Election 2012 - Open Thread

I have a feeling that todays election will produce some surprises. I'm just not sure which way yet! Here is a quick preview of my thoughts as I try to keep this as fact based as possible. Please feel free to call me out on the facts if I have something in error.

Fact: Obama won in 2008 by a 53-47 margin (7 points).

Opinion: I think we can all agree that the popular vote polls are about even right now. Some say Romeny +1, some say Obama +2  - can we call it even?

Fact: If we call it even, then that's a 7 point swing to the R side.

Fact: The Presidency isn't decided by the vote, it's decided by the states

Fact: Florida went for Obama by 2.8% in 2008 and Ohio for Obama by 4.6%.

Opinion: It's hard for me to understand how Obama keeps Florida. I think that state (and NC, and IN) is in Romney's column now.

Opinion: If the national swing is 6 points, then I think Ohio will swing to Romney. Barely, but it will.

Fact: Obama won Virginia by 7% four years ago.

Opinion: This will be a nail biter in VA. How much does the federal worker presence in Northern VA outweigh coal country?

Opinion: Is Pennsylvania really in place?

Fact: On 5 dimes, I can bet on Obama with -340 odds (and Romney with +280 odds).

Fact: The partisan turnout in 2008 was Democrats +8 ( I think).

Opinion: There's no way that is repeated again this year. I think it will be D +2, D +1 or so.

Fact: Many of the polls you see show a "weighting" of D+6 or higher (CNN was D+11 yesterday).

Opinion: How does that even make sense? How is Romney tied with a sample of Democrats 11 points higher?

I just hope this election is decisive one way or another.

Prediction: really? I have to pick this? I think Romney will win Ohio, eke out Virginia and that will put him within one state......and I think Wisconsin will decide it all............

I'll be here in the morning (my morning) to comment....let's have a good old fashioned open thread as the results come in......

 

NFL Week 9: Shanghai Cuisine

Falling behind on blogging this week after a bad week at work. I wanted to post something about our experiences at the HSBC Champions event at Mission Hills (proving, once again, why Phil is the #1 fan favorite in the world.....and Lee Westwood is a nice guy, too); and I want to post something about the election next Tuesday....

But no time! Time for week 9 of the NFL!

Today's theme is Shanghai cuisine. Shanghai was an old sleepy fishing village until the 1930s, when it opened up to the West and then later it was determined that it should be major city. Bam! Investment, business and people. It is a shoppers' paradise as well...there is a saying in China that:
a) The only thing that people in Beijing do is talk;
b) The only thing that people in Shanghai do is shop; and
c) The only thing that people in Guangzhou do is eat.

Where was I going with that? I guess there is no discernable theme to the food in Shanghai. The twon is on the ocean, so the food is centered around seafood - but there is no real spice/cooking style to tie it all together. It's very much a mixture of different types of food. You don't know what you are going to get.

You get the "fried" fish that is presented as a living fish (with the pea eyeballs).
You get the "yin and Yang" soup (very oatmeal-y).
I was offered a soup once with many small pieces of bones in it; each bone piece has a small amount in it. It looked like boiled human knuclkes in chicken broth.

I asked - "Um, what is this?"

3 second delay. "Why don't you try it first then we will tell you?"

Um, ok. I took a bone piece and chewed on the end for the small piece of meat. "Ok, not bad. So - what is it?"

"It's frog". And it wasn't frog legs.

The fried fish above was good, and the beef they serve is a bit bland but good - but you have the other dished that are complete mysteries and could be a "1" or "10" on the scale from 1-10. You just don't know.

I'm getting to that point with the Browns now. Spin the wheel - you don't know what you will get on offense or defense. Some days Weeden will be above average and throw for over 300, but the defense lets us down. Or the D is good and the receivers drop balls. It's a crap shoot right now - no discernable theme yet to the team .

There's no way I am picking them to win this weekend. The Ravens, off a bye and off an embarrassing loss? No thanks. We may keep it close, but in the end, I see a 7-10 point loss.

On to the games:

Cin 23, Den 19. The pick makes no sense whatsoever - so it must be right! Cinci off a bye, and Denver has played a few emotional games in a row.

GB 31, Az 17. I think Rodgers won't take his foot off the gas in this one.

Hou 24, Buf 13. The Texans will shut the Bills down, and I think the Texans are more one-dimensional on offense than anyone realizes.

Mia 20, Ind 17. I don't have a lot of faith in Indy to score against good defenses.

Det 23, Jax 21. I don't trust Detroit on the road just yet.

Was 31, Car 13. I believe that Carolina will be disheartened after throwing away last week's game vs. Chicago.

Chi 24, Ten 16.  The Bears defense will always be there to bail them out.

TB 24, Oak 21. Can we truly trust the Raiders? Do we give them credit for last week when KC handed them the game?

Sea 28, Min 17. I think the Seattle D will be able to copy what Tampa did against Ponder and company.

Pit 27, NYG 24. Just a hunch. When is the home clunker coming for the Giants?

Atl 30, Dal 20. Like the Panthers, this will be an emotional letdown because of last week's horrible loss.

NO 31, Phi 23. In the Superdome? I think Brees and co. will take care of business.

Best bets: 15 of them. Last week: 9-6; total: 64-54-4.

Cin +4
Den/Cin under 48
GB -10
Buf/Hou under 47 1/2
Mia/Ind under 43 1/2
Jax +5 1/2
Was -3
Car/Was under 48
Chi -3 1/2
TB +2
Sea -4
Min/Sea over 38 1/2
Pit +3
Atl -3 1/2
NO -3

Supercontest: Last week: 3-2. Overall: 22-17-1
Was -3
Sea -4 1/2
NO -3
TB +1 1/2
Cin +3 1/2




 

NFL Week 8: Indian Food

Ah, Indian food. It took me a while to really fall in love with this cuisine. I started liking it when we first moved to Cincinnati - and Janice's brother lived in Clifton (near the University) - and there was an excellent Indian restaurant near him. We'd go there, and I instantly loved it. Chicken Tikka Masala, Tandoori Chicken, even a Saag Paneer... most everything is good. And Nan....oh! The Nan! I could eat Nan for a whole week (and yes, I will capitalize Nan for this whole post).

