National championship hopes over

Damn, the Ducks can't seem to catch a break- unless it's someone's leg, acl, etc. Come on- Paysinger, Colvin, Johnson and now Dixon! Just think how strong the team would have been if we had all those parts together. Now we have Brady Leaf hobbling around and handing off to Stewart- and everyone knows he's getting the ball. Forget trying to play the point spread- just enter a pool for the next injured Duck. My guess, Leaf- although it would be par for the course if Stewart got hurt. Anyway, I know we'll make a bowl game, maybe even a BCS bowl still, but who cares- we won't have anyone left to actually play in the bowl game.

More stuff

So I finally tried Sel Gris, where a couple of friends from school are working with Mr. Oregon Iron Chef Daniel Mondok. I have to say, I was pretty impressed. I like the restaurant itself- a small place that seats maybe 50 max. It has a small, but nicely equipped open kitchen. We went late night (being it's the only time I can go). Since I started working in fine dining I have discovered foie gras is one of the best things on earth. My dinner- a foie gras burger- which consisted of ground lamb and beef, not only topped with foie gras, but also with foie gras in the burger. And if that wasn't enough, it's also got foie in the aioli. Served on house baked brioche buns- this was probably the best burger I've ever had. Kristen had an interesting "frito misto" which loosely translated means assorted fried seafood. It was more than just a fish plate. It had squid, halibut and rock shrimp, but also preserved lemon and parsley. My friend told me that the entire dish is initially prepared in similar fashion to a ceviche and then fried to order. Good stuff. The pastry chef at Sel Gris is outstanding. We had a chocolate covered cherry bombe- and it tasted just as good as it looked- which was awesome! We plan to go back to SG to sample the dinner menu when I have time off in January.



Other news- not much going on. Just working hard. The mushrooms just keep coming in at JPH, we can't process them fast enough.



Well, it's late and I'm hungry, time to go eat and set my clocks back.

Faithfulness

So I haven't blogged for a while, but I was looking over all my old posts on here over the last 2 years and I realized something- God is SO faithful. There were times when I was working and going to school at the same time that I didn't think I'd make it. After school when I went to Cannon Beach for my internship there were definitely times I didn't think I'd make it- that it was too much being away from my wife. When the internship was finished, there was a difficult month or so where I wasn't sure Kristen and I would be able to find jobs that would have the type of benefits we so greatly need. But we did, and through it all, God remained faithful. So now, after school, internship and 3 jobs later, I can look back at it and see what God had planned all along. Yes, I wish I could have seen it when I was right in the middle of it, but that's never how it works. But I have to look back and praise God. He knows what is best for us, and doesn't fail to deliver on His promises.

Jesus for Sale

These t-shirts are not only cheesy, but they make me sad. A lot of people wonder why a person like myself- who graduated from a Bible college- hasn't gone to church in a couple years. Well, look at this picture. This is part of the reason. Some churches I've looked at actually have a "bookstore" in them. Others have relationships with bookstores and end up teaching from books/curriculum as much as the actual Bible- and recommending you go buy the book (i.e. Purpose Driven Life- 23 million copies). And don't even get me started on how much $ a person can spend on a Bible. Jesus is big business. Sad when you look at the scripture to see what Jesus himself actually thought about this type of behavior. "It is written," [Jesus] said to them, "'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a 'den of robbers.'" (Matthew 21:13) Hmm... using Jesus/God for financial gain- sounds like a den of robbers to me.

Dinner

Snake River Farms American Kobe Beef sirloin, organic white asparagus and quenelles of polenta with Rogue Creamery Oregonzola cheese.

New stuff coming soon

Yeah, I'm planning to actually start posting some stuff again. See if you can keep up.

Here are some notes for you:

Restaurants that are good: Country Cat, Cafe Castagna, Vivi's Noodles, Blackfish Cafe (lincoln city)

Restaurant that sucks: Dessert Noir

Next restaurant I want to try: Sel Gris

Last movie I paid $ for: Transformers 2 disc dvd- with transforming dvd case- I'm such a dork

Biggest waste of movie $ this summer: Simpsons movie

Sign I'm getting older: I listen to talk radio in the car- just like I used to hate when my parents did it

Measure 49- leaning towards no, but having trouble understanding if yes or no is better as both arguments sound the same

Measure 50- no

more stuff soon...

Forget MAX- We need one of these!

The fastest train in the world record was broken again. If we had one of these on the west coast I could be from Portland to Seattle in about half an hour, or San Francisco in less then 2 hours. How sweet would that be?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070403/lf_afp/francetransportrailrecord_070403043036

Super Mario 64

With an emulator you can play it on your computer. I'm addicted.