacrifice the few for the greater benefit of all?

If we weren’t killing sharks at the rate we currently are, there would be so many more beautiful fish in the sea that we could catch ourselves and put on delicious sandwiches, or display in dentist office fish tanks the world over. Not to mention, with so many more fish in the sea you wouldn’t have to worry about all that gross slimy seaweed waiting to entangle your feet and eventually drown you. Oh, and those yucky green particles floating around that make your swimming experience a little less enjoyable? That’s called phytoplankton and you can kiss it goodbye with more feeder fish in the sea to gobble it up.

One thing though: Seventy percent of earth’s oxygen comes from the oceans and is produced by plants, such as phytoplankton, when they convert carbon dioxide into actual breathable air through photosynthesis. Without sharks to keep the feeder fish population in check, it could grow out of control, putting at risk the ability of our oceans to provide us with the oxygen we need live.


*The above diagram should explain the process of photosynthesis for the visual learners.

"You wouldn't walk into a pride of lions..."

Over 400 known species of sharks exist in our planet’s waters. Based on their size and disposition only about two-dozen of these species are considered to be potentially dangerous to humans. Despite the obvious threat sharks pose, they rarely attack humans, and almost never kill them. There are, on average, less than 100 reported shark attacks each year around the world; of which only 10 fatal.* The term ‘shark attack,’ however, is somewhat controversial, and often debated.

On one side, it's speculated that sharks do not purposefully attack humans. In cases when a human does encounter a shark, it is suggested the victim may have been mistaken for food (such as when surfers are thought to be mistaken for seals), or the shark may have been confused, like in shallow and murky waters. These encounters are usually explorative; because sharks do not have limbs to feel with, they rely on their mouths to explore potential feeding opportunities. Victims rarely die in these cases, and when they do, it’s more often from blood loss than it is from a fatal bite.

And of course, those on the other side of the debate suggest that sharks aren’t prejudice when it comes to what they eat and will rip lil’ Janie’s face off if given the opportunity. This is the opinion that often makes it into news reports that cover shark accidents and has created the culture of fear that surrounds them. Now I’m not about to contest this theory by jumping into a school of feeding great whites, but the realty is more people die trying to liberate stuck Snickers bars from vending machines than from shark attacks. What is the real threat then? My answer is chocolate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLZVB3zG15k


*By comparison there are about 100 million human-related shark fatalities annually.

"Would you like to donate just $2 to...?"

Master blogger and all around good dude, Matt (Living for the City), recently blogged about the irony of Dominion's current charity campaign for Trees Ontario. You make a two dollar donation to save trees and in return you're asked to put your name on a beautiful paper cut-out of a tree to be hung on the wall to exhibit what a great caring environmentalist you are. The irony, of course, as Matt points out, is that you're supposed to be saving trees not wasting them on silly self-glorifying trophies of good citizenship.

The problem I've always had with these grocery store/walmart charity campaigns, however, isn't as practical. Rather, it's the idea of a charitable donation made through a giant multinational corporation. You know somewhere along the lines a finance officer and marketing director met in a boardroom (i.e. putting green) and said 'let's raise hundreds of thousands- maybe millions- of dollars from our customers and then make a huge charitable donation in our company's name and get a sweet tax break because of it.' I'm not sure if this is actually what happens, but it seems logical enough, and if it is the case I'd rather keep my two bucks.

Of course, I recognize that regardless of any benefits being reaped by the proxy donor, a large sum of money is being donated to a worthwhile cause. This may be true, but I question how much of each two dollar donation actually makes its way into the account of the recipient after the green fees for the duck heads in marketing and PR are paid for, the promotional devices are printed, and the executive's eco-adventure to Costa Rica is covered.

Re-moving. Seeking Roommate.

I've pretty much come to terms that I may never be able to afford to buy a house in Toronto. At an average price of $400,000 (GTA, 2007), an unemployed teacher has no business even fantasizing about such an endeavour; huge bummer because it's definitely one of the greatest cities in the world.

It's come to my attention, via the BBC, however, that some housing markets around the world aren't as demoralizing as our own. In an attempt to rejuvenate this historic town Vittorio Sgarbi, former self-proclaimed anarchist and current mayor of Salemi, in South-Western Siciliy, has recently put 3,700 council-owned homes on the market for 1 Euro each. Salemi was hit by an earthquake in 1968 which damaged most of the town and caused many of its inhabitants to pack up in search of greener pastures.

Today, for the approximate cost of an international stamp ($1.60) you can be the proud new owner of your very own earthquake-damaged, uninhabitable, Old World casa. As if that's not enough, you might be able to get the inside scoop on Phil Collins' Battle of the Alamo memorabillia collection over a glass of vino with your new neighbour Peter Gabriel. See, dreams do come true.

Shark Attack. Sike!

Hey, did you know sharks have existed on this planet for approximately 400 million years- long before dinosaurs? In this time they have survived 4 mass extinctions that wiped out nearly everything on the planet; and in just the past 50 years humans have managed to deplete the world's shark population by nearly 90 percent. Pretty amazing. At the current fishing rate, about 90 million sharks per year, my kids will be able to swim in our polluted oceans without the fear of being snagged by one of those dickheads. I'd just like to take a minute and thank the real heroes, who put themselves at risk by overtly turning their backs on international fishing laws in order to keep our waters shark free.