My 2012 in Pictures

My 2012 in Pictures!

Why I Voted for Barack Obama

Election day is tomorrow but I've already voted and I'm proud to say that for the second time in my life I voted for Barack Obama.

It's not easy being a liberal in a mostly conservative section of Iowa but my surroundings have helped myself define what I believe in and why I believe in it.

Here's why I voted for Barack Obama this year:

1. I trust him. I believe that he is doing what is right for our country and that he is a leader. He inherited a fiscal and economic mess and has done a VERY good job getting us back on the right direction. What about the $16 trillion debt, you might ask? Well, the current deficit is largely made up of costs associated with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan along with stimulus and TARP money designed to get us out of the worst economic crisis since the great depression. So don't tell me that Obama is a free-spending liberal. He's not.
2. We need to reduce the debt and work toward a budget surplus. Romney will spend $5 trillion on tax cuts and increase defensive spending by $2 trillion. You can't find enough cuts to make up for $7 trillion in lost revenue. Obama will be brave in a second term and I think he'll push like hell for Bowles-Simpson to get passed (spending cuts AND tax increases). There is no real path forward for debt reduction without increases in revenue.
3. He's the first President to support same-sex marriages and he is DEFINITELY on the right side of history with this - just look at how strongly young people favor equality over bigotry. I have many friends who are gay and they deserve every single right to be happy that I deserve.
4. We're out of Iraq. Bin Laden is dead. We're getting out of Afghanistan. Questions about Benghazi? Really? You're raising a fit about Benghazi but didn't mind when we went to war with a country that had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks?
5. I think every American DESERVES the right to health care. A lot of misinformation is out there in regard to Obamacare and I'm certainly no expert but this is a step in the right direction. Premiums have been going up by double digits year after year and something needed to be done. Parts of Obamacare may not be perfect but it's a good framework for improved access to health care and a reduction in the cost of health care.
6. Mitt Romney changes his positions on a whim, has no foreign policy experience and I honestly believe that he believes that providing more money to rich people will strengthen the economy when income inequality has only been increasing and the middle class continues to get hit. Directing money to the rich and hoping it trickles down is voodoo economics.

I'm incredibly proud to have voted for Barack Obama this year and I'm stoked to see him in Des Moines tonight.

Presidents do bold things in their second terms and I can't wait to see what progress we make during four more years with President Obama in the White House.

Enjoy the ride (and go vote no matter who you support),

Damm

PS. Vote to retain ALL of the judges. You're voting on their judicial abilities NOT on whether or not you agree with their decisions. Seriously.

The Best Meal of My Life - Comerç, 24, Barcelona

On a narrow street in the Born district of Barcelona, is one of the world's top restaurants (in my opinion at least) - Comerç, 24. Chef Carles Abellán is the protégé of Ferran Adriá who envisioned El Bulli - widely considered to be the best restaurant in the world until it closed in 2011 so Adriá could pursue other projects.

Eating at a restaurant of this quality was one of my 30 goals to accomplish by the time I turned 30 and on May 3rd I crossed this one off the list!

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Joining me for this incredible experience was my buddy Andrew Blum who traveled with me in Spain for a week. We were both absolute newbies to this type of dining experience but we quickly adjusted!

The meal started with a selection of 3 fresh breads and 4 Spanish olive oils along with sea salt. They also brought out a wine list with only glasses of Spanish cava (champagne) at 6€ per glass (not too bad really).

The next decision for the meal involved what tasting menu we were going to select. After reading a lot of online reviews before coming here I knew that it was going to be the most expensive meal of my life, so we decided to go big and go with the 12 course Grand Festival Menu at 106€ each (Blum saved me some money on the flight so I was covering the check for this meal).

Our awesome waiter let us know that this was an excellent selection and then the sommelier came over to take our wine order. The sommelier turned out to be our favorite server of the evening. He obviously knew a TON about wine and he helped us pick some great value wines starting with a Spanish Vionta Albariño (white) and later in the meal an incredible Remelluri Reserva Rioja (red) - both were under 30€ per bottle.

The Albariño paired perfectly with the seafood - it had an awesome citrus flavor but wasn't overly sweet. The Rioja was a rich, complex red and the sommelier said it was an outstanding wine for the price. We agreed!

