Hal O'Brien

I'm writing at Geraldine's Counter in Columbia City, waiting on my car getting some work done at Larry's Volvo.

We've wanted to stop at Geraldine's for a while. I'm happy to report it's as nice as word-of-mouth has it. I had an "Emerald Scramble," an eggy, sausagey, oniony, cheesy, hash brownie thing that was surprisingly subtle given the ingredients. The sausage in particular, coming from Cascioppo Bros, it seems, had a nice earthy quality to it. This ain't no Jimmy Dean sausage.

The space itself is very pleasant, too. Exposed brick walls, big windows. I'm sitting right by a window now, with good people watching of the corner of Rainier and Ferdinand.

But that's not what I'm here to talk about.

I'm here to talk about how I appreciate the Financial Times' coverage of the world, compared to the US press. Some examples:

* "Egyptians got a rude shock this Ramadan season with the return of power cuts -- something most parts of the country thought they had put behind them years ago."

* "Tony Blair's book, A Journey, was intended to be different from traditional political memoirs, which are 'easy to put down', according to the author. Opinions will differ about its readability."

* "Andy Warhol predicted that in the future everybody would be famous for 15 minutes. The Japanese are perfecting an even more egalitarian system under which everybody gets to spend 15 minutes as prime minister."

* "Russia announced a 12-month extension of its grain export ban yesterday, raising fears about a return to the food shortages of 2007-08 which spread through developing countries dependent on imports... The 2007-08 food shortage, the most severe in 30 years, set off riots in countries from Bangladesh to Mexico, and helped trigger the collapse of governments in Haiti and Madagascar... Wheat prices have surged nearly 70 per cent since January, and analysts forecast further rises after Russia's decision and concerns about weather damage to Australia's crop."

When it comes to the food piece, especially, I think I've heard a small item about Australia having trouble with their crop. The rest is all news to me, and I think of myself as someone who follows such issues reasonably conscientiously. And, of course, we all remember the banner headlines in the US about the global food shortages in 2007-08, the worst in 30 years, right?

No?

Absolutely great piece in the New York Times about touring Paris with a 200-year-old guidebook written by a gourmand (Alexandre-Balthazar-Laurent Grimod de la Reynière) in hand.

Kottke points to a very informative page on evolving portion sizes -- something of a coincidence, since akirlu and I were talking about this earlier today. (Along with how Swedes bike to work so much more often than Americans do -- she remembers the parking lot at Bofors, the arms manufacturer that's the key employer at her native town, having far more bikes than cars.)

Further proof, if one needs it, that Dr. Atkins has seeped in everywhere:

Today, I went to our apartment complex's office, to pay the rent (the rent varies month-to-month because of water, sewage, & garbage charges, and they'd lost the cards this mailing).

And, as big apartment complex offices do, they gave me a freebie.

Two toffee bars. From Russell Stover.

Except... These were low-carb toffees, using Splenda as the sweetener.

Ye gods.