When we lived in the suburbs in Cincinnati, there was a local Indian joint that was good - we went there to eat in or carry out about once a month. The boys started liking it too (especially the Nan).....oh, and they had the best Onion Nan .....wow, I miss that place....... The highlight was heading into the restaurant after both Freddie and Warren had Little League games - so all the Indians in Mason, OH were gathering on a Friday night, and this family walks in with two kids covered in dirt...... now that's multiculturalism!

When we first moved to China, some of our ex-pat friends were Indian fans as well - our first family get together was Indian - an Indian family told us the best place in Guangzhou for Indian, and we've been there numoerous times since being here.

I travel to India frequently for work - I've been there 4 times so far - and, let's just say, the experience is not exactly the same. The dishes are very similar - lentils, chicken, sauces, the Nan is great - but ends up being unsettling. How do I put this nicely? I don't get sick or anything, but.....I don't excrete anything solid for the the next 7 days. When I'm in the plant, I get a 10 minute warning from my body and it's "uh, excuse me, where is the bathroom?".

The taste - great. The after effects......that's where the problems are. Why does the authentic version cause so much suffering? This is a case where the foreign imitation is better than the real thing.

I don't want to compare the Browns to diarrhea - Lord knows that joke has been done over 10 million times in the past - but that's where we are. The team looks good on paper. Offense - we actually have players that people want to start in Fantasy! The defense is average; we have a stud kicker (since our offense stalls at the 30 regularly, it gives Dawson opportunties for multiple 40+ yd FGs every game....)

But we are 1-6.

And that goes to one person - the head chef, Shurmur.

I feel this week is an elimination challenge with the two bottom chefs in the league - Shurmur and Norv Turner. If you are outcoached by Norv, you should be fired immediately.

On to the games:

Chi 17, Car 13. A letdown game for the Bears after a divisonal win on Monday night.

NE 27, StL 20. I can see the Rams winning, but just can't pull teh trigger on the upset.

Ind 27, Ten 23. The question here, of course, is Chris Johnson. Is the Colts' run D as bad as the Bills'?

GB 27, Jax 10. What's the motivation here for the Packers?

Det 23, Sea 17. The Lions are slowly playing better - their D was impressive last Monday night, and this is a team desperate for a win - and at home.

Phi 27, Atl 24. Why, why, why, do I think the Eagles will show up for this game?

Mia 23, NYJ 13. The Dolphins - off a bye - facing the Jets,who came off a tough divisional loss.

Pit 31, Was 20. Have you seen the Steelers offense recently? It's all passing. And the Skins don't do well in the pass D department. And I think LeBeau willhave something cooked up against RG3.

KC 27, Oak 13. I can't trust Oakland on the road. So - I'll ride Romeo and Brady again,just like it was 2008.

Dal 24, NYG 17. I think Dallas's D matches up well against the Giants.

Den 31, NO 21. This is a classic back door cover game here, but I like what I see in Denver against the NO defense, especially off a bye.

SF 17, Az 16.  The last stand for Arizona - at home - if they want to contend this year.

Best bets: 15 of them. Last week: 6-8. Overall: 55-48-4.
Car +7 1/2
Car/Chi under 42 1/2
Ind +3 1/2
Jax/GB under 45 1/2
Det -2 1/2
Mia +2
Atl/Phi over 42 1/2
Pit -4
Was/Pit over 44 1/2
KC -1
Dal +2 1/2
NYG/Dal under 48
Den -6
Az +7
SF/Az under 38 1/2

Supercontest: Last week: the dreaded 0-5. Overall: 19-15-1
Det -2
Mia +2
Pit -4 1/2
KC -2
Az +6 1/2
 

We have our fourth!

When Steve, Kermit and I play golf over the summer, we usually are lacking a 4th to go along with us. I need to get this guy's number and invite him to the US for a few weeks - just for the comedic value......

(Please God, let my swing never look like this in 40 years....)
 

NFL Week 7: Pad Thai

Ah, Pad Thai. I've had some bad memories with this dish over the years. It all started when I got my first job in Dayton out of school. About the 2nd month I was there, some of the guys were going to the Thai/Vietnamese restaurant in a suburb....so I went along. At that point, in 1994, the most experience I have had with Asian food was Chinese (and a lot of it!)

So I ordered the Pad Thai - noodles and meat? What could go wrong?

It was disgusting. It was drowned in fish sauce, which I thought (and still do) is the most vile sauce to cook with. It was drenched in it, and I couldn't finish it. I never joined the group again when they went back to this place in Beavercreek.

Fast forward 10 years in 2004 - when we lived in Iowa; again, I joined a group as we went to the Thai/Cambodian restaurant on the outskirts of Iowa City; again, I tried the Pad Thai. The dish was a bit better - less flooded with the sauce - but the pungency of the entire restaurant soured the dish for me. How can you enjoy it with the fish sauce in the air? I think I went back once or twice - but no more - in our 2 year stay in Iowa.

(That place was near the river; the big flood of 2006 pretty much directly hit the plaza where the restaurant was. I wondered if it reopened.....in the same place? )

Then we go to earlier this year - February - when we went to Thailand for Chinese New Year. We went to a local, outdoor restaurant one night; as I walked in, I saw somebody at another table eating Pad Thai?

"That's Pad Thai? That looks delicious!" So, I tried it again for the third time.

As you can expect, having Pad Thai done by the natives is 100000% better than a Dayton or Iowan version. Perfectly fried, no mystery fish sauce on it - noodles, bean sprouts, chicken/shrimp....Excellent. Just like it is advertised!

It's now in my top 10 dishes I get over here when eating at a hotel or traveling for work. It truly is amazing the difference in the dish and how it is prepared. I know, I shouldn't be surprised.

I think the national media is having the same feeling when it comes to Brandon Weeden. All they remember about Weeden is the awful game 1 performance against  the Eagles. Make no mistake, he was awful in that game.
But weeks 2-6 have been solid - but not spectacular. Yes, there are some rookie mistakes resulting in interceptions...but the arm is there to deliver the long passes to Gordon and others. And he is developing in reading through the progressions and finding the tight end, or the 3rd  receiver. The stats have been very good in the last few weeks.
Slowly, some are starting to realize that Weeden is not the disaster they saw in week 1. Simmons actually had some good things to say this week in his preview column. In a few more weeks, the memory of the Dayton Pad Thai will wear off and a new impression of Weeden will emerge. This guy could be the Browns QB for the next 5-7 years.