Now to the meal.

The opening course was a cold cauliflower soup with smoked tea and nori, cauliflower with ginger and rice vinegar served on a stone and monkfish sashimi with black sesame and black garlic (above). At this point we knew we were in for something special. Each dish had such complex flavors while also seeming so simple and thoroughly enjoyable.

Next was Pizza 24. A flatbread cracker with mozzarella, anchovy, greens and a strawberry. A strange combination but absolutely brilliant. Each ingredient was of the highest quality.

And then we were served filo dough stuffed with Parmesan cheese, lemon and basil. The lemon flavor became increasingly intense until the basil leaf polished the dish off with a perfect note. This is in the point in the meal that we just started laughing with delight. And the adventure was only beginning...

Each dish was served with an explanation of what was before us but we constantly had to ask questions about what each ingredient was (sometimes having difficulty understanding our server's English). This dish, of course, was a large oyster on a bed of ice with beet root foam on top. My first foam experience and the texture was indescribably fun. Like cotton candy melting in your mouth - the oyster happily sliding its way into your throat.

Now for my favorite dish of the meal.....beach shrimp ceviche in a peach wine broth. The shrimp was nice and cold. The onion slice added a little crunch but the star of the dish was the peach wine. I've been lucky enough to have some of the best ceviche on earth in Lima, Peru, and this was even better. I ended up drinking the broth from the saucer - not wanting to waste a drop of this perfection.

The seafood continued with cockles and sea urchin in a cold Japanese dashi broth. Most of my friends would never eat this dish but the brave ones would be rewarded with an incredible reward of outstanding seafood in a salty broth. I wonder if you can even buy cockles and sea urchin anywhere in Iowa?

Another highlight of the meal was this tuna sashimi on a cracker with some other shit that I can't even remember right now and my notes made no mention of. At this point in the meal, I wrote into my iPhone - "This is art. The Da Vinci of food. Mind blowing. Wow."

I remember repeatedly saying "Wow" over and over again during this meal. There would be long periods of silence between Blum and I - we just couldn't describe what we were experiencing. I'm trying to do this place justice through my words and iPhone pictures but I'm sure it's all being lost in translation.

As a sardine novice I didn't know what to expect when this dish was presented but once again it blew our minds. Three beautiful pieces of sardine with orange, micro greens and wasabi (not the paste version of sushi restaurants but the grated form).

Here is tuna tartar with an egg yolk at the bottom and salmon eggs that popped in the mouth like candy with a juice filling. So fucking amazing. (Side note: we're probably about 2 hours into the meal at this point but we totally lost track of time. The meal ended up lasting from about 8:45 pm to 12:30 am and it was not because of slow service. It takes a long time to serve this much food and we savored every moment of it!)

Our next seafood course was squid with black sausage, fresh peas and mint. I hate peas but loved these because they were garden fresh and the mint was a classic combo. The squid was perfectly prepared and all of these ingredients somehow matched perfectly together with a buttery sauce tying it all together.

This is french onion soup with a beautiful egg and crunch croutons. The egg was perfect. Absolutely perfect. I went to take a bite with my spoon and the yolk ran out into the broth - the dish recreating itself before my eyes. The broth was nice and salty. The spoon was small so we could savor each bite. The course ended with the bowl up to my lips once again. Slurp. Next course please.

The next course was the famous Kinder Egg. "What's in it?" we asked. "Some things must remain a surprise," the waiter replied. We'd later discover it was a mashed potato foam with black truffles at the bottom of the egg. It was my first experience with truffles and I couldn't believe how earthy they were...mushrooms on steroids. Very intense flavor.

Then we moved to the rabbit with rice, cubes of apple and shavings of lime. The rabbit was so perfectly cooked - tasted a lot like good chicken thigh and the rice was not at all dry. The cubes of apple were a brilliant touch and added a great crunch to the dish. For me, it was another highlight and another excellent experience eating rabbit!

"Here is for you to smell," said our waiter. It was simply fresh rosemary and thyme herbs in a hot oil that released an incredible smell - a perfume really. He left us with this bowl of fragrant herbs for a couple minutes and we inhaled the smell like chain smokers inhaling their last bit of nicotine before entering the airport.

