Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Book Review: Milk, A 10,000 Year Food Fracas

Mark Kurlansky is probably one of my favorite authors.  I got Salt several years ago and did not realize how deeply its importance ran through the ancient world.  A book about a mineral would be tough to say it was a cant put down, but it was the truth.  I followed it up with Cod, and again, a topic about a seemingly minor part of the food chain was page turning in its execution.  I recently got Milk for Christmas, and after finishing some other books I dove right in.  Much to my chagrin, this book didn't hit the way the other's had. The book follows milk production across several continents, taking the reader from ancient debates about whether Milk is warm or cold food, to the modern era and the changing of dairy farms and practices.  There are a lot of recipes throughout the book, which at first had been thought to be an extra bonus.  However, their constant presence made reading tiresome instead of spell binding. They would be much more appreciated mostly residing in an appendix, with a few sprinkled in to illustrate a certain point.

Overall this is a 6.5 or 7, because the information was still valuable.  It just was a much more sloggy book, almsot having to just jump pages at a time to get past the recipes.



Monday, February 24, 2020

NBA Predictions Feb 24th to March 1st 2020

There are a few premiere games this week, but also a lot of cannon fodder games and low stakes matchups.  The Jazz Celtics midweek game should be good, and offer some insights into both teams as they head towards the playoffs.  The Clippers need to get back on track after going 1-4 since the trade deadline, and they have tough end of the week games hosting the Nuggets and Sixers. 


DateHome TeamHome Team Win %Away TeamAway Team Win %Home Margin
2/24/2020Cleveland28.55Miami71.45-6.8
2/24/2020Philadelphia79.85Atlanta20.1513.8
2/24/2020Washington17.65Milwaukee82.35-12.7
2/24/2020Brooklyn58.94Orlando41.062.6
2/24/2020Houston82.62New York17.3816.3
2/24/2020Dallas76.45Minnesota23.558.9
2/24/2020Utah71.2Phoenix28.85.9
2/24/2020LA Clippers73.11Memphis26.896.4
2/25/2020Indiana78.09Charlotte21.9112.6
2/25/2020Toronto43.3Milwaukee56.7-5.0
2/25/2020Chicago36.95Oklahoma City63.05-4.8
2/25/2020Denver76.43Detroit23.577.8
2/25/2020LA Lakers75.03New Orleans24.9710.8
2/25/2020Portland36.25Boston63.75-7.9
2/25/2020Golden State41.34Sacramento58.66-2.0
2/26/2020Cleveland29.1Philadelphia70.9-7.2
2/26/2020Washington43.75Brooklyn56.25-2.9
2/26/2020Charlotte56.34New York43.662.3
2/26/2020Atlanta41.33Orlando58.67-3.8
2/26/2020Miami70.96Minnesota29.048.9
2/26/2020San Antonio40.78Dallas59.22-3.2
2/26/2020Houston71.8Memphis28.28.8
2/26/2020Phoenix40.2LA Clippers59.8-4.5
2/26/2020Utah52.02Boston47.980.2
2/27/2020Indiana64.76Portland35.246.4
2/27/2020Philadelphia79.74New York20.268.5
2/27/2020Oklahoma City69.43Sacramento30.576.7
2020-02-27Golden State17.96LA Lakers82.04-11.1
2020-02-28Orlando60.65Minnesota39.354.9
2020-02-28Atlanta38.57Brooklyn61.43-0.1
2020-02-28Toronto85.39Charlotte14.6116.8
2020-02-28New Orleans77.86Cleveland22.149.8
2020-02-28Miami48.12Dallas51.88-3.2
2020-02-28Milwaukee74.92Oklahoma City25.088.2
2020-02-28Memphis57.54Sacramento42.464.0
2020-02-28Phoenix64.42Detroit35.583.9
2020-02-28Utah79.06Washington20.9412.0
2020-02-28LA Clippers59.48Denver40.523.1
2020-02-29New York49.11Chicago50.89-0.8
2020-02-29Atlanta40.03Portland59.97-6.5
2020-02-29Miami64.38Brooklyn35.625.8
2020-02-29Cleveland30.44Indiana69.56-5.8
2020-02-29Memphis32.33LA Lakers67.67-6.2
2020-02-29Boston60.37Houston39.630.6
2020-02-29San Antonio59.1Orlando40.91.8
2020-02-29Phoenix71.82Golden State28.189.5
2020-03-01Charlotte14.39Milwaukee85.61-17.1
2020-03-01LA Clippers62.87Philadelphia37.137.9
2020-03-01Minnesota34Dallas66-5.0
2020-03-01Denver50.56Toronto49.44-3.4
2020-03-01Sacramento63.07Detroit36.936.8
2020-03-01New Orleans37.01LA Lakers62.99-2.6
2020-03-01Golden State49.8Washington50.20.6