This week? The Jeff Zahn magic continues in Indy, as my dad will be there in attedance again and the Browns will win again, 27-24.

To the other games:
Buf 24, Ten 16. Less a vote for Buf but against Tennessee. I think they are one of the worst teams in the league......how do we explain last week then? See below.

Dal 27, Car 17. Yes, I am falling for this. I can't see Dallas losing this game - they are desperate.

Hou 27, Bal 24. Clearly, the two best teams in the AFC. I think they are evenly matched.

Min 23, Az 10. The Vikes are a solid team at home.

TB 27, NO 23. The Saints had a bye last week - but I'm thinking that the lack of a coach prevents them from getting the full benefit of the bye. And their only win was against Norv....does that only count as 1/2 a win?

GB 24, StL 20. I do like the Rams here, but something tells me the light has clicked on in the Packers after last week.

NYG 31, Was 27. Should be a shootout - and the Giants should be able to move the ball easily against the Skins D.

NE 31, NYJ 24. The Jets are slowly getting better, and should keep this close.

Oak 27, Jax 17. The weak link for the Raiders is the pass D - but Jax doesn't have the offensive fire power to take advantage.

Cin 24, Pit 21. Two desperate teams here. I think Pit is overrated. It was amazing to see Ten - and before, Oakland - move the ball at will against them. Cin needs this win here....and being at home is the difference.

Chi 27, Det 13. I watched most of the Lions game last week - their O looked awful for 3 quarters. Hard to see them finding a rhythm against the Bears.

Best bets: 14 of them. Last week: 6-8-1; overall: 49-40-4

Buf -3 1/2
Ten/Buf under 46
Dal -2
Bal +7
Min -6 1/2
Az/Min under 41
TB +1 1/2
Was/NYG over 51 1/2
NYJ +10 1/2
NYJ/NE over 47 1/2
Oak -6
Cin +1
Chi -6 1/2
Det/Chi under 47

Supercontest picks: Last week: 3-2; overall: 19-10-1
Buf -3 1/2
Bal +6 1/2
TB +2 1/2
Oak -4 1/2
Cin +2 1/2

 

NFL Week 6: Hong Kong Cuisine

I have to admit, I have not had too much experience with true Hong Kong food. Whenever we get there, it's an escape from the life in China - so we head to the 24-hour breakfast diner to have pancakes and eggs, the Mexican restaurant for Vanilla Margaritas (cue Dan Hicks: "Expect anything different??" - ed), the Italian restaurant right next to our hotel, or the English fish and chips places on Stanley on the other side of the island.

It's rare that we walk the street trying to find food - but that's the situation we found ourselves in in February, when Freddie and I went to Hong Kong for his birthday. The father of his best friend from Cincinnati is a pilot for Northwest, and the dad and Freddie's friend came in for a quick 3 day weekend. It was wonderful, and a great treat for the four of us to run around Hong Kong - and to see the city through the eyes of 10 year olds.

Most of our meals were Western-based; Freddie's dinner the next night for his birthday was at the Italian restaurant above (where his poor friend couldn't keep his eyes open due to the jet lag), and the next night dinner was at Dan Ryan's Steakhouse, where I told Freddie: "You will get the Petit Filet Mignon and you will LIKE IT!"

However, when the plane landed, we got to the hotel, and it was 9 pm; Freddie was wide awake and excited to see his friend, so all of us went out walking the streets in search of.....nothing in particular.

And then we found a street stand that was selling fried foods. These 14 inch fried bread sticks caught our eye - "ooooooh, we must have them".

They didn't even need sugar. It was pure fried, airy dough for $7 HKD - less than $1 USD. Yes, it was leaking grease while we were eating - but no matter. It filled a need and seemed like comfort food for all of us - even though it was 100% Hong Kong.

God, I hope the Bengals are like the fried dough sticks for us. We need a win. We have been playing tough and hard over the past 5 weeks - with nothing to show for it. Yes, we are young, and yes, that means we will do dumb things (although shouldn't a coaching staff take care of that???). But we have been in every game (for the most part). However, if we don't get a win soon, I feel things will start to implode here. It's been 11 games since a win. 11.........and that win was a 14-10 ugly one vs. Jacksonville last year. We need the fried dough---- a satisfying win. Today. 28-20, Browns.

On to the games:

Atl 31, Oak 17. I know, too easy. But Oakland can not play on the road - and Atlanta has a decent defense.

Dal 23, Bal 21. Just a hunch here. Dallas off a bye, and they should be able to move the ball vs. the Ravens. The question is how many turnovers will Romo have?

Mia 24, StL 13. Bradford was horrible at home against the Cards last game. I don't see them competing well on the road.

NYJ 30, Ind 20. Indy is off a very emotional game (with their coach issues), and the Jets showed last week they can move the ball a bit.

Phi 21, Det 20. Which to pick? The offense that self destructs, or the defense that can't stop anyone? The offense that can only pass, or the D that can stop the pass?

TB 16, KC 13. Brady Quinn 2.0 begins! I didn't realize the Chiefs had Brian Daboll as well. Good luck with that!

Az 20, Buf 19. I think we need to discuss how good Arizona truly is. And the Bills can't throw three stink bombs in a row, can they?

NE 24, Sea 17. Yes, yes, a sucker pick. I just don't see Seattle being able to score if needed to keep up with the Pats.

Was 27, Min 20. Even with the status of RG3....Minnesota has not been tested on the road.

SF 31, NYG 27. How much revenge is on the Giants' mind?

Hou 30, GB 21. Green Bay has been a bit off, and this place - a rockin' Sunday Night crowd against a good D- is not the place to get better.

Den 24, SD 17. If not for the fumbles last week, the Broncos would have been in the game vs. the Pats.

Best bets: 14 of them. Last week: 8-6; total: 43-32-3.

Atl -9 1/2
Dal +3
Mia -5
NYJ -3
Ind/NYJ over 44
Det/Phi under 47
TB/KC under 40 1/2
Buf +4
NE -3 1/2
Was pk
NYG +7
NYG/SF over 46
Hou -3 1/2
Den pk
Den/SD under 48 1/2

Supercontest picks: last week: 4-1. Overall: 16-8-1
Mia -3 1/2
Dal +3 1/2
NYJ -3
Hou -3 1/2
Den +1 1/2

 

When Central Planning goes awry

As I alluded to in the last post, last week was an official holiday week in China. It was called "Golde Week", as the mid-Autumn festival fell on the dar before the National Holiday week - so everyone in the country had 7 days off.

