Made in America

Remember when you were a kid and you could still actually find stuff that was made in America? When was the last time you saw something with a made in America label? I know I can 't remember. It used to be only cheap stuff was made in China and it was considered inferior. We didn't have Wal-Mart when I was a kid. We had K-Mart. Sure we shopped there, but never for anything substantial. K-Mart was associated with cheap products. Often made in China. Or Taiwan. All of my Barbies, which we bought at K-Mart, had Taiwan stamped on them. Foreign made products made my WWII vet dad angry and he avoided them when he could. The implication was always that products made in China were cheaper and, therefore, inferior. For the past ten to fifteen years I've noticed more and more things have the made in China label. I've purchased gifts, say photo frames with little tags saying made in China. I always removed the tag so the recipient wouldn't think I was cheap. It has recently occurred to me that it is no longer only cheap things which are made in China. I bought a decidedly not cheap dining set last year. The brand name was American Drew. Imagine my surprise when the table and chairs were delivered and I discovered little tags saying made in China. You would think that if the company name is American Drew, their products would be made in fucking America Yesterday, I was washing dishes and noticed for the first time that underneath the Crate & Barrel logo on the back of my plates it says, you guessed it, made in China. Again, these plates were not cheap. I did not buy them at Wal-Mart. I bought them at Crate & Barrel. Fucking Crate & Barrel. I suppose I really shouldn't be disparaging China in this way and I sound a bit like Archie Bunker here, but it would be a lot easier if there weren't a story every other month about some new poisonous product coming out of China. First the dog food, then the toothpaste, the children's toys. Now of course they have the tainted milk. Products made with the tainted milk have, in fact, made it to the USA. Mostly to small Asian markets, but still, is anyone paying any attention? Shouldn't one poison scare be enough? And what's up with the Chinese?
They executed the former head of their FDA last year http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/09/AR2007070900689_pf.html. Now you would think that would be enough to put everyone on the straight and narrow and yet, here they are with tainted milk.

But China really isn't the problem. The problem is American companies who are so obsessed with profit margin that they refuse to make things in America anymore. Manufacturing jobs are going the way of the Dodo bird. And with these manufacturing jobs goes our middle class--the very people companies count on to purchase the products they have made in China, Bangladesh, Mexico, etc. Without a middle class, there just isn't going to be a market for consumer goods, no matter how cheaply Wal-Mart can sell them.
Look, I don't know what the answer is here, clearly we are living in a global economy (one that is in serious trouble right now), but the collapse of the middle-class in America seems almost apocalyptic in nature and I think it is about time American businesses thought about the big picture for a change instead of just this quarter's bottom line.

Penny Pinching

Since my financial situation is not as sound as it once was I've been looking for ways to cut expenses. One obvious choice is the morning coffee I generally pick up on the way to work. Now, I could save a ton of money by drinking the toxic sludge that passes for coffee at the office, but that seems a bit severe. Despite the fact that the office buys premium brand coffees something about the brewing method or equipment always results in something highly offensive. Since life is just too short to put up with something so foul, I decided to purchase a French Press coffee maker and brew my own. I have to say it is quite amazing. I've had French Press coffee in restaurants, but I've never made it at home before. It makes a really rich, delicious cup of coffee. Far superior to my old drip coffee maker. I feel great since I'll be able to save money while at the same time enjoying a really good cup of coffee on my way to work. This is key since the luxury of a cup of coffee on the way is one of the ways I bribe myself to actually get out of bed and into the shower every morning rather than just calling in sick and going back to sleep (which is always my first choice). Coffee and using the office outlet to charge my laptop are the main reasons I go. Technically this is probably stealing, but since they are sucking the life out of me little by little, I feel it's only fair I suck up a little free electricity. Plus, I'm saving literally pennies a month on my electric bill. I'll be a millionaire in no time!

NFL In Los Angeles

So some of you may have noticed that LA doesn't have an NFL team. Yes, we're one of the largest markets in the country and yet we have no team. Sure, LA fans have been known to be apathetic. Yes, they often leave at the start of the 4th quarter to get a jump on traffic. And it is also true that with so many transplants, the majority of Angelenos are following a team from some other part of the country anyway. So, while many of of us don't actually care that much about LA not having a team, the thing that does bother me is why we can't get better games on TV. Today, for instance, there's one morning game and what do we get? Oakland at Buffalo! Are you fucking kidding me? Who wants to see this crap? I realize the Raider Nation is alive and well in LA, but seriously even they can't think this is going to be a good game! And I do know a couple of Bills fans (apologies to DM and BA) who I'm sure are happy to see their team, but come on! If there were two morning games so we at least had a choice, it wouldn't be a big deal. With no team of our own, we should be able to get the best games every week. And I will admit there aren't a lot of great morning games today, but it seems they are always trying to cram either the Raiders or the Chargers down our throats. I would write a strongly worded letter to Time Warner, but I'm sure it wouldn't do any good. I begged them to let me have NFL Network to no avail. I guess the best solution is for me to switch to DirecTV so I can get NFL Sunday Ticket and see whichever game I want... because life is just too short to spend your Sundays watching crap games (unless of course your team happens to be playing in the crap game...but that's another post!)

