Duluth, Duluth

Heading out to Duluth in a couple of minutes. I'm excited to be visiting the birthplace of Bob Dylan and Low. I promise a full report (and, yes, those some pictures finally) upon return.

Veggie Bite

I wholeheartedly endorse Veggie Bite.

Burger, gyro and salad were all delicious.

Mt. Greenwood always seems to have a token veggie/vegan place, and they usually go belly-up with six months or so. I hope this place is still around next time I'm in the Chi-tizzle. We only saw one other customer during what should have been peak dinner time, though.

Top Non-obvious Things About Being Back in the States

1. Not worrying about what I eat and drink. I managed to evade any serious health incidents over a seven-week stay in Mexico/Guatemala, but after the incidents during my first trip to Mexico, I just don't trust the water/street vendors. I don't know if my distrust of filtered Mexico City tap water is irrational (need to check that out), and boiling everything just isn't a practical option. The unfortunate result is was a small-landfill's worth of water bottles emptied during my stay.

2. Being a few hundred feet above sea-level. I kind of feel slightly fatigued whenever I'm in Mexico. It's worst when I first arrive, and my body gradually adjusts. I haven't had a chance to go running since I returned, but I bet I'm going to feel like my lung capacity has tripled.

Guatemala was awesome. I'll post about it when I get I finally get the pictures onto the computer.

Unretirement

David Haugh writes the unthinkable. Jim Edmonds's performance as a Cub has already been more than enough to heal my mental scars, but this is another league altogether. I say nothing short of a Superbowl ring is worth seeing Favre wear the orange and blue. And I don't think the Bears are anything more than a 1 in 12 shot even with the Favre of last season (remember he was in a precipitous two-year decline before last year's renaissance). And Haugh's just lost it when he proposes giving up a first-rounder plus:

Look at it this way: If Favre makes the Bears as good as they could be with him, their draft choice will be later in the first round anyway. If the Bears keep the pick to avoid the Favre sweepstakes and finish under .500 again—which many people outside Halas Hall expect—then they will strongly consider using it on a quarterback anyway with Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton both signed to short-term deals.

Presumably that first-round quarterback would have a career expectancy of longer than one year starting in 2009. (OK, with Angelo picking, maybe it's a close call.)

Anyway, I think the best (and probably most likely) scenario for the Bears is that Packers "come to their senses", Favre starts for them this year, reverts back to his 2007 form, and delays the development of Rodgers for one more year.

New Blog

This is my new blog. I have a blog documenting my Scrabble woes already; this is for everything else. I expect sports, politics, books, travels and random trivia to be the main topics. My handle is ripped from one of the three funniest movies I've ever seen.