Then they brought out a white fish with mashed potatoes, a foam of some sort and fried skin of the fish. The waiter also came equipped with another profound statement...."Here is the sea and to smell you have the forest."

We just smiled and laughed.

The final entree before our hour-long dessert escapade was beef sirloin with turnips that tasted like scallops they were so incredibly pink and perfectly prepared. The beef was medium rare as they recommended and every part about this dish melted in the mouth. I was convinced we were eating scallops until I read our final menu and saw no mention of them. Genius.

Then came dessert. And it lasted for an hour. This was Mel i Mato. A Catalan dessert with cheese, honey, coconut shavings and chocolate shavings. Wonderful.

Then my favorite - lemon iced tea. A scoop cream with caramelized lemon rind? an iced tea broth and something that tasted like lemon but I'm not sure what is was.....The dish though was cool, refreshing and the highlight of dessert. 

Requit Napolita.

Apple and saffron with ice cream. Incredible pairing. Genius.

Nougat with twin chocolate cigar.

Conguito C, 24 - a shell of chocolate with olive oil and salt. The shell of chocolate was filled with air - you put it in your mouth and poof - it was gone.

We thought we were done when we declined the offer for coffee but they had one last surprise. From left to right, white chocolate tablets flavored with green tea, chocolate covered in gold paint, wild pine nuts with chocolate and dark cacao, and lastly Oreo vanilla with black sesame.

At the end of the meal they printed our menu from the evening and even listed our wine selections and the date to the left!

Myself, our two waiters and Blum.

The 4-hour meal ended around 12:30 am and by this point we were a little tipsy and definitely full.

Tipsy on the wine but also a little drunk with delight from the artistic culinary experience.

You can only really see a painting. But with food you can see it and smell it and taste it and feel it.

At its very best, food is art.

And Comerç, 24 is food at its very best.

Enjoy the ride (and the meal),

Damm

Hotel Nirvana

Like a Buddhist monk arriving at Hotel Nirvana I feel like I've reached my place of enlightenment recently. However, unlike the Buddhist monk, I check into the Hotel and then I check out and then I check in and then I check out and so on and so forth.

Why is it that we know what is important in life but we so often move away from the important things?

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I've always been a list maker. You may remember that I made a list of 30 thing to do before I turn 30. I made this list over a year ago and have accomplished only 3 of the goals. I have some work to do.

For the month of April, I made a list of things to give up - a friend is calling it "monk month."

My hope is that by giving up some of the less important items in my life I can focus on my larger goals like running longer distances, eating healthier, traveling more, spending more time with friends and less time with my TV.

Here's what I've decided to give up or cut back on for April:

• No TV (except for The Masters and Game of Thrones on Sunday nights)
• No Movies
• No Soda of any kind
• No fast food and no pizza
• No Alcohol (with just a couple exceptions)

I know what is important and it's high time I move toward the 27 remaining goals that I have left to complete in only 21 months.

So here's what is on the horizon for me as I try to check back into Hotel Nirvana...

I've been taking Rosetta Stone in order to become fluent in Spanish (goal #1).

I'm following a marathon training program right now to get ready for Grandma's Marathon in Duluth in June and I've registered for the Twin Cities Marathon in October (goal #18).

In May I'm getting Lasik eye surgery done (goal #28).

At the end of April, I'm taking a trip to Spain with a buddy and the plan is to see a FC Barcelona soccer match (goal #16) and also eat at a world-class molecular gastronomy restaurant (goal #22).

There are many more goals to work toward but I'm in a good place right now. More focused. More determined.

It's a good Friday to remember that we have a lot to be thankful for and a lot to accomplish during our journey.

Enjoy the ride,
Damm

A Reflection on Movies

The first movie of my life will always remain a mystery but the most recent movie I've seen will always be fresh in my mind. The movies have taught me many great lessons, they've often made my day or night better -- sometimes they've made them worse.

Movies have made me see through the eyes of a child again. And they have taught lessons of wisdom at a young age.

