This week marked the end of the first full month of Gut Check. And what a week it was!
- We made canteloupe sorbet -- with parsley.
- We learned that the owner of one of our favorite places needs some help.
- We made a few, poor pho-related puns.
- We worried about booty.
There's much more. Go check it out!
Oh sure, we’re pulling for hometown fave Andi Smith on NBC’s Last Comic Standing.
But what we really want to know is when Mike O’Connell and Dr. Ken will find their place in the sun.
Take that, Cahokia!
But before we sip from this cup of civic nectar, let's consider the source. Per the press release: The blind taste test was conducted by "hundreds" of mayors, who tested waters for their "taste, clarity and aroma."
Putting aside for the moment the fact that blinded mayors would likely make extremely poor judges of beverage clarity, consider that this panel of jurors lavished praise on the tap water that flows from faucets in Long Beach and Toledo -- not exactly Evian country.
In fact, after a five-year investigation (1998-2003), the Environmental Working Group, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit, found that Long Beach's tap water contained up to thirteen different pollutants. Among them: arsenic,(4) and thallium, a poison used to kill rodents.
Toledo fared even worse. The Environmental Working Group found that Ohio's fourth-largest city had sixteen different pollutants in its municipal water pipe. Toledo's top contaminants? Phosphorus, a chemical element used in fertilizers; bromodichloromethane and dibromochloromethane, both byproducts of chlorine.
Compared to Toledo and Long Beach, St. Louis comes out looking like a champ. The Environmental Working Group found that our city's municipal well had a mere six contaminants. Again bromodichloromethane and dibromochloromethane topped the list (in concentrations that exceeded unenforcible EPA recommendations), but St. Louis' water had one thing that our competitors didn't: vinyl chloride, an industrial chemical associated with plastic manufacturing. Not only that, our water had such a generous dose of the chemical that we ranked ninth overall in vinyl chloride concentration.
Still, the St. Louis Water Division is proud of its work. The division processes roughly 150 million gallons of water it pulls each day from the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, and it tests for 150 possible contaminants. Last year the division found a mere fourteen offending pollutants -- all at concentration levels below required limits. "In fact, we have never violated a water quality regulation in 100 years of testing," the city's 2006 Water Quality Report informs us in a bold font.
So who cares that last year one of the city's 60 water filters failed, resulting in an EPA minor monitoring violation? The country's mayors have spoken -- and how could a roomful of politicians be wrong?
The new Cardinal hurler’s surname is just a quick anagram away from Mothra -- the gigantic lepidopteran that gobbled up scores of Japanese villagers during a run of 1960s schlock thrillers. (One can only hope Maroth eats up innings with similar abandon.)
Intrigued by this wordplay phenomenon, we threw a few Cardinals players and staff into the text tumbler at Internet Anagram Server. Outfielder Juan Encarnacion returned as the colorful Cancan Ninja Euro while injured shortstop David Eckstein came back A Dick Invested.
Albert Pujols rearranges to Burlap Jostle. Ryan Ludwick is A Cud Wrinkly, Adam Wainwright, A Withdrawn Magi. So Taguchi renders Hag Coitus, or, if you prefer, A Stoic Hug.
Tony La Russa, meanwhile, returns a whopping 2,497 alternatives. Favorites: Analyst Ours, Satan Sourly and Lunar Ass Toy -- which, if it isn’t already a movie title, sounds as out-of-this-world outrageous as anything Japanese filmmakers could ever dream up.
Also in this week's paper: Kristie's indoor-soccer team takes on Fiji Natural Artesian Water, while Malcolm tries to keep down a Tyson Fully Cooked Fajita Chicken Breast Strip.
Scope out Ian's blog, Gut Check!
The wags around the Cardinals press box call Rick Hummel "The Commish."
Unreal doesn't call him that; Unreal doesn't call him anything at all. We pretty much just try to stay out of his way. After all, being the dean of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sports section -- and on the cusp of being enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown -- Hummel's got a job to do, while Unreal's usually satisfied with the happy-to-be-there aspect of the situation, and the free peanuts and popcorn.
Anyhoo, we were a whit perplexed this morning when we opened our Post Sports section to find Hummel's page-two expostulation entitled "Brew ha ha." In it, Hummel (did we mention he's going into the Hall of Fame?) performs some mathematical gyrations on the remaining regular-season schedule and concludes that the Milwaukee Brewers have a "strong" potential advantage over the Redbirds, by virtue of the fact that the Brew Crew will play
"only 27 of its final games against teams with .500 or better records and a whopping 58 games against teams that are under .500."
