First off, I'd like to come out strongly against the proposals of the Gilmore commission the transcript of which will be available here shortly after the hearing finishes. In a nutshell, the man who turned the most fiscally responsible states (with incredibly low taxes) into a budget morass courtesy his beloved car-tax repeal, is heading a commission which is going to recommend that a domestic intelligence agency be created here, to mirror Britain's MI5 service. Why should the UK have a domestic agency and not us? How about a little thing called the Bill of Rights? This is a travesty...the CIA and NSA are forbidden from spying on American citizens...for good reason. Much like the ancient Romans, citizenship is a right that confers certain privileges, such as being innocent until proven guilty. The British system offers no such rights.

On a humourous note: it appears that we might not have to invade Iraq, as long as we wait for them to die of cancer from cigarettes illegally funneled to them courtesy our friends at RJ Reynolds. Gotta love the sheer "we're pure evil" aspect to the whole deal. They really put the greed in the "greed is good" mantra.

I finally managed to throw up this review of Spices on the site. Yes, I went there on Sunday. Yes, it's a little late. I've been super-busy working on the new peyser.com website that has to be finished sometime tomorrow, at least from a functional perspective. I also added a few more uses for goats to the list, so there!

In the outside world, I guess it's good that I'm not working at the USDA after this morning's incident. Nothing stinks worse than milling about in the cold weather. For hours. Unless it's the prospect of the government being slowly run aground by the Republicans. Who would've ever thought that I'd partially find solace in Alan Greenspan's words? Oh wait, I'm supposed to really be jumping for joy over William Webster resigning. As if they'll replace him with someone like Levitt. I wish.

Spices Asian Restaurant & Sushi Bar is one of those rare restaurants where you enter with high expectations and leave pleasantly surprised that it managed to beat the spread. After seeing this post review I was expecting some solid food choices, and I wasn't let down. Although I stuck with sushi over their Thai offerings, I did catch sight of several dishes as they passed me which were mouth-watering.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I came with two other people (one a guest from New York City) on a Sunday evening thanks to a friend's advice. As I'd already frequented several other sushi places in the district including Kawasaki, I had a good context for judging Spices, which is located across the street from the Uptown theater in the Cleveland Park strip. Every sushi place is different, and Spices appears on the surface to be a regular Thai restaurant which happens to serve sushi, rather than the other way arond. A spacious interior was a welcome respite from previous crowded locales like Uni or Cafe Asia. Unfortunately, going on the middle night of a three-day weekend ensured that the restaurant itself was quite crowded. Nevertheless, we were able to walk right in, pick up a seating tag for three, and be ushered to the sushi bar within minutes. Had we wished to wait for a table, I'm sure the delay would've been lengthy, yet we managed to leapfrog past several larger groups at the door, which felt good.

Once at the bar, we quickly ascertained that we had no need for their Thai offerings, instead choosing to markup our sushi card with style. After having chosen an arrangement of sashimi, sushi and rolls, we handed the card to the friendly chefs working hard behind the bar. It's always a special treat to see your food prepared right in front of you, and this time was no exception. Oddly, throughout this point we had yet to see any sort of server, so our decision to go with the sushi was probably best anyway. The lack of a server prevented us from consuming any beverages other than water, which worked out well since I actually wasn't in the mood for anything else. If we'd wanted some saki, etc. it would have been awkward though. Our water glasses, however, were refilled early and often.

The sushi was prepared quite quickly, and although the sashimi took a minute longer, both were ready by the time all were hungry. Each dish was prepared well, with enough style for sushi-snobbery and enough taste for the roughest palate. We had chosen to go with items composed from tuna, yellow-tail, squid and many others. The spicy/crunchy tuna rolls were the first to be snatched up, and they were a special treat. I'd definitely recommend them to anyone who likes a little spice in their sushi. The other more vanilla offerings were all done well in accordance with standard sushi practice. The sashimi, unlike at Cafe Asia or Uni, came with a small bowl of sesame-covered rice, thus negating my favorite pet peeve of sushi places, namely: they often serve sashimi without any rice whatsoever.

After the meal we were allowed to sit at the bar indefinitely, receiving refills of our water every few minutes. This was a welcome change from the cramped places that pressure you to move out in order to move the next group in. It did prove slightly strange when we wished to receive our bill, though, because only one of the chefs spoke english. After displaying the universal check symbol, they argued for a few seconds and then summoned a manager who managed to take care of us. The prices were attractive as well, which was a nice change of pace from Kawasaki's large fees. Overall, Spices was a great place to go with friends, if you can handle yourself well at a sushi bar without needing any handholding. It may appear to be an ordinary restaurant from the outside, yet everything from the wait to the water was done flawlessly, a feat almost impossible at any eating establishment. If you're in the mood for sushi and can stand the always crazy Cleveland Park parking scene (we ended up parking a couple blocks away in a residential neighborhood) it's definitely worth your money. And the next time a friend comes in from out of town, it'll serve to impress. Just remember that if you're able to order 60 pieces of sushi, you'll be treated to a giant wooden ship containing several rolled divisions. It's the sort of challenge that, having learned of its existence, I'm going to have to tackle upon my next visit.