Most of the films that I've seen I have not been able to discuss with my peers -- hopefully this blog will create a dialogue with other film buffs. I watch too many old movies, documentaries, foreign films and unknown treasures to be considered a "normal" 28-year-old film lover.

While in college I sat in my dorm room one afternoon during finals week and watched Schindler's List for the first time. I cried my eyes out as I thought about the incredible compassion a single human could exemplify in the face of oppression and evil.

I once rented Ikiru by Akira Kurosawa on a VCR tape, took it to my parents house and watched the black and white Japanese film with subtitles by myself. Roger Ebert's review of Ikiru made the film even more magical for me:

"His voice is soft and he scarcely moves his lips, but the bar falls silent, the party girls and the drunken salary men drawn for a moment into a reverie about the shortness of their own lives."

I've seen dozens of foreign films with subtitles that have become absolute favorites: Pan's Labyrinth, Y Tu Mama Tambien, The Lives of Others, The Chorus, City of God, Cinema Paradiso, and so many more.

Books may often be the "better" version of a story but the images from movies haunt our dreams at night.

I couldn't sleep after seeing The Sixth Sense or Devil's Backbone. While the beauty of Monica Bellucci in Malena and the sensuality of Penelope Cruz in Volver have haunted my dreams in a much more pleasant fashion.

Movies have made me a better person. Casablanca taught me that the difficult choice is often the most noble. The Shawshank Redemption taught me to "get busy livin' or get busy dyin'." Chariots of Fire taught me to strive for greatness. Dead Man Walking made me no longer believe in the death penalty. Caddyshack taught me....well, "gunga - la gun gala."

Quentin Tarantino compels me to think outside the box. Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola have convinced me that loyalty and family are very important. Guillermo Del Toro and Peter Jackson remind me to see the world as the incredible fantasy that it is. Woody Allen pushes my intellectual capacity and urges me to become a conversationalist. Steven Soderbergh shows that there is substance in style. Pedro Almodovar teaches tolerance through the portrayal of absolutely fucked up melodramatic situations.

I've rated 979 movies on Netflix which means I've certainly seen over 1,000 movies in my life - probably closer to 2,000 in all honesty.

A recent documentary I watched philosophizes about what makes us human. Over 30,000 years ago humans were creating art in the caves of France and now we continue to make art through the medium of film. Why do we do this?

I can only imagine that just like the early humans desired to depict their world on the walls of caves we also desire to depict our world on the screens of movie theaters and the televisions in our homes.

We want to hear stories. We want to laugh and cry. We want to see what else is out there. We want to believe in the goodness of humanity.

And maybe more than anything, we want to find the answer to the question of what, indeed, does make us human.

So go watch a movie that inspires your life. Find films that challenge you. I guarantee they'll make you a better, more well-rounded human being.

Enjoy the movies and...

Enjoy the ride,

Damm

My Top 20 Foreign Films of All-Time

My Top 10 of 2010

Cities

A city asks a lot of you. It calls for you to enjoy its vistas. Its soil demands that you take great care to produce the finest quality foods – so that savoring the gastronomical delights of this specific patch of earth allows you to marry the food and the land together in your memory. The sweet corn of a small town in Iowa. The acidity of ceviche in Lima. The salty jamon of Barcelona. The lardo di Colonnata.

A city allows you to come and it allows you to leave. The city has a special power so that you often leave with regret and enter with great joy.

The buildings of cities can be incredibly familiar and mysteriously unknown. You know the naves, crevices, nooks and crannies of your local church yet you enter the majestic Notre Dame with awe and trepidation – not knowing what mysteries and stories have taken place within her walls in your absence.

Running through the many alleys and pathways of a small town can take years – in larger cities, you will never know all of the roads that lead to homes, restaurants, and places of work.

A city can be an extension of your identity and a city’s identity can be an extension of the persona of its inhabitants. The authors, composers, artists, architects, and athletes all defining the existence of a place that could otherwise have been left empty.

Can you imagine a London without Shakespeare? Can you imagine a Vienna without Mozart? What about a Florence without Da Vinci? A modern Paris without the Eiffel Tower...surely not. Or what would Chicago now be without Michael Jordan or Oprah?

So the city continues to exist because we continue to live collectively. Our life intertwining with other lives in many different places.