Missing Mick!

Finally! I've survived another week and am now safely ensconced on my lovely sofa with with a Sam Adams in one hand and the TiVo remote in the other ready to catch up on the past week's TV offerings! I realize it verges on (okay is) pathetic that this is the highlight of my week, but since I have so little time for myself these days I relish my Friday night ritual. Sure a life would be nice, but my sofa is very comfy! Of course my Friday nights were a helluva lot better this time last year when I could watch the adorable Alex O'Loughlin on Moonlight. Ever since the fall season started, I've been missing my vampire fix so tonight, in addition to catching up with Mad Men and Sarah Connor Chronicles, I'm watching one of the old episodes. I really wish CBS would have given the show a fair shot. It will be interesting to see what they come up with for Alex next year since they were actually smart enough to keep him around. I'm sure he'll be great in whatever it is. And I'll be watching from my lovely sofa.

More Musings on Money and Happiness

Remember that old saying that money can't buy happiness? Total and complete crap. Money can, in fact, buy happiness. I once pointed out on this very blog that money couldn't buy happiness, but it could buy a Marc Jacobs bag. I'm only just realizing that the ability to buy a Marc Jacobs bag was, for me at least, happiness! With the economy in the toilet, the cost of everything going up, up, up and my monthly expenses doubling because my roommate bailed, I have very little discretionary income left. In other words, my fun money is gone, and with it, my fun! Now I know there are many things one can do for low or no cost. Yes, I am a fan of sunsets, museums and all the other lovely things which can be enjoyed without a platinum card. But the truth is, I'm a much bigger fan of collecting wine, fine dining and travel. Plus for me, the real kicker is I don't like my job. The one big upside has always been the fact that I was fairly comfortable financially. The job sucked, but it afforded me the ability to pursue my expensive interests. Since that is no longer the case, it is even more difficult to drag my sorry ass into the office every morning. I realize that the financial melt down means a lot of people have much more serious problems than I do--they've lost jobs, homes, etc., but the reality is that I have giant student loan debts of my own, my savings has gone bye-bye and I'm really not feeling all that secure either. Looks like the party's over on Wall Street as it has been for the rest of us for a while. Sad to say, I think it is going to be one helluva hangover. And now that I no longer have the rationalization that the unhappiness of the job is balanced by the happiness of the things it buys, I have to ask myself what the fuck am I really doing here?

Osteria Mozza!

Just returned from my third visit to Osteria Mozza and all I can really say is WOW! I absolutely adore this place. (I happen to adore the pizzeria next door too, but that's another post!) It is difficult not to over order at Osteria Mozza because there are so many enticing dishes on the menu. This time we selected the grilled figs wrapped in pancetta with dandelion greens and the grilled octopus as appetizers. The figs were wonderful (how can anything wrapped in pancetta be bad?), but the octopus was outstanding. It had a serious char which gave it great flavor and the celery greens and lemon vinaigrette were the perfect foil. It was one of the stand-out dishes of the night. Next, we selected three items from the mozzarella bar. Nancy Silverton is a genius. Just thinking about her wonderful creations makes my mouth water. We had the scamorza panino featuring mole salame from Mario's dad's place. I've mail ordered this stuff before. It's that good. Here it is the star of a wonderful little pressed sandwich set off with pickled cherry peppers--scrumptious! We also had the ricotta and grilled radicchio with fried rosemary, honey and candied walnuts. This was the least impressive dish. The honey and rosemary worked beautifully together. The radicchio, which I'm sure was meant to offset the sweetness of the dish, didn't really work. Our third mozzarella bar selection was the bufala mozzarella, culatello and pickled shallots on pane pomodoro--this was so crazy good, I don't have words to express it. I have actually dreamed about this dish and hope it is on the menu next time I go!

Rather than have a pasta and an entree, I decided to have two dishes from the primi section. I started with the incredibly decadent raviolo with ricotta and egg yolk in browned butter with sage. For those of you who haven't had this dish, the magic comes when you break into the raviolo allowing the soft cooked egg yolk to pour out and meld with the browned butter making a luscious, velvety sauce. It is sublime. For my final course I chose the gnocchi with wild boar ragu. The sauce was rich and hearty and paired really well with the Brunello di Montalcino I brought. The gnocchi were ethereal--wonderful little pillows, melting in my mouth. It was truly a revelation. Unfortunately, after the second pasta course we had eaten too much to even think of getting a dessert. Once again, the meal was incredible. I look forward to returning to Osteria Mozza soon because life is too short not to enjoy incredible meals with good friends on a regular basis!

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

Wow! What a tremendous weekend for me! X-Games (not to mention the X-Files movie!! Go see it!!) and the Hall of Fame Game! Woooo Hoooo! I'm so excited to have NFL football back! Plus, the X-Games were phenomenal as always. All I can is Danny Way is truly amazing. I don't think Hollywood could have written a better script. When he said "I'm taking all the runs" I got chills. What a performance by Danny, Jake Brown, and Bob Burnquist. I'm just in awe of these guys. They embody all that I love about sport.