The Cardinals, meanwhile, will play
"39 games against teams with winning records and 49 against losing clubs."
All true. But what Hummel doesn't take into account is that the Cardinals and the Brewers are scheduled to play each other ten more times this year.
If we take those games -- which pit a team that currently sports a losing record (Cardinals) against a team with a winning record (Brewers) -- out of the equation, we are left to contemplate these thought-provoking numbers:
CARDS VS. > .500 CLUBS: 29 GAMES
BREWERS VS. > .500 CLUBS: 27 GAMES
CARDS VS. < .500 CLUBS: 49 GAMES
BREWERS VS. < .500 CLUBS: 48 GAMES
Spellbinding! (Did we mention Hummel's on his way to the Hall of Fame?)
Actually, the schedule does potentially favor the Brewers, above and beyond the fact that they get to play the lowly Cardinals ten more times, while the Cardinals must contend with the mighty Brewers ten more times.
If you look at the combined current winning percentage of all the teams' remaining foes, the Cardinals are facing an aggregate winning percentage of .475, while the Brewers are staring down the pea-shooter barrel of a .460. (If you factor the Cards' and Brewers' records back in, à la Hummel, the Cards are looking at .488, the Brewers .460.)
Straddling the line between columnist and reporter, French has frequently managed to break news while simultaneously delivering harsh critiques against the former Clinkscale-Schoemehl-Jackson-Archibald board majority and its two superintendent picks, William Roberti (Class of '03-'04) and Creg Williams ('05-'06).
Members of American Federation of Teachers Local 420 and their supporters turned often to PubDef.net for confirmation of their theory that St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay "and his cronies" were plotting to dismantle the cash-poor and crippled school system.
Most recently French griped about the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's controversial decision to set up a three-person transitional board to take over the district.
But now French might have lost his street cred.
Not long ago SLPS parent and gadfly Susan Turk -- who took up where Peter Downs left off with his St. Louis Schools Watch opinion sheet on the SLPS -- figured out that PubDef.net doesn't put food on French's table.
In fact, he's been a political consultant for a couple years, and his business, A.D. French & Associates, recently ran Lewis Reed's campaign for the presidency of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen.
Turk blew a fuse, then fired off an e-mail to Schools Watch and PUBDef readers:
He has accumulated vast holdings but declines to expound to neighbors on his plans and responded to media inquiries only through written statements.
Now that Riverfront Times and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch have covered his land-related political maneuvering, people who know McKee's work in St. Charles County are coming forward to tell the story of a good guy who listens to people and wants nothing more than to build community.
Letters in McKee's defense appeared in the Post last week, and on Friday I received a missive from Moira Ross, a resident of WingHaven, McKee's giant development off Highway 40 in O'Fallon.
Writes Ross:
I am a "flaming" liberal, as someone close to me often accuses me of being. I ride my bike to work, grow my own organic vegetables, rail against the blunders of a President whose policies I have stood on street corners protesting, was a campaign manager for a leftward leaning sociology professor running for state senate, drink free trade coffee and "give to just about every NGO assisting the world's poor" (this from the same person that accuses me of being a "flaming liberal"). In other words, I am a fish out of water in St Charles County, where I live and where I have come to know and respect Paul McKee.
Well, if this woman was willing to put her "liberal" rep on the line, I wanted to hear more.
Ross, 49, earned a master's degree at Washington University and aspired to oversee microlending to entrepreneurs in Third World countries. She ended up following her husband, a fellow Wash. U. graduate, to small towns in the Midwest, where he became a hospital administrator.
From the files of Gut Check, the RFT food blog:
Sunday, a shade after noon. I wake up groggily. After one too many beers the night before – I attended my colleague Randy Roberts’ going-away party, after all – my foggy brain can only focus on consuming two things: La Dolce Via’s bottomless cup of coffee and its seasonal delicacy, berries and cream.
I reach the bakery and order the above, along with a savory scone. The plump, juicy berries arrive and begin to soothe my looming hangover; the perfectly cooked egg and buttery bread of the scone further dissipates my dull headache. And after three or four cups of coffee (the glass is small, OK?), I’m starting to feel great.
I linger over my java as a sudden summer shower erupts. There’s a hand-written note on a jar atop the bakery case: “Marcia’s surgery fund.” I ask what that’s about.