In general, this week and Chinese New Year are the only times where regular working Chinese people can actually travel and see the sights of China. It is a very busy time, and most local businesses are closed....that's why the advice to ex-pats for these holiday periods is to just leave the country.

The government wanted people to enjoy their time off, so in order to generate interest for traveling, they declared that all toll roads would be free. The tolls are quite expensive; for example, a toll road from downtime to the airport is about 20 km and costs roughly 20 RMB - about $3. that's a lot for normal people.

So - we have a national holiday, with 1.3 billion people celebrating, and the toll roads are free - what could go wrong?

Plenty.

Record crowds were seen at all the national attractions. How about these for the Great Wall?

 

 

And the traffic? 12, 14 hour delays were reported as routine. Some pictures are below.

What's that saying? "Be careful what you wish for......"

Eric the romantic

As many of you know, Janice's birthday was on Saturday (Oct 6th). I really outdid myself for her birthday dinner this year!

2010: Sunset dinner on the beach in Malaysia
2011: Dinner at an intimate French restaurant in Vietnam (this was an excellent meal).

2012: Well, we flew home that night into Hong Kong from Bali, and we were making the 2 hour drive home after the flight (starting at 10 pm). So - since Burger King was closed - I got 15 Chicken Tenders, Cajun Fries, and Popcorn Shrimp from Popeye's in the airport for our dinner in the car for the ride.

Let's just say that the fries taste awful after sitting around for 15 minutes.

 

NFL Week 5: Indonesian Cuisine

Back at home again after a week of vacation in Bali for the China National Holiday week. It was nice to get away for the week - I'll have more on that in the next post - and great to have Don, Mike and their wives spend the week with us!. Taking a week listening to the waves crash is not a bad way to live.

Also, I got the slingbox working correctly on Monday morning, and I was watching the end of the 1 pm and 4 pm games while sitting outside on a lawn chair on the grass in the moonlight with the waves in the background. Yes, I was wearing a 2 inch layer of "Off" while doing that.

One of the highlights was biking down the "mountain" of Bali with the group. It was a great ride as we went through rice fields, small villages, and even passed a parade. At the end, we had a lunch buffet that "represented local Balinese cuisine". My (second) plate is seen above! Clockwise from the white rice:

- Steamed Rice
- Fried Noodle (yes, two starches...sue me)
- Some sort of chicken stir fry dish. I think it may have been a "bean Curd" chicken dish, but I can't recall. It was not memorable.
- Peanut Tofu stir fry. Delicious. The star of the show. As you probably know, tofu does not have a lot of flavor (if any), so it carries the flavors of the spices/sauces in the dish. Well, how can you go wrong with Peanut sauce? Instead of just scooping up the peanut sauce and drinking it with a sppon, this is a more elegant way to get your peanut sauce fill. Just fantastic.
- Smoked Duck and Smoked Chicken. Pulled off the bone as well as any BBQ joint in the US. Tender and wonderful.
- Indonesian mixed vegetables, which seem to be 90% minced green beans and some spices. Pretty good!
- Vegetable roll, which is the same mixed vegetables rolled into a cabbage roll. This was very enjoyable, especially with - you guessed it ! - the Peanut sauce in the middle!

You may be seeing the same dished repeated over again in a lot of the southeast Asia posts....Rice, noodles, stirfry, even tofu.......well, that's how the current season is going. I can guess how most of the Browns game will be played.  A lackluster 1st half with some mistakes causing us to be in a hole; then in the 2nd half, Weeden is unleashed and we make a few plays to score....and the defense does just enough to get our hopes up but then lets up the big play to have the win be out of reach in the end.  I think it will be the same way this week with the Giants....we will be down 17-6 at half; James Brown will then cut into your game in the 3rd to say "The plucky Browns are not going away!" as we make it 17-13; it will be 20-20 early in the 4th when Brown will again come in and say "In New York, the Giants are putting this game away on a 75-yd TD pass to Cruz, followed by a pick six from Weeden- who has 350 yards passing". Giants, 34-20.

I don't see how we win given that our two best receivers (Massaquoi and Benjamin) are out. We have Stone Hand Little, Decapitated Cribbs and 100% raw Josh Gordon as our receivers for today. At least this is the last game for Haden's suspension.

On to the games:

Mia 26, Cin 23. I have gone back and forth on this one all week over Vodka Tonics while overlooking the beach. Who has Cincinnati played? Any good defenses?

GB 23, Ind 20. I kept waiting for the Pack to put the hammer down on the Saints last week - and it never came. Maybe....maybe....they have slipped a bit. The loss of Jennings certainly hurts.

Bal 31, KC 21. Is this the week where Brady Quinn makes his reappearance in the NFL? Brady and Romeo, together again....

Pit 20, Phi 17. Don't underestimate the Eagles' D. It is good.

Atl 31, Was 27. Still don't have a good feeling of either team. But Washington is similar to Carolina, and I think the Skins will hang close.

Chi 23, Jax 13. I can't see the Bears letting down in this game with a bye week next.

Car 24, Sea 14. I am concerned about Marshawn Lynch vs. the Panthers' D, but the way to beat Car is through the air -and I don't think Seattle can do that yet.

Min 20, Ten 17. Two weak offenses here.

SF 27, Buf 24. SF's offense is average if you don't give them anything....and I am hoping that Gailey and the Bills will not have a repeat of last week.

NE 34, Den 27. Who will stop who in this game?

NO 27, SD 24. Your guess is as good as mine here. Which Saints team will show up? Will Norv actually coach a good road game?

Hou 23, NYJ 20, OT. I can't believe that Rex Ryan will let the Jets be embarrased - again - especially on Monday night. They will throw everything in the playbook at them - including Tebow - and still wind up a bit short.

Best bets: 14 of them. Last week: 9-6-1; overall: 35-26-3

Mia +3
Ind +6 1/2
GB/Ind under 48
Bal -6 1/2
Bal/KC over 46
Phi/Pit under 43
Atl/Was over 50 1/2
Chi -5 1/2
Car -2 1/2
Ten/Min under 44
Buf +9 1/2
Buf/SF over 45
Den/NE over 51 1/2
NYJ +7 1/2

Supercontest: last week: 3-2. Overall: 12-7-1.
Mia +3
Ind +7
Chi -6
Car -3
NYJ +8
 

NFL Week 4: Taiwanese Cuisine

Well, another loss last night to the Ravens (9 in a row now), and another loss where we had a chance - maybe not a strong possibility, but at least a chance - to win. Weeden's pick 6 was obviously a key turning point, but the constant drops by Little stymied drive after drive. This team is young and will make mistakes - but these types of losses are a bit gut wrenching and painful.

