Tasteless Art Affecting the Tastebuds at Holy Land Deli

I was introduced to the Doner (Gyro or Kabob) during my time in Germany. The Turkish immigrants brought it with them. Aside from the thinly-sliced lamb, the rest of the ingredients were German; cabbage inside stuffed in a quarter of the circular flatenbrot.

In Minneapolis, there’s only one place to get a good gyro – Holy Land Deli over at 2513 Central Avenue NE. They stuff the pitas to their breaking point as they should. My personal favorite is their lamb kabob with hummus. While you wait, admire their grocery – great selection of olives, teas, and meats you won’t find at Cub or Rainbow.

Via this week’s Sunday Strib, I read Holy Land’s owner Majdi Wadi has banned all products made in Denmark until the Danish government apologizes for something tasteless the Danish free press published months ago.

I’ve seen the cartoons. If you haven’t, just ask some angst-ridden teenager to draw some up for you. Cliché-ridden, cheap, and heavy-handed.

From what I glean from On the Media, the newspapers in the Middle East are controlled by their respective governments. In that environment, putting the blame on a national government makes complete sense. I’m not sure what editorial control the Danish government exerts over the press, but I suspect it’s nil. It’d be convenient if the US Government could simply apologize for Fox News or insipid letters to the editor. But that’s not how things work here in the US or in northern Europe.

I’m not sure what Danish-made products the Holy Land sold, I haven’t purchased anything other than lunch and olive oil from them, and the Strib article didn’t list them by name.

Is that list offensive?

Wadi’s decision to ban Danish-made products would seem better directed if the Danish manufacturers had advertising or in some other way financed the newspaper in question.

Since that’s most likely not the case, the Strib article – just like this post – is an advertisement for the Holy Land Deli (mmmm tasty gyros). Would you like a Carlsberg to wash it down?

Apple’s Weather Dashboard Widget Won’t Go Below 28F?

As you might have heard, we finally got winter here in the upper Midwest. Not the Christmas-fluffy-white-snow-perfect-for-skiing-and-hot-cocoa-winter, the death-to-all-who-venture-out-of-doors winter.

Both weather.com and accuweather.com say it’s a brisk -2°F (one degree lower since my last post).

Strangely, Apple’s Weather Dashboard Widget tells me it’s a tropical 28°F and snowing. It’s way too cold to snow and hasn’t been 28 for days. Something’s not right.

I should have found Daring Fireball’s Weather Widget Location Validation post earlier. Looks like I’ve been getting Minneapolis, North Carolina’s forecast for months now.

I’m glad someone’s getting a fluffy-white-snow winter.

A Perfect Day for Cicely, Alaska

“I have grown really tired of contact sports…you can break an ankle, but can you die?”- Joel Fleischmann

It’s -1°F this Saturday in the Twin Cities (weather.com says ‘feels like -18°F’, Thanks). Fortunately, NetFlix sent over Northern Exposure Season 2, Disc 2 this morning.

This disc contains “All is Vanity”, the episode where Maggie has Joel play her boyfriend in front of her father, Holling ponders circumcision, and a dead John Doe infatuates the town. Wow. Fantastic episode.

2701 31st Ave NE St Anthony Village has an MLS Number

The house is on the MLS now – #3152250. Woo hoo.

I see this house being perfect for 3 different people:

  1. Single people (even with kids)
    It’s a small place, easy to maintain, with lots of storage. Easy access to downtown and the highways with a huge lot for gardening and landscaping.
  2. DINKs or DIPs
    Just the two of you and a couple of dogs that need to run? Comfortable, cozy spaces for pets and their stuff and yes, outdoor space for games of fetch. We didn’t have pets when we bought it, the lower maintenance and expense of a small house was perfect for us.
  3. Developers
    Wanna build a half-million dollar home in St. Anthony Village? Seems like a decent price for a big lot like this. For a while we were talking about adding a big, modern addition in the side yard. Living in this place during all the construction.

More info in my earlier post and over at Sam’s Urban Realty website as well.

February – One of My Two Least Favorite Months.

