IC's drinking problem

I recently came across this article and was taken by this quote, "Most assaults occur at night and often involve people who have been drinking."

My response in one word, "Duh." The relationship between Iowa City and the drinking establishments is an interesting one. Having grown up in Iowa City I am well aware of this. There were bars that would serve me and my friends drinks when we were sixteen (and don't claim they thought we were older, we were sixteen.) Furthermore, there are several bars that I frequented up until I turned 21, once I had reached that age, I suddenly felt like I was the oldest person in the bar.

But while Iowa City wants to appear to be taking on under age, and binge drinking, they can't crack down on it too much, as I'm sure that the availability of alcohol has a very positive effect on undergrad enrollment at the University of Iowa. I would be interested in hearing if more people enrolled at the University because they had a football team, or because they got really drunk (or saw really drunk people) on a college visit.

The price to the city is obvious, increased crime rates, mainly assaults, but more frequently something stranger, causes a need for more police. This price is currently paid by the home owners in the city who, in turn, blame the University. As the previous article shows, it's not always university students, the bars in Iowa City have become such a draw that it is often people from out of town who show up to enjoy a night of sin in the city.

One solution I would be interested in seeing the City Council look at would be a taxation on all alcoholic drinks served in a bar or restaurant. While I'm sure there are state laws preventing this (which were probably pushed by the alcohol distributors,) many cities have high taxes on hotel rooms and rental cars, the only difference is those cities have convention centers, Iowa City has bars.

By taxing served drinks, the city would not only raise money directly from the thing that causes them to spend it, but it might actually encourage people to drink less. Unfortunately, as we saw with the previous 21 and over ballot initiative, serving alcohol is a lucrative business, and the bar owners in Iowa City realize where their money comes from and are willing to spend handsomely to prevent the city from taking action to try and curb some of the problems it cause.

Even though I no longer live in Iowa City, it's still my home town, and every time I read an article about stupid drunk people doing stupid drunk things, I'm reminded of something my brother said, "I shouldn't be afraid to take my three year old daughter downtown at two in the afternoon, just because it's a game day." And therein lies the question, what does downtown Iowa City exist for? The people who live in the city, or the bar owners?

Oh Crap!

A real blog has linked to my blog. I should really have something worthwhile to read...

When I started this blog, I promised myself I wouldn't write about food. I made this promise for one simple reason, I didn't really expect anyone outside of my family to read it, and if they wanted to read, they could read a food blog written by a real journalist (and the best new food writer). Oh well, it didn't take long for me to break that promise.

For a St. Patrick's Day potluck at work, I made candy potatoes. The recipe sounds easy enough, but that is what candy recipes do, they lull you into a false sense of security with their minimal ingredients, and their short, simple sounds instructions.

Anyone who has tried to make candy realizes that the only reason that the instructions sounds easy is because it either works with a fantastic outcome, or you fail and end up with a pound of burnt sugar cemented into the bottom of your pan. I am about 50/50 on the different outcomes, mainly because I don't try the more difficult candies very often (caramel and toffee, compared to the more difficult fudge).

I tried a test batch on Saturday, it turned out like I thought it would, a mess. It seemed to grain up much too fast resulting in half of the mixture turning to a sugary/sandy concoction, and the other half cemented to the bottom of the pot (not burnt, but cemented none the less).

Tonight I tried my second batch (early enough to initiate plan B,) but it actually turned out. The candy seems to taste alright and there is minimal burnt sugar chunks in it.

I would like to say/warn that the step "Beat syrup until creamy." is the biggest misstatement you can have in a in a recipe. The concoction is neither a syrup nor beatable. It resembles a quickly setting glue or (I have already said it too many times) cement. And while I might not have a problem acting out this instruction if I were Lincoln Hawk in "Over the Top" or if my job comprised of more arm curls and less sitting at a computer. Neither one of these is true so it turned out to be the biggest test of strength since the rope climb in elementary gym class.

Luckily with a few minutes of stirring the candy began to set and I began forming potatoes wildly. Once you roll the things in Cinnamon they actually look like something that resembles a potato. We'll see if I can convince my co-workers they aren't animal turds tomorrow.

Font junkies, move over

Recently I have started watching the AMC show Mad Men. I know, I'm only a year or two behind everyone. Having missed a lot of the buzz for this show, all I know is that everyone was amazed by it's historical accuracy.

The characters dress correctly for '62, they act correctly for '61 and most importantly, they smoke the type and quantity of cigarettes correct for '62. In fact, the only historical criticism I can find about the show is the font used for the closing titles.

I only made it a few minutes into the first episode before I was hit by the amazing realization, thousands of font junkies have been focused on what I think is a stupid inaccuracy, while missing a much more glaring one. Every space in the ad agency has been decorated using 2'x2' lay-in acoustical ceiling tiles (ACT). Look at this link again and notice the ceiling through the doorway.

Not only is a 2'x2' ACT system a fairly new design (they used to all be 2'x4', think about your elementary/middle/high school) but the use of ACT ceilings in such a space is questionable. Unfortunately my extensive research (read: googling) turned up nothing about the history of ACTs or their use. But the only buildings from that era I have seen ACT used in were buildings concerned about costs (once again, mainly schools,) and I can't imagine a powerful Madison Avenue ad agency being concerned about the construction costs of their office.

I'm sure if you're a font junkie you'll think that my fascination with the ceiling tiles is as stupid as I feel about your fascination about fonts. But understand, while you spend a lot of time staring at fonts and fussing about fonts, I spend a lot of time staring at ceilings and fussing with ceiling layouts. So really, why could you blame me.

(This is my first post, so I appologize for the many gramatical errors contained within, one of the many reasons for starting a blog was so I could improve my writting. Bare with me and I might eventually produce something interesting and easy to read)