According to the clerk I spoke with, La Dolce Via owner Marcia Sindel recently had surgery for herniated discs in her back -- and, dedicated owner that she is, was back at the bakery/restaurant nearly right away. (They wouldn’t let her work.) She still needs surgery for other ailments, however: benign nodes on her vocal cords, and on the muscles/tendons in her forearm, due to repetitive motion injuries.
Besides having some of the best food and atmosphere in the city, Sindel and her crew are some of the nicest, most hospitable people around. Head over to 4474 Arco Avenue and throw a few bucks into the jar for Marcia – and while you’re there, buy a brownie and some coffee. Just make sure to leave some berries for me.
It was unofficially 1990s week on A to Z, the RFT's music blog. Surf on over to see what you missed:
-- an exclusive track-by-track sneak preview of the new Smashing Pumpkins record, Zeitgeist
-- exclusive live pictures of Tool's show in Cape Girardeau last Saturday night
-- an interview with Ben Folds about the legacy of 1997's Whatever and Ever Amen and his current place in pop history
-- shows announced from the Polyphonic Spree, Jesse Lacey (Brand New), Bobby Bare Jr.'s Pixies covers band, Blowfly, Akron/Family, Ari Hest, Manchester Orchestra/Dios Malos, Umbrellas, Valient Thorr and more!
-- the Long Winters' John Roderick's excellent adventures in eating and blogging
-- new restaurant El Scorcho and its patron saint, Weezer's Rivers Cuomo
-- local band of the week: The 75s
It was a busy week at Gut Check. We
- asked for your help to make ice cream.
- made an unexpected connection between a new barbecue and Tex-Mex joint in Maplewood and a certain rock group with quite a cult following.
- wondered whether the Tuxedo Room could have a second act.
Be sure to check it out!
But night before last Weaver threw a complete game, four-hit shutout.
You read that correctly: Jeff Weaver. Complete game. Shutout. He also struck out five and lowered his season ERA by nearly three points, from a humiliating 10.97 to a merely laughable 8.56.
The frightening part is that Weaver has been borderline consistent since his stint on the DL, posting 1.89 ERA with hitters batting just .225 off him in June. Seattle fans remain cautiously optimistic.
The prognosis? Weaver’s grandmother could throw left-handed and be decent against the Cubs, Padres and Pirates. Let’s see how he fares next week against the Red Sox.
Well, he's back!
That's right. Ashby's back, and running for president again. This time he's broken ranks and will pursue the highest office in this great land as an independent.
But don't take your ol' buddy Unreal's word for it. Sit back and enjoy his four-minute manifesto, captured for posterity on YouTube:
Sweetest sound bite:
"I have lived in a lot of different places in my life, some good, some bad. in some of these neighborhoods, if someone came up to me and said some of the things the Republican Party is saying, my response to them would be: 'You must be smokin' crack. There is no way you can believe the words coming out of your mouth.'
"And the more I've thought about it, the more I realize that this is the problem: Crack-smoking Republicans have taken over the Republican Party."
If you're in the mood for a trip down memory lane, you can see each of the Many Moods here, and you can visit Ashby's 2004 campaign Web site, ashby2004.com, here.
Better make that: What Planet Are They Living On? Or: What Are They Smoking?
The other day we blogged about the Post-Dispatch's penchant for ripping off RFT stories by re-reporting them and publishing them as their own.
Today we opened our P-D and encountered this headline, on page two of the Sports section:
"Irons replaced by Bonner"
The brief (280 words) story by Tom Wheatley that ran beneath that headline informs readers that Floyd Irons, legendary boys' basketball coach at Vashon High School, was relieved of his duties last July and replaced by former NBA player (and Vashon and Saint Louis University alumnus) Anthony Bonner.
Wheatley also writes that:
Meanwhile, the FBI reportedly is investigating Irons for his financial dealings. As detailed by the Post-Dispatch, these included foreclosures on three investment properties worth $1.5 million that Irons bought, with no money down, on a district salary of about $90,000.
True, the Post did "detail" Irons' curious real estate investments, in a story by David Hunn that ran December 10.
That story, however, made no mention of any federal investigation, nor has any subsequent Post-Dispatch story.
No, that "reportedly" in Wheatley's piece refers to -- you guessed it -- Riverfront Times. Specifically to a story by Kristen Hinman that we published May 24, which begins:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into the actions of former Vashon High School varsity basketball coach Floyd Irons, Riverfront Times has learned.
As RFT readers are aware, Hinman has covered Irons extensively over the past year and a half. "Basketball by the Book," her probe into Vashon's history of tainted basketball titles, netted her a first-place award for investigative reporting from the Education Writers Association.