Kind of like my experience with Taiwan food on our only trip there. I may have blogged about this in the past - ah! Here is the post! We landed Friday afternoon and headed that night to Taipei 101, the largest building in Taiwan and for a while, one of the top 3 tallest buildings in Asia. We got some dinner in the food court in the building. The boys had Subway; I can't remember what Janice got. I saw some noodles being made in one of the stands - mmmmmm! What a smell! I think there was chicken and some soup involved.....

I got my order, and it didn't smell as good. Janice now says that she remarked that it "didn't smell too good", but I was too hungry to put it down. I finished the dish and we had a good tour of Taipei 101.

It was about 2 am when I was in the bathroom with the heaves. I do remember sitting at the hotel breakfast buffet on Jan 2, watching the awful UConn - Oklahoma bowl game (Randy Edsell, anyone?) and sitting at the table thinking, "who can eat anything right now?".

That night, I was forced to roam the streets for ginger ale and found Shasta! So that's my memory of Taiwan food. Shasta. I guess Phil Dawson is the Browns' Shasta.

The post is going up early this week, as we head out of town tomorrow for Hong Kong to meet Don, Mike and the wives, and then off to Bali. I have the Ryder Cup on TiVo so we can all watch on Monday poolside/beachside.

On to the games:

NE 27, Buf 17. I don't get it - the Patriots are off 2 losses; they have to be desperate and I can't see Belicheck letting the Bills hang around.

Det 24, Min 23. I don't think Detroit's D is any good, and this should be close.

Atl 28, Car 16. A one-dimensional team (Car) will not go into Atlanta and stay within 7.

SF 24, NYJ 13. Boy, the Jets are struggling on O.  And I think the Niners will be eager to get back to the winning ways after losing last week.

SD 27, KC 24, OT. I just don't believe in Romeo ("We got the first pickle out of the jar") and the consistency of his offense.

Hou 27, Ten 13. Tennesse threw everything in the playbook at Detroit last week - Houston should easily stop them.

StL 20, Sea 16. Talk about a letdown here for the Seahawks. The Rams are decent at home.

Az 20, Mia 19. The Dolphins D is good - and this will be low scoring.

Den 27, Oak 24. Denver's pass D is not that good - and we saw what Oakland can do against an weak-to-average pass D last week (*Pittsburgh*cough)

Cin 23, Jax 20. OK, so I am starting to be a bit impressed with the Bengals. I have not seen the Jags that much.

GB 41, NO 21. Don't you think the Packers want to come out and score 3 TDs on their first 3 drivers, just to prove a point?

TB 26, Was 20. The classic "Bad O vs Bad D" game. There's also the good O (Was) vs. good D (TB). When in doubt, the go with the home team!

NYG 20, Phi 17. I think this will be a defensive game - Philly has a great D, while the Giants should be able to pressure Vick.

Dal 24, Chi 17. How are the Bears going to score? They haven't shown much on O so far this year.

Best bets: 16 of them. Last week: 8-9. Overall: 26-20-2
NE -4
NE/Buf under 50 1/2
Min +4
Atl -7
SF -3 1/2
SD -1 1/2
SD/KC over 44
StL +2 1/2
Mia +5 1/2
Oak +7
GB -7 1/2
NO/GB over 53
TB -2 1/2
NYG +2
NYG/Phi under 47 1/2
Dal -3 1/2

Supercontest: Last week: 2-2-1; overall: 9-5-1.
Preliminary picks:
NE -4
StL +2 1/2
SF -4
GB -7 1/2
TB -3

 

Barbed Wire, anyone?

This photo was snapped by a friend of mine - and I thought I'd share it. This was seen at the top of a 6-7 foot high wall outside a factory.

Talk about low cost! Is this how they keep the wages down?

 

NFL Week 3: Xi'An (Shaanxi) Cuisine

First of all, a big welcome to China for our dear readers Don and Mike! They have landed here in China for a 2 week excursion in the Estern hemisphere. I have word that they already have their "children peeing in the streets" pictures and have seen more than their share of 40-year-old men's bellies. Congratulations! See you on Friday!

The five of us took a long weekend this weekend and went to Xi'An, home of the Terra Cotta warriors. The Terra Cotta excursion took about 3 hours total; to fill the day, we went to a silk factory (slash- tourist trap) and a home of someone living in a cave. Literally! We went to a cave to see someone's abode, which is a 10 x 30 dungeon with one bed, one light bulb (don't carry Martin in on your shoulders, as he is well within reach of the bare, single electrical cord that enters the cave), and a brick as a pillow.

The cave dweller, in perfect English, asked me "So how is Tim Couch working as the star QB of the Browns?"

Lunch was the local Shaanxi cuisine - and it was average-to-below average. A picture of the dishes is included here. A quick description, starting from 12 o'clock and going clockwise:

- a bowl of rice;
- steamed cauliflower (and Janice was the only one to touch this)
- cabbage fried in oil (which is a wonderful staple of many regional cuisine. The only way to eat cabbage!)
- some chicken mix that looked like Kung Pao Chicken, but without the spices and any heat at all (it was room temperature)
- some imitation pepper steak that was bland;
- some pork and vegetable concotion that looked bad but tasted ok;
- Chinese greens;
- egg drop soup.

Dinner that night was a 10-course dumpling meal, which was good (too bad my battery died, so no immeidate pictures). Xi'An is famous for dumplings, and many were good; however, the "vegetable" dumpings tasted a lot like ground-up Oscar Meyer Wieners.

So the meals we had were ok - until we got to the airport today to leave. We checked in, had some time - and noticed....could it be???? Yes!!!!! A Dunkin Donuts!

 I immediately ordered a Boston Cream donut, my favorite....aaah, the comfortable memories of a Boston Creme donut.....