February and August are my least favorite months in the upper Midwest. For the same but opposite reasons – uncomfortable weather.

February is when the cold and depression of winter finally sets in (11°F as I write this). The snow turns mean in the cold; short-sheeting the dormant brown grass and grating like fingernails on a chalkboard when stepped on.

In August, it’s the humidity, or the heat, either way the air punishes you for moving.

I’m a big fan of the transitions between the the seasons; April, October.

Latitudinally, I’ve been further north and it doesn’t treat me well, further south and I lose the concept of seasons. That’s no good either.

An odd bit of sunshine – PRWeb declares February ‘Podcast Month’

First Crack 73. The Banjo Brothers Bicycling Bags

I sat down with Mike, Eric, and Pete of Banjo Brothers for the low down on their grocery pannier and what got them started in cycling bags. There’s also some bits in there about how they’re partnering with bloggers like The Fat Cyclist to improve their bags.

Of course, you can buy their bags from Gene over at the One on One Bike Shop.

Hey, Mike & Eric gave me a Banjo Brother’s Mini Seat Bag, listen to the podcast on how it can be yours. Digital Dan Hook over at the Hook Show was the first one in.

  • Uplifter Minnesota, first event March 25th 2-6pm at the Acadia Cafe. Bring yourself, your gear, your passion.
  • DEMO LoFi musician showcases every Thursday night at the Acadia Cafe.
  • First Crack Podcast theme song by Jeremy Piller.

Listen to the Banjo Brothers Bicycling Bags [16 min]

Measure Map = Google Analytics v2.0?

I sure hope so. The current offering (Urchin assimilated) isn’t that useful.

“Bringing Measure Map to Google is an exciting validation of the user experience work I’ve been doing with my partners at Adaptive Path for years. – Jeffrey Veen”

Congrats to Veen, Congrats to Google. To PeterMe and everyone at Adaptive Path, I’m sorry for your loss.

I suspect Measure Map will first be available to domains Google hosts today (blogger.com) by default and positioning Google as the host-of-choice for tomorrow.

Shooting Your Hunting Partners is Poor Form

It would have been a sin to grow up in rural Wisconsin and not go through hunter’s safety and purchase a couple of deer and small game licenses.

The second and last time I went small game hunting, my dad and I were resting on a felled tree when some sort of creature appeared. I raised my shotgun and just as I pulled the trigger I noticed the line of fire would go right past my dad.

Maybe I was 14. Even then I knew shooting my hunting partner was a bad idea. Cheney is 65.

Two years ago, all hell broke loose in my former backyard. What really happened between Cha Vang and a half dozen locals we may never know.

This past weekend, “Vice President Cheney accidentally sprayed a companion with birdshot while hunting quail on a private Texas ranch, injuring the man in the face, neck and chest – Shailagh Murray and Peter Baker.

Christ.

Cheney should probably return to his favorite undisclosed location or take full responsibility for his actions and go on television this evening to apologize and talk about gun safety.

Now it comes out Cheney didn’t buy the new $7 bird stamp for his hunting license. Ironically, the increased fee was probably a result of reduced federal funding. Blah.

Inspired by the Enron – Smartest Guys in the Room Documentary

A decade ago, I was in a job interview for a place I ultimately was employed. My soon-to-be boss asked me how much money I’d like to make in, say, 5 years. It was about that time, blackouts were rolling through California and Wired, Fast Company, Red Herring were all obese with advertising. We were giddy with optimism.

Tonight, I watched 2929 Entertainment‘s documentary, Enron – Smartest Guys in the Room. It took me back to that moment in a more measured, rational, and methodical way than Startup.com. Perhaps 4 years of hindsight had something to do with it. 😉

From the documentary, Enron had a singular goal – to make money.

Problem is, that’s a goal for a robot. A goal as Enron proved, that can be abstracted from reality and automated. Like counting the number of times a file was downloaded doesn’t mean more people have read it – just means it’s been downloaded more times, something a robot can do. Both of these examples miss the point that the goals (money, downloads) are actually byproducts of the process – not the end result.

I remember the number I declared. An arbitrary number. One I’ve stopped paying attention to since working for myself.