Disintegration: The Splintering of Black America by Eugene Robinson

Eugene Robinson is a Pulitzer Prize–winning columnist for the Washington Post. I heard an interview with him on NPR's Fresh Air and I immediately went out and bought his new book, Disintegration: The Splintering of Black America.

I have to admit I didn't grow up knowing a lot of black Americans, and Portland, Oregon is not exactly a hot bed of racial diversity, so it was very interesting to read the insights of an expert. This is a very easy book to read and there are just enough personal stories scattered among the statistics and facts to keep the pages turning.

In a nutshell, Robinson proposes that there is no longer a unified black America, or any one person, ala Martin Luther King or Jesse Jackson that speaks for black people. He presents a very persuasive case that black America has splintered into four distinct entities. First, there are the transcendent elites such as Oprah, Vernon Jordon, Tiger Woods and the like who are among the most powerful people in the US. There is the fast growing middle class that are attaining the American dream, living in nice neighborhoods, running their own businesses, and sending their kids to good colleges. There are two groups of emerging populations, children of bi-racial marriages such as President Obama, who still see themselves as black, and a huge influx of African immigrants, who's children are going to ivy-league schools at a higher rate than white or Asians. Lastly there are the abandoned, or as my friend J White says, the folks left in the hood.

Robinson does a great job explaining how we got to this splintering, and what it might mean for the country in the long run, but the real tragedy and the area of biggest concern are the abandoned. Why are so many black Americans still stuck in poverty, when all around them others are advancing to the middle class and beyond? What can we do to make a difference? If these questions interest you, you will find this to be a great read.

Bamboo Sushi

I am excited to say, there is great sushi on the east side.

Bamboo Sushi is the first certified, sustainable sushi restaurant in the world, which is pretty impressive. They also only use hormone free, organic, grass fed, American kobe grade beef. So you start to like this place as soon as you sit down and the good news is it only gets better. The food, the drinks and the service are all great.

Let's start with the drinks. Bamboo has an amazingly impressive sake list, but I would highly recommend you try the Shōchū. It is a distilled beverage native to Japan, most commonly distilled from barley, sweet potatoes, or rice. Usually it contains 25% alcohol by volume (weaker than whiskey or vodka but stronger than wine and sake), but I think theirs contained 35% alcohol. I got the sweet potato version and it was very smooth; I would suggest on the rocks.

Now to the important stuff, the sushi. The salmon and special trout nigiri were excellent. We also tried a couple of specialty house rolls. The highway 35 - red crab mixed with spicy sesame aioli, avocado, cucumber and asparagus, rolled and topped with sake poached pears, eel sauce, tempura crunchies and tobiko was amazing as was the California sunset- a California roll topped with spicy tuna, spicy mayonnaise, and tempura crunchies.

I can't say enough about how much we enjoyed our meal and how nice our server was. I only wish they took reservations, then it would be perfect.

Kings of Leon - Come Around Sundown

As you already know, I am a huge Kings of Leon fan, so it should come as no surprise that I have been eagerly awaiting the release of their latest record Come Around Sundown. I have been listening to it for a while now and I just realized I have not posted a review.

Following up their smash hit record Only by the Night, would seem like a daunting task, but to hear the band tell it they were not concerned. “The funny thing is that Only by the Night was the first album we approached with the attitude of not trying to make a popular record. We just made the record we wanted to make and it ended up being our best-selling album. So for this new one, I don’t think any of us were thinking we had to make a record that would stand next to Only by the Night. We definitely didn't want to go in there and make a record out of fear that it wouldn't be as big.”

This record covers more ground than any of their records to date. The band explores everything from gospel to country to the big rock sound you would expect. It also brings back the garage rock sound that fans of their first studio records will remember, while songs like "The Face" will keep new fans comfortable.

The band began to record this new record in February 2010, only a few months after finishing a two year tour for Only By The Night. Their plan was to take a year off and do nothing, but..."we got bored. It was like, ‘You guys want to get together and rehearse some stuff in case we have a show?’ That always turns into new ideas and it only takes two or three to get us so excited that we think we could potentially start another record.”

Good thing they did, Come Around Sundown is a great contribution to the bands catalog and it would have sucked to have to wait another year or two for new music.

The Oregon Golfers

I am posting this video again because it just won an "Excellence" award at the Portland Ad Show - The Rosies. Enjoy, and come spend your money in Oregon.

Monster Attack

I saw this crazy car decoration today and I have to share. The dinosaur and action figures are glued to the car, not placed there by some kid.

Neighborhood Food Cart

Most people have probably heard about the food cart craze here in Portland, but if you haven't check out this clip from the Food Channel.



I am not sure I can call this a restaurant review, but we finally stopped at the SE Belmont and 43rd food cart pod, which seems to be named after the sign outside that reads "Good Food Here." The sign speaks truth. We got an amazing pulled pork dinner from Namu, a stand that specializes in Hawaiian/Korean dishes. As with all the food carts, they have a very limited menu so what they do, they do well. The Pork and the cucumber salad were delicious and the servings were plentiful.

The pod has about eight to ten stands, serving everything from breakfast to burgers to a place called Creme de la Creme that only makes creme brulee. You could easily eat here every day for a week and be happy. They also have a tented area so you can eat in comfort in the Portland winter. Check out the link below for a full listing of all the stands, menus, hours, directions, etc.

Good Food Here
SE Belmont and 43rd

The Most Amazing Graph Ever

Planet Money produces a radio show for NPR that attempts to simplify economics for the non-econ majors among us, who are interested in understanding what a credit default swap is, why Ireland has gone broke, and how economic aid is or is not helping Haiti. They do a great job of taking complicated economic theories and making them understandable in an entertaining way. You can download their twice weekly podcast from NPR.com or listen for them on NPR news shows.

They also have a great blog that is updated regularly and it is there that I found the most amzing graph ever. This is a 4 minute video that tracks the world's countries economic growth versus their life expectancies. You can see the incredible increase in both since the 1890's, very positive stuff.