....just like the memories of a Browns-Bills game. Many good memories here on games between the two teams:
- the 34-30 Browns victory in the playoffs in 1989, sending us to round 3 of the AFC Championship series with the Broncos; we would be the last AFC team to beat the Bills in the playoffs for 5 years.
- the Monday Night loss in Cleveland in 1995 when Al Michaels said "tomorrow" would be the day the OJ Simpson verdict would be announced;
- the memorable 8-0 victory in Cleveland in 2007 when Dawson hit two field goals in a blizzard (one, a 47 yarder,easily the hardest field goal I've ever seen hit on TV,including Vinatieri's). I watched this in warm Southern California with Derek.
- A Monday Night win in Buffalo in 2008 when Dawson hit a 56-yarder;
- The worst game I ever saw on TV in 2009; Derek Anderson completed 2 passes in the entire game......and we ended up winning, 6-3!

Buffalo-Cleveland matchups. It's like comfort food. It may not be good, it may not always agree with you, but it is something familiar......like a Dunkin Donut.

On to the games:

Chi 26, StL 13. I think the Bears D line will overwhelm Bradford and the Rams.

Dal 31, TB 20. Tampa has the worst pass D in the league - and that's Dallas's strength.

SF 20, Min 14. A closer game than many think, some letdown here for the Niners after the win at Lambeau and a Sunday night win at home.

Det 24, Ten 16. The Lions are desperate, and the Titans are pretty bad.

Was 31, Cin 21. I know a lot of people are talking about Washington's injuries on D - but Cincinnati's D is not that good. 44 vs. the Ravens and 27 vs. the Browns?

NYJ 23, Mia 13. I think the Jets D can stop an average-to-below average offense like the Dolphins.

NO 34, KC 31. I don't think the Saints D can stop anyone right now -even the mistake prone Chiefs' offense.

Ind 20, Jax 17. Should go down to the wire - and another Vinatieri FG.

Phi 20, Az 17. Both defenses are very good in this game - should be decided at the end by a FG.

Atl 27, SD 23. I worry about a letdown here for the Falcons - but the Chargers have not been tested at all yet.

Den 28, Hou 20. Talking about not being tested - the Texans have played the Dolphins and the Jaguars. That's not exactly two offensive powerhouses there. How will they do vs. a good offensive team?

Pit 23, Oak 16. I know this is a game that the Steelers typically don't do well in, but I just can't see this Oakland team do anything against the Steelers D, which is great against the run.

Bal 31, NE 24. A tough game. I know Belicheck is great after a loss, but I can't see the supposed best team in the AFC lose this one to a one-dimensional Patriots team.

Sea 23, GB 20, OT. I just don't believe the Packers are themselves - yet. They are not playing close to a 15-1 team .

Best bets: 17 of them. Last week: 8-7-1; overall: 18-11-2.
Chi -7
Dal -8
SF/Min under 42 1/2
Det -4
Det/Ten under 47 1/2
Was -3
NYJ -2 1/2
KC +8
KC/NO over 53
Ind/Jax under 43
Atl +3
Den +2
Pit -3 1/2
Pit/Oak under 45 1/2
Bal -3
Bal/NE over 48 1/2
Sea +3

Supercontest picks: last week: 3-2; overall: 7-3
Chi -7 1/2 (oooh, that hook....)
Dal -7
NYJ +3
Den +2 1/2
Sea +3



 

NFL Week 2: Yunnan Cuisine

Spent most of the morning trying to upload those videos for the post below. It takes a while - I don't know what it is, but I can only uploade one at a time, then I have to restart the computer....painful.

As I said in the post, we really didn't know what to expect from the food last night at the Yunnan restaurant. It turned out that this was close to what people think of as Chinese food - without the rice!
Here is a picture of the dishes we ordered - I will try to explain each dish, starting with the black dish in the 9'oclock position, going clockwise:

- Black "fungus" with vegetables; the local mushroom, served with other local veggies. The mushroom was ribbon like and very floppy - and tasted just fine.

- Pork and pepper mixture, served with the lettuce you see in the middle. Very close to the "Lettuce wraps" you get at PF Chang.

- Chicken with the local mushrooms. Sense a trend here - what the local dish is? Strips of pork stir fried with the local mushroom. Very good!

- Lotus root in sauce. I'm not a big lotus fan, but it was ok, as it stayed crunchy in the sauce

- Spicy hot eggplant (in the hot pot). By far the spiciest dish on the table, the dish came out boiliing was a  stew of primarily eggplant and peppers. Once the temperature of the dish came down, we tried it - it was just about on the edge of my tolerance for spiciness.

- "Shredded pumpkin". That was the translation, but it was clearly not pumpkin. More like a squash/zucchini sort of thing; shredded and lightly sauced.

- Fried noodles. Simple and just a bit flavored - for Martin and Frankie

- Carrots with pork; the dish was 90% shredded carrots and 10% pork. I loved this dish the best, no extra frills in there with unneeded flavors. Just carrots and pork, with some brown sauce on it. Wonderful.

- Steamed buns with pork filling. Exactly what you would expect.

The grand total for these dishes, plus the tea and the 4 (1/2 liter) bottles of beer? 330 RMB - about 50 dollars - for all of us.

This dinner reminds me (hopefully) of this week for the Browns. I am expecting the worst - going out to an unknown Chinese restaurant with a 4 year old and a 21 month old toddler could be disaster. A disaster like Brandon Weeden's 5.4 QB rating.
However, it was surprising and exceeded my (admittedly low) expectations. A diamond in the rough. That's about what I can hope for with the Browns this week. We all know the expectations - Weeden's a bust, Richardson can't run behind the line, Haden is out now, so teh D will suffer..... let's rise above all that and shock the world.

Let's put a little carrot and pork dish on the table on Sunday afternoon. Cmon Weeded - you are better than what you showed in week 1.
(and if he isn't, just please, have the dignity not to rub it into my face).

Onto the games.

NYG 23, TB 13. I see Tampa as a team that will consistenly score 10-17 points and use their D to win; I see the Giants as just desperate enough to score in the mid 20s.

NE 30, Az 20. Classic back-door cover. NE will be up 20 most of this game.

Ind 23, Min 17. Indy's front 7 is good and should shut down Peterson. I'll take my chances with Luck at home vs. Ponder on the road.

NO 27, Car 20. Yes, yes, I know I am falling for this one. I don't believe in the Panthers.

KC 20, Buf 17. I believe that the Chiefs can move the ball and score; I don't think the Bills can. (until next week? -ed).

