Food Bits – Carver’s Grocery

Yesterday I had the double pleasure of seeing my college friend Samantha for the first time in years and chowing down at Carver’s Grocery. Samantha has become a rock star/super mom/attorney; Carver’s remains exactly the same.

If you can deal with the out of the way location, communal dining, and the Sigma Chi Alumni Weekend attendee clientele, Carver’s will offer you the consistently best Southern food in the City of Atlanta. Given my annual collard green consumption this is an accolade I take seriously.

A cafeteria setting in what I presume was an old neighborhood corner shop, Carver’s has a fast pace considering the old-school grub it serves. Line up in our out of the building, choose from eight or so meats and twenty-odd vegetables, grab a sweet tea (no non-sweet in this establishment), and find a seat. While you partake a constant stream of waitresses/scooters circle the tiny dining space to fill your drink and work on getting you full and out the door.

Fight the power and have a long sit to enjoy sweet potatoes that will change your life and the world's best rutabaga. Pay up front (cash only) when you are ready and head out into the world outside this little treasure fortified for the rest of your day.

Want your kids to turn out like Sam? Its all about the Liberal Arts. Give Westminster College a visit. Go Blue Jays!

Book Bits for the Traveler - China Road

Many thanks to the original China-hand Gavin McCalla for insisting that I read Rob Gifford’s 2007 book China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power. Gavin was absolutely correct in espousing this as the best book about China he has read.

Ostensibly a travel narrative, the book is based on a journey the author, on his last stretch in China as an NPR correspondent, made of the almost 3,000 mile long Route 312 that spans the entire length of China. Beginning his journey in Shanghai he travels as a passenger, hitch hiker and reluctant preacher to the end of the road in the dessert frontier near Kazakhstan.

What makes the retelling of the journey so interesting is the layering of personalities, place, and history that Gifford uses to construct a unique insight in the reality of the whole of China.

Gifford provides an entertaining primer on how China became China, the implications of religion and social structure on Han culture, and the path China took from the fall of the Qing Dynasty to the evolutions of the Socialist Market Economy.

More importantly through, he details the dichotomy of the two Chinas: the prosperous crust of Eastern and South China contrasted with the vast majority of the population in interior and western provinces trapped between a vanquished social support system and inaccessible wealth held by their countrymen.

This on-the-ground insight about China as a bubbling cauldron will surprise some and reinforce the perceptions many travelers form about China after they move beyond the glamor of Shanghai and the land grab vibe of Shenzhen.

In the end the reader gets a vivisection of modern China that provides a big helping of the many things that make China and the Chinese people so amazing. Be prepared to be on the phone with your travel agent the minute you put this down!

You can buy the book new or used via amazon. Some of the photos from the book and other details about the 312 trip are on Rob Gifford’s website.

The seven part NPR series Gifford produced in parallel with the book is terrific too. You can hear the segments at the NPR Webiste.

Want a little more history? I schlepped the hardcover version of The Dragon and the Foreign Devils with me during two China-Taiwan runs in 2007. It was worth it.

Happy Mardi Gras!

While the rest of us sweat the future of Citibank and the world economy the city of New Orleans is kicking into high gear.

New Orleans after Katrina? Alive and well! It does not need to be carnival season to get a taste of this amazing American jewel. Plan a trip now to enjoy the unique and intact culture of the Crescent City before the heat of the summer.

Musical motivation:
1st School – Louis Armstrong
Old School – Professor Longhair
Medium School – The Radiators
New School – Stanton Moore

Help the cause and the culture by sporting your own Renew orleans gear.

Idiots Guide to the Stimulus Program

I was changing diapers during the Stimulus Program debate. Leave it to the folks at the Kiplinger Letter to nail it down in one pop.

I can only imagine the ramifications of Rural Broadband. Free Wifi in Big Sandy, TN?

Day in the Big D

A quick trip to Dallas brings me to the new Aloft Hotel, a spin off the W Hotel chain. If you can get past the over enthusiastic "Aloha" greeting as you enter the lobby you will find as hip a scene as you can expect in a business hotel. The property has a great bar area with hot appetizers, a small grab-and-go kitchen with an espresso machine and a central lobby with cool furniture and a fireplace.

My room is indeed loft-like. Lots of hardcore tech amenities and a copy of Spin magazine - what more do you want?

Tonight it was a bad take out salad, but the place not to miss in Dallas is Dimassi's. Thanks to Kari for hipping me to this amazing Mediterranean buffet several years back. This is one of my all time favorite lunch spots!

Consumer Economy Alive and Well in 30307

My usual Saturday grocery trip turned into an adventure yesterday when I was unable to find a single parking space at the Whole Foods on Ponce.

Once I made it inside I saw people lined up eight deep at the cash registers with organic flowers, fee-trade chocolate and champagne. Romance lives, the cash register still rings!

I dropped my holdings of WFMI two years ago after a series of bad customer service experiences. As of January I am back in. Service level are way up, core commodities are running at everyday low prices and I have actually twice been given coupons. I think Wall Street has beaten Whole Foods down past thier due. Besides, I can't even get eye contact at Sevanada.

Natives know the development housing Home Depot and Whole Foods across from City Hall East was for many years the home the Atlanta Crackers pro baseball team. Want to see a hidden gem of Atlanta? Drive around the back of the development and check out the brass plaque beneath Atlanta's most famous Magnolia tree.

Tough Times in my Arkansas Homeland

A tough video today in the WSJ about farmers faced with mortgages on huge, high tech chicken houses that loose their production contracts and face bankruptcy. The fall of Pilgrim's Pride last year left many in a lurch.

The Real Story from China

This graphic from today's Economist says it all.

Golden Wings

This morning I received the gold envelope. After five years of Platinum status with the home town airline I am on the outside looking in. At least I still get to enjoy Hartsfield’s excellent new Medallion-only security lines. I’m good with it!

A special salute to all of the Double Stuff passports flying across the globe fighting the good fight; particularly my former colleagues dragging back and forth to Shanghai on center-seat coach tickets.

Do you aspire to be a player in the air? Then Flyer Talk is the place for you.

-8 and feeling great

The wake-up call in Minneapolis is tough when the wind chill is -20, but the prospects of breakfast at Moose&Sadies is motivation enough to get up and face the elements. This organic-centric nook is an AM destination for the power brokers and hipsters in the Warehouse District. Great pancakes and the kind of crisp bacon that can flip the most ardent PETA supporter. Not be missed!

In other Minneapolis news the Bad Plus are out with a new album with a singer. Check out some tracks - http://www.myspace.com/badplus

Tough New Year for China's Migrant Workers

The traditional migratory labor pattern in China, where Eastern cities are flooded with laborers from Western provinces looking for factory work, is under stress.

The Wal-Street Journal quotes Party official Chen Xiwen as saying that about 20 million migrant workers -- nearly a sixth of the total -- lost their jobs in recent months. That number, the first official estimate, underscores the government's challenge in maintaining employment and avoiding unrest.
See the full article.

Blogsploitation

True confession time. This blog is based on Dave Teffeteller's seminal Just Another Day in Elljay site. Visit Dave's blog daily for the latest in fly fishing news, gossip from Gilmer County, and the occasional scandal.

Better yet, join Dave and his crew on the fishing trip of a lifetime.