Looking Back

Wow, so I guess it has been quite a while since I've updated my blog. It certainly has been a busy last couple of months and whenever I've had ideas or events to blog about I haven't had the motivation.

I'm not going to go into a lengthy post about everything I've done since early August but here are some brief highlights:

Lollapalooza - In early August, I made a 3-day weekend into a fairly non-stop weekend of music and partying. I ventured to downtown Chicago after work on a Thursday and arrived at my cousin's downtown apartment by Midnight. From Friday to Sunday, I balanced spending time with my cousins and trying to attend all the sets of the groups that I love and discovering new bands.

Young the Giant was as good live as they are in the studio and their after show was incredible -- I made it to the first row of the after show at a small venue and literally stood beside the lead singer during part of the performance!

Phantogram knocked my socks off with their deep beats and beautiful melodies -- I'm seeing them again tomorrow in Minneapolis. Foster the People played their hits to a huge crowd. Foo Fighters rocked out in the rain. The Glitch Mob and Skrillex killed it at Perry's DJ tent.

Ellie Goulding danced around with her white legs and British accent at the Google+ Stage. I fell asleep to My Morning Jacket as I sat to the side of the stage after a long Saturday of music. MUSE put on the best live performance that I've ever seen.

Deadmau5 produced some of the coolest live music and lights against the backdrop of the Chicago skyline. NAS and Damian Marley were awesome and one could almost see them through the haze of marijuana smoke that was drifting throughout the crowd. Walk the Moon played zero songs that I knew but I now know all of them well!

I saw the White Lies for the second time and Two Door Cinema Club for the first. And while Dale Earnhardt Jr. was not there Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. was a great live band to see!

So it ended up being an incredible weekend of music and I wasn't even a bit tired as I drove home from 10 pm until 4:30 am on Sunday night/Monday morning.

Triathlons - With all the madness of the summer, I neglected to train like I needed to in order to accomplish my triathlon goals. I battled through allergies and a cold to complete the Tree Town Adventure Race in Forest City. It was a very well organized race and I had a blast kayaking down the Winnebago, biking through Pilot Knob and running the bike path through Pammel Park.

Later in August I had my first ever Did-Not-Finish in a race when I had some lower back issues at a 70.3 mile triathlon near Cedar Rapids. I completed the 1.2 mile swim and the 56 mile bike through hilly terrain but couldn't muster enough strength to attempt the 13.1 mile run when my lower back hurt enough that I almost didn't complete the bike. It was a depressing day for me and a reminder that I have to train and work hard if I'm going to do races of this distance.

Seattle/Tacoma - At the end of August, I traveled to Tacoma, Washington, to hang out with some buddies for a week. We went to a Mariners game, went out in Tacoma and Seattle, ate some great seafood and also drove up to Cape Flattery (the Northwest tip of the continental U.S.) and went surfing. Surfing was one of my 30 Things to do Before I Turn 30 and it was both exhausting and fun -- I definitely want to do it again but maybe in warmer waters.

Las Vegas - I traveled to Las Vegas for work in October and stayed at the BELLAGIO! Boosh. Even working 8-9 hours per day, we were able to get in two rounds of golf, dinner at a Michelin Star restaurant (Michael Mina at Bellagio), I played a fair amount of poker and also saw Cirque du Soleil's KA at the MGM Grand. One night I stayed up until 4:30 am and had to be up by 6:30 am for work. Let's just say 5 nights in Vegas was enough.

Odds and Ends - I've been playing quite a bit of poker lately and feel like I've been playing well -- other than some momentary brain lapses in a tournament last weekend. My hourly rate is increasing and I think I've made some fairly advanced plays at my stakes. My next step is to build my comfort level playing $2-5 NL Hold Em and be a little more consistent when I play.

We took 3rd place this year at the Bear Creek Pro-Am in August and I had a great time playing with my boss and two of his friends.

Want to see a strange, poetic movie? Check out "Tree of Life" with Brad Pitt. It's weird but I think I liked it.

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While I apologize that it has taken so long to write a blog entry, maybe it's a good thing.

I'm starting to spend a lot more time looking forward than looking back.

Enjoy the ride,

Damm