Phi 30, Bal 24. Baltimore coming off an emotional game (gack) and everyone is rating the Eagles too low.

Mia 20, Oak 16. A team coming off a late late Monday game flying to Miami for a Sunday 1 pm Eastern game? Yes, please.

Hou 27, Jax 17. I just can't see the Jags scoring more than 17 against the Texans' good D.

Sea 27, Dal 24. How many times does it happen in a year when a supposedly good team heads to Seattle and loses? Remember Baltimore last year?

Was 23, StL 21. I'll wait to jump on the RG3 bandwagon for a bit......

Pit 27, NYJ 13. Let's not forgot that the Jets still hav trouble scoring. I think LeBeau will have something cooked up for the Jets and Sanchez.

Ten 24, SD 19. The Titans did not look bad against the Pats last week, and I'm not sure about San Diego. Aren't they one-dimensional?

SF 31, Det 20. The new and improved SF pass offense vs. the weak Detroit secondary.

Atl 28, Den 27. Should be close and exciting the whole way.

Best bets: 16 of them. Last week: 10-4-1

NYG -7
TB/NYG under 43 1/2
Az +13 1/2
Ind +3
NO -2 1/2
KC +3
KC/Buf under 44 1/2
Phi -2 1/2
Bal/Phi over 46
Mia +2 1/2
Hou -7
Sea +3
Dal/Sea over 42 1/2
Pit -5
Ten +6 1/2
SF -7

Supercontest update: 4-1 last week. I will try not to make any obvious typos this week, Wiz.

Ind +1
Phi -2.5
Sea +3
Pit -6
Ten +6
 

Summary of a night out

The two older boys had a birthday party to go to last night (laser tag!), so Janice, Martin and I teamed up with another family (that had 2 boys also attending the party, so their 21 month old daughter came along) and we went out to an unknown restaurant in Guangzhou. It served Yunnan food,which is a province in Southern China - bordering on Myanmar, Thailand and Laos. The food was reviewed as "tasty, but not overwhelmingly spicy". Ok, we will give it a shot.

What a night. First, the beer:

"Wind, Flower, Snow & Moon Beer".  I think there were flecks of opium in there as well. Guaranteed to put you to sleep in 2 hours!


Then - the arrival of the food. We sat in the center of the restaurant at a round table - so almost all patrons in the restaurant can see when our food arrived:

We ordered 8-9 dishes in all, and only 2 of them arrived on the top of the waiter's head!

Then, the entertainment! Around 7 pm, a show was put on by the staff (who you can see were all wearing the native costumes). This lasted about 10 minutes.....I'm sure there is an ancient story behind it that I am blissfully unaware of.....

 

(having trouble uploading....)

 

As you can tell by Martin's reaction in the video above - yes, it was quite loud.

Finally, we have the audience participation piece of the night! Yes, of course, the restaurant staff had a dance where they did a "Locomotion" type dance around the room....and of course they would pick the American in the yellow shirt!

All in all, a great night. A review of the food is in the next post. We will have to get Freddie and Warren back here at some point to experience it.

 

NFL Week 1 : Malaysian Chicken Satay

Hello and welcome again to an annual tradition - Eric's Themed NFL picks! It was tough to pick a topic this year; it came down to:
"Review of Asian Foods" vs. "Best $25,000 Pyramid Winner's Circle subjects"
 By a flip of a coin, the culinary idea won. Maybe we will look at "Things that are Violent" next year.

So our first trip out of China was a trip to Malaysia in the fall of 2010. Our life was in utter and complete chaos at that point, so a friend of ours directed us to a resort in the city of Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia to head for the October vacation that year. And - best news - there was no need to go off the resort; they had 6 different restaurants in the place; we found out on that vacation that the boys loved the Hibachi grill. (sadly, there is no Benihana in Guangzhou).

The most famous Malaysian food, I think, is meat served Satay style - meat skewed on a stick. And when I think of Satay, I think of the peanut sauce.  MMM-mmmm! Hunks of chicken in the shape of a kids' popsicle that I can dip in a vat of peanut butter....

The reality, however, is not like that. The sauce was excellent - it was very much as I expected. The meat? Well, the amount of meat on the stick barely covers the skewer. It is like a pipe cleaner's worth of meat on the wooden skewer - so when you try to eat it off the stick, you have to watch out for slivers on your tongue. The taste was fine, but I expected more than just gristle on a stick.

Grade: B- .

This is how I feel about the Browns in week 1. In my mind, I envision a sharp passing attack coupled with Richardson being explosive in the backfield...the defense being as solid as it was last year....and with a break or two, this game could (and should) be winnable!

In reality tomorrow, I hope I'm not watching gristle.

On to the picks:

Chi 23, Ind 17 . We all will focus on Luck on this game, but the key is Indy's good D line vs. Chicago's weak O.

NYJ 17, Buf 13. Again, we all focus on the Jets O - when we should focus on the Jets' D. How exactly will the Bills score?

NO 31, Was 17. Now that the players are vindicated, I need to stop typing and get in on this game before the line rises any more.

NE 30, Ten 24. Is Jake Locker really the one to exploit the weak Pats' D?

Min 24, Jax 13. I like Min's D Line vs. Gabbert.

Hou 27, Mia 7. Miami has a good defense and will stop the Texans -but how will they score?

Det 24, StL 20. Detroit is a one-dimensional team, they have questions in their secondary and I trust Fisher as a coach.

Atl 27, KC 23. We'll see how good each of these teams are with this game.

SF 27, GB 24. I think the Niners will move the ball against the porous GB pass D, and their own D will do just enough to stop the Pack.

TB 20, Car 19. Layup made a good point here - the Panthers were not very good in the 2nd half of the season once people starting figuring out Cam a bit.

Az 23, Sea 20. Wilson, Wilson, Wilson. The previews of this game sounds like a Dennis the Menace convention.

Den 27, Pit 17. I'm interested to see how good (or bad) Pit's O line is.

Bal 27, Cin 17. Ugh - high emotions in Baltimore?

SD 24, Oak 23. Double Ugh. I have no idea about this one.

