Cheaper than Therapy

the best album of the past decade came out this week in 1998.

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill won a multitude of Grammys, sold millions of records and established Lauryn Hill as one of the premiere artists of all time and then she never released another studio album. I still long to hear what the last 10 years would have been like if she had chosen to continue as a recording artist.

At least she leaves us with this masterpiece, #3 on my list of Favorite/ Best Albums of My Era (after the Bends and The Joshua Tree). Rolling Stone gives us an oral history of this perfect album in its latest issue. Read here.

My wife is freaking out over the band Ra Ra Riot, especially the single Ghost Under Rocks. It really is great. It is in that tiny piece of real estate between Vampire Weekend and Arcade Fire, simultaneously fun and melancholy.

Here is their song Dying is Fine (via youtube)

I have all these things I have been wanting to blog about lately that I have not. With the kids starting school (and out due to a tropical storm that never threatened) and my last week of freedom for a while, I have been trying to get things in order.

On Monday I start doing something I may tell you about later, but not until I get a feel for it. Also, I have been staying away from controversial subjects like church, theology and politics (esp. politics) due to some job searching. The last thing I want someone to think is that I have an opinion or political bent.

Of course, from a pure hose racing point-of-view, it has been fun to watch this thing so far. I may have something to say soon.

However, I will tell you about one thing kind of political. A friend of mine invited me to a screening of the film I.O.U.S.A. and town hall simulcast on Thursday. The film has been described as a financial Inconvenient Truth, showing the absolute meltdown this nation is headed towards because of our out-of-control spending (war, health care, social security, etc.), lack of revenue (tax cuts), trade deficit and the amount of debt owned by other countries.

While the film is a bit dry much of the time, the crisis cannot be overstated. As the makers said, the facts are not left or right, Democrat or Republican. The solutions can be bipartisan or fought about. But, we no longer sit around and let Washington do nothing but mortgage the future of our nation and our kids. Of course, the main crises is a deficit in political leadership. We have seen that lately and may in the next administration.

The hope of the filmmakers is to get people to talk about this issue and expect their politicians to actually talk about this and do something statesman-like instead of worrying about the next election only. One speaker said the potential is worse than any crises we could face short of a terrorist with a nuclear bomb.

anyway, here is the site and a review. Also, here is the trailer.

so far this year has been a bit of a disappointment for new music. Don't get me wrong; there is some good stuff out there. However, unlike last year nothing thus far has been transcendent.

Good news though. Some of the best bands out there are releasing new music in the coming month(s). Of course, we all know that U2 is bringing the noise, but 3 of my favorites have released the first song off an upcoming album, and each is great (leaps forward in couple of cases).

Each year they release a new album, it makes my Top 10. This year should be no different based upon this song from Okkervil River's upcoming The Stand Ins, coming Sept. 9. Listen to Lost Coastlines.

TV on the Radio's Dear Science, (sept. 23) sounds like it should take them to the next level. Listen to the Golden Age.

In 2006, The Cold War Kids released the second best album of the year (in my humble opinion), melding the storytelling of Flannery O'Conner, the soulfulness of 70s Soul and the rhythm of The White Stripes. Their latest (Loyalty to Loyalty) drops on Sept 22 and judging from the first single, Something is not Right With Me it gets bluesier and rawer. Listen at either site.

Also upcoming Jenny Lewis and Kings of Leon (I am a southern boy).

then someone can tell me how to embed these songs on my blog.

This is my final Michael Pollan post. He has told us what to eat and at the end of In Defense of Food, Pollan gives some guidelines on How to Eat (not too much). Some of these hit home for my family, more than "what" to eat.

• Pay More, Eat Less- I know, in a recession we are already following this principle. But, according to Pollan, this is about quality vs. quantity. We are a Sam's Club economy believing more and bigger is better. But, just maybe... better is better. Shrink the portions and eat better quality food. Overeating is killing us because we have no internal cues to stop us from eating. We eat until the food is gone, not until we are "no longer hungry" and then wonder why we are fat. Pollan is at his best during this section (183).
• Eat Meals- Sit at a table, with others (if possible), not in front of a TV or in a car. Slow down. Not only should we sit to eat (together). We should eat something prepared, not taken from a freezer and warmed by microwave, each person in the family eating their favorite prepared food-like substance (189).
• Do all your eating at a table- not a desk (192).
• Don't get your fuel from the same place your car does- I love this one. Gas stations make more money from snack foods than selling gas. As Pollan says, they sell the car and us the same processed corn- ethanol for the auto and high-fructose corn syrup for us (192).
• Try not to eat alone- this can be difficult, but the shared meal keeps us from eating as much and makes us human (not just animal). it is part of the difference between feeding (bad) and eating (good)(192).
• Consult your gut- Our gut should tell us what to eat and how much, not the portion size on the plate, the television show or our eyes. Follow the 3/4 full principle. When you are 3/4 full...Stop eating (192).
• Eat Slowly- be deliberate. Enjoy your food. Be mindful. Don't gorge yourself (194).
• Cook and, if you can, plant a garden- We live in the city on a small lot and have a garden. If you have a piece of land, a porch, a ledge, or a balcony- you can have a garden. Food should not be fast, cheap and easy. It connects us to nature, others and our own bodies. Take the time to cook a meal, especially if you have planted something. In today's world, it is an active state of rebellion and resistance- and its saves money (197).

