The Lost Realm

It was tragic and lots of people died, but if we have to go through this whole September 11th thing every year, I think I'm going to scream. Thousands of innocent people have been the victims of other terrorist and military activities over the last twelve months, but we don't dedicate an entire day of television to footage of them dying. Other buildings are destroyed, but we don't hold a concert on their behalf. Millions of people are starving to death, but we don't light a candle for them.

The funny part of it all, is that the “land of the free and the home of the brave” has changed significantly since September 11th, 2001. If they're so right about everything, why is it that they're changing?

Well, despite being unbelievably nervous, I passed by practical driving test yesterday. I know what you're thinking: why is it that someone my age hasn't got their license? I just never really got around to it before.

So now I'm only 25 hours driving experience and a computer game away from being able to drive on my own. This is only a problem because my car died on the weekend, so I can't really drive anywhere. And I have a job interview on Thursday. And my baby could arrive at any minute. My wife is in denial about that last point, however; she has decided that she's just going to be pregnant for the rest of her life. That's going to be interesting.

The moral of this story? The Principle of Maximum Inconvinience dictates my life. I'm placing my bets that The Bean will arrive halfway through my job interview.

For years, we've all known that our taste buds can detect four independent tastes: sweet, sour, bitter and salty. Well, we were wrong; there are five tastes. The research has finally progressed to a point that I'm happy to add umami to my vocabulary. MSG tastes good, not because it is sweet, sour, bitter or salty, but because our taste buds can detect the glutamates directly.

This is going to affect the way I think about food considerably. I've always adjusted the flavours of my cooking to account for four detectable tastes, and now I have to consider umami.

I obviously haven't been around to post anything interesting here lately. Feel free to throw some conspiracy theories around as to why.