Okay, so I didn't crank out the review last night that I said I would. I had forgotten my bug-fix from earlier which solved the issue of multiple people editing the database at the same time. (Well, it's not advanced versioning, but there was an earlier flaw which meant that if two people tried to create an article that they'd overwrite each other. Easily fixed through a simple sql statement change.) Since I discovered the problem was fixed this morning (I must have fixed it months ago) I'll throw together a review during my lunch break.

The good news is that Brad finally got his act together and added his two cents to the existing advice columns. So now I can finally ask people what they thought. Better late than never, right? And there's one final advice piece I need to churn out. Too much work...too little time. I just remembered another review that I need to do. Argh! If only I managed to divorce myself from the pop-cultural zeitgeist for a few days....

Before the two reviews go up, I still have some advice questions that are being answered. One hasn't even been posted yet, and Brad has yet to weigh in on any of them, but here they are: this medical question followed by this relationship question and finalized by this goat question. Because Brad hasn't answered any of them, I haven't e-mailed the participants back yet, but I am pleased that they're up. Another advice question and a couple of reviews are forthcoming.

update 11 pm: I'm fixing my cell-phone but right afterwards I should be able to do a review. We'll see...

Again, I'd like to encourage users to submit with a false name...it makes replying much easier. Nevertheless, from the "very unstable" department:

Dear Dredwerkz:

My friend says that cows are the most useful animals. I say that goats are.

How many uses for goats are there?

Uses for Goats

Edward/Helena/Brad Combined Force

1. Goat Milk
2. Goat Cheese
3. Goat Wool
4. Goat Transportation
5. Goat Tossing
6. Goat Tekken (aka Buzkashi)
7. Goat Door Knocker
8. Goat Vests
9. Goat Pet
10. ScareGoat
11. Lucky Goat Feet
12. Mounted Goat Horns
13. Goat Getting
14. Goat Meat
15. Goat Petting Zoo
16. Lawnmower Goats
17. WatchGoat (for security!)

Just a quick note: the dredwerkz is alive and well. I have at least two reviews to write, as well as some binary object stuff to deal with. I'll try and get to it all this evening, assuming I don't have as much fun as I've had the past three days. Nothing says fun like a special guest from the big apple, combined with my final triumph over my illness. I'd say I'm back to 95%.

Okay, I'm still sick as a dog, coding frantically and ticked off about the election returns. In between some particularly thorny css/js problems though, I figure I have enough time to do a little light blogging. (I wonder if artists, mid-commission, stop to doodle?) The other day, without my knowledge, my credit limit was doubled. Yes, yes, some of you are saying, it doesn't matter. But in my mind, it does matter, for the simple reason that I could, if I so desired, go out and purchase a small automobile on my credit card now. Okay, a used car. Still, the fact that anyone would trust me with so much money is empowering. After two years of having a credit card, I've still yet to carry a balance. Maybe its a financial game of chicken, with each side raising the ante until I fold, carry a balance and lose a great deal of money, or I call their bluff, purchase a boat load of stock, sell before the month is out and reap the rewards. Only time will tell.

While I'm shamelessly extolling my credit card worth, I might as well mention an item from my past. Oddly enough, while at college in a small antique store I once happened upon a first-edition book that was illustrated by my namesake. I really wanted the book but the cost was too high so I cut a deal with my parents where they would front half the money and I'd pay the rest. The book has remained at my parent's house ever since, although I'll occasionally look at it carefully. Recently, however, my mom took it to an appraiser who revealed that it was in excellent (better than fine) condition and that she should go to the website referenced above (abebooks.com) to check prices. I thought it was expensive beforehand, but it appears to have appreciated even more rapidly than a nasdaq stock. Either that or the salesperson had no idea of its trus worth. The book itself has no defects, no inscriptions, no tears and is in the original glassine dust cover. Even more strangely, shortly after purchasing the book, I saw another copy in a museum in Philadelphia for a Parrish exhibit. Their copy was in much worse shape than mine...which made me realize just how rare my copy was. In this day and age it's a curious notion that something cannot be duplicated or is original...pricing such an object is a strange endeavor. Okay, enough introspection. Back to work!