There it is. I think these principles are for everyone, especially those that call themselves Christians. I think the church should be talking about it.

Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants.

and ENJOY.

In In Defense of Food, when Michael Pollan tells us what to eat, he writes "mostly plants." Luckily, he defines it;

• Eat Mostly Plants, especially leaves- This one hurts meat and potato Americans, like me. His book explains why, but simply put- this is where the nutrients are. According to Pollan, we must eat plants, but don't need meat (with the exception of Vitamin B12)- but there is no health reason to dismiss it, just lower it. He calls himself a flexitarian- mostly plants, with a little meat (162 ).
• You are what you eat eats too "The diet of the animals we eat has a bearing on the nutritional quality, and healthfulness, of the food itself, whether it is meat or milk or eggs." Too many of our animals are fed nasty stuff that ends up in us. This costs more money, but not much, if we eat less meat (167).
• If you have space, buy a freezer- When you find good pastured meat, buy lots and freeze. Also freezing does not significantly hurt the nutrients of produce (168).
• Eat Like an Omnivore- try new species of plants and animals. Biodiversity is good for our bodies and it is very good for the land and what it produces (169).
• Eat Well-grown food from healthy soils- this is pretty obvious. It does not always mean "eat organic" but it does much of the time. There is lots of processed organic food out there (look in my pantry- sadly) and there are many small farmers that produce good food that are not "organic" for a number of reasons (169).
• Eat Wild foods when you can- wilder foods that have not been terribly influenced by people tend to help our bodies. Of course, be careful, because we don't want to hurt endangered species of plants or animals (171).
• Be the kind of person who takes supplements- people that take supplements tend to be healthier, not because of the supplements (except a multi-vitamin), but because they pay attention to their bodies and are more health conscious (172).
• Eat more like the French, or the Italians, or the Japanese, or the Indians, or the Greeks- people that eat traditional diets are usually healthier. This is very complex and I will let you read what Pollan says for yourself (173).
• Regard nontraditional foods with skepticism- Soy is such an example. Unless prepared in the traditional Asian method, it has many shortfalls. Novelties usually don't improve health and taste (176).
• Don't Look for a Magic Bullet in the traditional Diet- Food and diet are much more than the sum of their parts (177).
  
• Have a glass of wine with dinner- Be careful. But, in moderation, wine is proven to be very healthy (181).

next up, How to Eat.

Rod Dreher reminded me of one of the great Wendell Berry's wonderful poems, written in 1968 upon looking at pictures of one of his "enemies" in a magazine and thinking of how much they have in common.
In light of the situations in Georgia, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and even the animosity between Democrats and Republicans, it is a wonderful reminder of how much we have in common with our "enemies."
Here is a link to the entire poem (not too long)- this version is slightly different from what I have in his collection of poems.
Here is the final line (which Dreher quotes):
There is no government so worthy as your son Who fishes with you in silence beside the forest pool?
There is no national glory so comely as your daughter,
Whose hands have learned a music and go their own way on the keys.
There is no national glory so comely as my daughter,
Who dances and sings and is the brightness of my house.
There is no government so worthy as my son, who laughs,as he comes up the path from the river in the evening, for joy.

Eating food should be simple. However, Pollan reminds us that anything processed is not "food" in the traditional meaning of the word. It is nothing but a "food or food-like product." Pollan's prescriptions for eating food are these...

First of all, avoid all foods that your grandmother (and increasingly, your great grandmother) would not recognize. Then;

• "Avoid Food Products containing Ingredients that are a) unfamiliar, b) unpronounceable, c) more than five in number, or that include d) high fructose corn syrup" (pg 150)- go to your pantry and see how much this includes, even the healthy sounding stuff (especially the healthy sounding stuff).

• "Avoid Food Products that make health claims" (pg 154)- even Fritos adds a little something that give it the chance to make a "qualified" health claim.

• Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle" (pg 157)- Processed food is in the middle, while real food- meat, veggies, fruit, dairy- lines the wall.

• "Get out of the supermarket whenever possible" (pg 157) you find little or no processed foods at a farmer's market or CSA. Plus, your produce is fresh.
  

There are some wonderful tips from Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food. But, lets start with the thesis.

His main prescription, which manifests itself in his mantra (eat food, not too much, mostly plants) is quite simple, yet (in American terms) close to impossible for the vast majority of busy Americans. It is this:

1. Escape the Western Diet* (he believes all traditional diets are wonderful, apart from ours which is heavily processed, full of sugar, destructive to the planet and individuals- tooth decay, diabetes, cancer, etc.)

2. Escape the Ideology of Nutritionism (this cannot be done justice apart from his book. However, it is an ideology- not science-that separates a diet from its culture, individual foods from their diet and the chemicals, minerals, vitamins, etc in a food from the actual food. It has led to additives in processed foods, never ending studies trying to figure out what part of food is good and which is bad- separate from the food itself)

*diet in the traditional sense- a way of eating. it has nothing to do with most people's definition of diet- eating less.