Best bets: 15 this week.
 Ind +9.5
Buf/NYJ under 38
NO -8
NE/Ten over 47
Min -3.5
Hou -13
Mia/Hou under 42 1/2
St Louis +8.5
Atl/KC Over 43 1/2
SF +5
TB +2 1/2
Car/TB under 47
Az +2 1/2
Den -2
Bal -7

A review of results:
2011: 143-118-12  (54.8%)
Overall - 6 year history on F&J:   733-670-46 (52.2%)


The Supercontest is back! The picks for this week:

Min -3.5
NE +5.5
St L +7
TB +2.5
Den -1.5

I welcome any of you (Wiz, especially) to post your choices here.

 

Modell

Well, I see the day finally arrived - Art Modell has died.

This is not going to be a post where I write my hopes on what he is doing in the afterlife. The raw emotion of the move has long passed, but there is still some anger at what he did. With the move, he ripped a key part of my 20s away from me. Going to Browns games were a social highlight back then - being part of a community, seeing friends in Cleveland - and being able to do that 2-3 times a year was a big part of my pre-marriage life. That was ripped away. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but still...part of my life that I will never, never get back. It still makes me sad.

Of course, I can't blame Modell for the current state of the Browns - in fact, can't balme him for the last 10 years or so of ineptitude - but a few things I do want to state for the record:

1. I am happy that he will not be able to pass the franchise on to his family. That was a stated goal of his when he announced the move - and he will not, was not, able to do that.

2. I am getting sick of the revisionist history on Modell. "Yes, he moved the Browns...a controversial move" , some of the reports state. "But while he did so, he made sure to leave the colors and the name of the Browns in Cleveland".

That is a complete and utter lie. Maury Povich, I believe, has the results.

Some facts, just for the record:

- When Art was in Baltimore annoucing the move, there was a banner behind him: "Baltimore Browns".
- There was Baltimore Browns merchandise being sold in Baltimore.
That's why:
- I was part of an effort to clog the NFL offices' fax machine on Jan 11, 1996, protesting the move and demanding our colors. It took me about 2 hours to figure out how to do this from my hom computer at the time.
- I was part of an effort to send flowers to every NFL owners' wife - flowers in Brown and Orange - demadning our colors and history to be returned.
- I was part of a team getting signatures for a petition to get the colors and history back.

Yeah, yeah, I know...some of you are playing the world's smallest violin right now. I understand that.
But let's not mis-remember what happened in the mid 90s.

3. When I heard that  the Browns were going to have a moment of silence for Art, I was livid. Who approved this? This had nothing but disaster written all over it. We would look either like wimps who sat there and took it, or "imbeciles" that booed a dead man. There was no good side.

Where was our lame duck president to nullify this? (And no, I don't  mean Obama. Zing! Bad-da-bum). Holmgren was probably in Seattle this week.

But then I heard that we won't have the moment of silence at the stadium, "on request from the Modell family". Ha. I mean, I'm sure David Modell has nothing better to do than to call up Roger and say "oh, yeah, I was mourning my dad... and I thought, "let's not do the memorial in Cleveland? K? thanks.".
If you believe that, then you must believe my Browns prediction this week - Browns 31, Eagles 17.




 

New German Wine available

Went shopping in one of the newer grocery stores in Guangzhou last weekend. This new store, called Ole', is located in the basement of a very new, upscale shopping mall. So technically, we can get our groceries after purchasing a bag from Prada, underwear from Calvin Klein, and a watch from Mont Blanc.

I went to the wine section to get a bottle of white - and lo and behold, I was speechless at what I found. This bottle sold for 240 RMB - about $35 or so.

Of course we purchased one - to save? Maybe I will open it up after the Browns win this weekend. Or save for Martin's 18th birthday....

(The decorations in the store are seen here. I guess they were celebrating the US Labor Day weekend holiday.....)

(Their wine section is extensive, and expensive. A bottle of 1982 Chateau Rothschild is for sale for 115000RMB - about $18000. Is that a good bottle? I was not allowed to take pictures of it....)
 

Sad news from Cincinnati

Receive some sad news from P&G over the weekend. My friend Keith, who I've known as a P&G colleague for 14 years, lost his battle with cancer Saturday night. Keith was diagnosed with throat cancer about a year ago; he underwent chemo for a while - but then he received some horrible news this summer that the cancer had returned and worsened.

Keith was a wonderful person to work with, but (more importantly?) he was a great friend and "rival". We were in the same fantasy football league for 12 years; we met in the playoffs about once every two years in our league.  He went to Stanford and was a huge Cardinal fan; I proudly bragged about the Terps' regional final win in 2001 over the Cardinal loudly in the office.

He also was a huge Bengals fan - we went to 2 or 3 games in Cincinnati when the Browns came into town - none more important than the week 16 game in 2007. I was going to see the Browns clinch a playoff spot! However, that did not work out as Derek Anderson and Kellen Winslow argued with each other constantly on the field during the game; we lost, 19-14, and ended up missing the playoffs the next week when Tony Dungy laid down and played Jim Sorgi on Sunday night vs. the Titans. Keith also introduced me to the weekly NFL pick 'em pool that I have been playing for the last 8 years or so.

Keith is survived by his wife and two children. He will be missed.

What's wrong with this promo?

Time for our annual trip into nostalgia with NFL theme songs of the past! Here is a link to a "The NFL Today" opening from 1977.

Go ahead and watch the clip first, then come back....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUUMMlGPeMA&feature=related

Question: How many fines would have been given out for all those illegal hits we just saw? I love the clothesline of the punt returner. And, of course, the Turkey Jones slam of Terry Bradshaw has a special place in my heart.


Bonus Question: Has anyone every heard of Tuborg's? Where in Baltimore was that brewed?

 

The longest 2 hours.....

I used to think that the longest 2 hours EVER in the history of mankind was.....

1. The two hours before the NCAA Tournament pairings were announced.....
2. From 2-4 pm on Masters Sunday, when the coverage was limited to 3 hours only on Sunday;
3. The two hours between church and the 1 pm kickoff of the NFL games when Layup and I were growing up....


But I know the true answer to that question....

the longest 2 hours of mankind is hosting a birthday party for 4 year olds. You plan it all out - you have 12 types of games to play; it starts at 3, ends at 5; people even arrive late to shorten the party! The games begin at 3:15; after the 10th game of "Duck Duck Goose" and the 13th game of "Simon Says", you look at the clock...

.. and it says 3:39.

What the hell? Who turned the clock backward? I still have to keep these kids occupied for another 80 minutes?

It's been nothing but birthdays for the past 2 weeks - Warren's was the 24th and Martin's was the 30th. I love them, but I'm glad it's over......