Happy new year, feliz año nuevo, and all that good stuff.  I can´t believe it´s already 2009.

      

Check out this short article by anthropologist Clark Spencer Larsen about the human transition from hunting, gathering, and foraging to agriculture.  Pay close attention to the parts where it mentions the impacts upon human health:

Within a remarkably short period of time following the Pleistocene — when climate, vegetation, and fauna became essentially modern — human populations worldwide adopted plant cultivation as a subsistence strategy. The widespread extinction of various megafauna (e.g., mastadon, mammoth) and other animals may have been an impetus for human populations to begin to develop wholly new means of acquiring food in order to meet protein and fat requirements. Whatever the cause, the change in diet had profound implications for nutritional ecology, health, and behavior in human beings.

Read the rest here.

      

We really need to keep up with the Hill Street Blog.  Here is some news:

Kevin has made some new specials, and these are posted on the specials board in the entryway.  They include Luau Pork tacos for 9 bucks and a Vegan Pesto which is also 9 bucks (Kevin also makes a vegan alfredo which is super good too).

In other news, the Pod Room has moved across the way to where the salon used to be.  I know this happened a while ago, but since I was in Mexico all summer I was completely out of the loop.  Anyway, the new space is looking good.

Next door, the Swiv Tackle Circus has ALL KINDS of good stuff going on.  After you stop by here at Hill Street, go next door and see what’s happening there.

Finally, a couple weeks ago I met Jane over at the California Surf Museum, which is just a couple blocks to the north of us.  They are moving into a cool new building over on Pier View Way.  Take some time out of your day and learn a little more about local surf history and culture, it’s well worth it.

      

In 2005 the USDA introduced the all new food pyramid, which is supposed to be the new beacon of healthy living.  But is it?  Here is an image, taken from a 2005 Washington Post article, of the new pyramid alongside the old one:

The obvious improvement is the fact that EXERCISE has been added.  There is no way that any of us are going to be healthy if we sit around watching TV or playing on the internet all day.  But is the new food pyramid really all that much better?  The Harvard School of Public Health says no.  Here is a short excerpt from the intro:

We can’t look at a pyramid  these days without thinking of food and healthy eating. There was the U.S. government’s Food Guide Pyramid, followed by its replacement, My Pyramid, which was basically the same thing, just pitched on its side. The problem was that these efforts, while generally good intentioned, have been quite flawed at actually showing people what makes up a healthy diet. Why? Their recommendations have often been based on out-of-date science and influenced by people with business interests in their messages.

And here is the pyramid recommended by the Harvard folks:

For part of the Harvard critique, check out this press release from 2006.  For another critique of the food pyramid, as well as some background history, check out this article here.  One of the primary problems all along with the food pyramid is that the USDA is heavily influenced by business interests, so “health” isn’t always the top priority.  Read up, and see what you think.

      

      

Here are a couple photos from the trip that Wayne, Dan, Benjamin, Veronica, and I took down to the East Cape of BCS this past October:

Dan, fully protected from the sun’s UV rays.  Well, mostly.

Wayne, loading up the jeep after getting some pretty fun waves.

The rental jeep that we definitely got our money’s worth from.

      

This was from the first trip I took to Cabo Pulmo with Dan and Benjamin in 2005.  I went back in 2006, and also in October of this past year.  It is quite an amazing and interesting place.  You can read a little more about it here.

      

Well, after five months of being down in Mexico, I am back in the US, and glad to be able to wander back into good old Hill Street for all kinds of comida rica, so to speak. Here is a little glimpse of the Mex trip:

That’s the main structure at Chichen Itza, in the state of Yucatan. It was about 110 degrees the day that we visited that site (Veronica and I).

      

Ok, this roll was GOOD. It’s another one of Davin’s on-the-spot creations. It has tempura shrimp, avocado, and cucumber, with sweet potato on top to finish it off.

From Hill Street today. Direct quote from Andy: “Come on in, have a seat, and we’ll be right with you.”