Review of Bottomfeeder, by Taras Grescoe

Bottomfeeder by Taras Grescoe

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


It reminded me that the slowest fish of all - even when it happens to be very swift indeed - is always the one you catch yourself. Grescoe

Taras Grescoe makes a lot of really good statements in this collection of essays, organized around the depleting of protein, (fish), in the collected oceans and seas of our common environment.  The impression he makes is that each of us is responsible for addressing the topic as a verifiable and accountable issue, one that is only capable of being remedied with active and persistent questioning. 
In seeking new forms of protein, he ascertains the methods that have been used have not only overfished and depleted resources that were seemingly inexhaustible, new methods developed to compete with a greater demand have caused more damage to the environment, yielding more bycatch and greater quantities of smaller and smaller fish.
These ideas are echoes of other writers and other essayists, political campaigns and a variety of non-profit organizations who seek to further various initiatives and ecological awareness issues - where Grescoe separates his writing is the first hand accountability he implores the reader to take, using his own experience as a suitable example. 



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Oatmeal Cranberry Bread

I threw together some disparaging elements in my kitchen today - a little ground oatmeal, some Almond meal, honey, Organic Wheat Flour, Organic Bread Flour, Kosher salt, dried cranberries and voila.  Bread, good enough to eat.

Friday Bicycle ride, with Strava

The ninety degree temperatures finally let up a little, and the front tire on my 2005 Specialized Allez Sport held 105 PSI long enough to get out and ride.  Naturally, the tire let out a very long, tired, sigh this morning, and the work continues...

working (playlist)

I put this collection of you tube videos together over the past few years, some of them have been deleted or removed by certain parties.  It is an unflinchingly sarcastic view of employment, likely sufficient to keep me unemployed for another few years.  I hope the link works, so you can watch it while you're being paid to sit at a desk.

Nice Ride 145

This past week-end, I joined a friend for a tour of the Minneapolis and St. Paul area, performed entirely on Nice Ride bicycles, traveling from one rental station to the next.  The total mileage of the planned route, starting in Northern Minneapolis and ending in West St. Paul, was a little over eighty miles.  Including the mileage for me to bicycle to the start, I may have been close to a century on the day.  I have already posted a lot about it on Twitter, Facebook and Flickr, so I'll avoid any more sensationalism and just add this, a short note I made to myself after completing the day -

- low point

I got turned around on Washington avenue and tried crossing, but got stuck between the median island and a quarter ton red Chevy pick-up truck...

I was going into traffic. 
The truck passed on my left.

I pulled the bike against the median, put one foot on the curb and watched the group, now a block ahead of me, change their bicycles and disappear around a corner.  Getting stranded or lost in downtown Minneapolis was not the plan.  Neither was slaloming traffic.  

- high point

At the Wilder Foundation, my bike got locked into the kiosk before realizing the station was not allowing rentals.  Close enough to home to call it quits and walk away, far enough in to a hundred miles on a three speed 50 pound commuter bike to feel thwarted.  With some deliberation, I ran a brisk mile and a half to the next station, got another bike and kept going.  

Penn and Lowry Nice Ride station, 6-30-2012.  Photo by Michael McKinney.

Near 501 Franklin, Minneapolis.  6-30-2012. 

At the Walker Art Center, crossing Lyndale.  6-30-2012.  Photo by Michael McKinney.

One of many downtown Nice Ride stations.  6-30-2012.  Photo by Michael McKinney.

Joe, Ed and Nathan on Fairview after stop #108.  6-30-2012.  Photo by Michael McKinney.

Footnote - it has been a long, long, long time since I have slept so very, very well.

That pretty much sums it up for me. 

Quammen and Monsters of God

Monster of God: The Man-Eating Predator in the Jungles of History and the Mind by David Quammen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Alternate title: Facehuggers, Chestbursters and Ceausescu.



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Photo Safari, part one

5/16/2012 Ford Dam Overlook, Saint Paul, MN Photo by Michael McKinney

5/16/2012 Hidden Falls, Saint Paul, MN Photo by Michael McKinney

5/16/2012 Lake Harriet, Minneapolis, MN Photo by Michael McKinney

5/16/2012 Cottonwood near Cedar Lake, Minneapolis, MN Photo by Michael McKinney

5/16/2012 Mill City Museum, Minneapolis, MN Photo by Michael McKinney

5/16/2012 Mississippi River, Minneapolis, MN Photo by Michael McKinney

5/16/2012 University Avenue, Minneapolis, MN Photo by Michael McKinney

Find more Bike Ride in St Paul, MN


Last week I rode my Commuter bicycle around Saint Paul and Minneapolis, took some photographs and mapped the ride on mapmyride.  I posted the photos on Flickr, but thought I would add a more thorough presentation here.  After continuing to have problems with my rear wheel, a professional mechanic diagnosed a problem owing to my frame being bent - the quick release skewer was not clamping to the frame of the bicycle itself, but only clamping to the axle of the wheel.  After a short repair, the wheel has held in place with greater efficacy.  Money well spent.  The persistent wind, eighty and ninety degree days have given way after a thunderstorm complete with heavy rain and hail.