Fun in Saratoga

Northway tragedy and other thoughts

First of all, that story about the older couple running off the Northway over the weekend and the husband essentially freezing to death is one of the most awful local stories I've ever heard.  Man I feel so bad for two of them, the man (Alfred Langner, age 63) for dying of course, but the poor wife (Barbara) as she witnessed her husband die and was helpless to do something about it.   As you likely know, this has sparked the debate about putting cell phone towers along the Northway. To steal a line from Nike - just do it.  Sure Frankenpines are hideous, but we're talking public safety and human lives here.  Senator Betty Little correctly stated this will be a double tragedy if this terrible incident doesn't spark the state to get these cell phone towers done quickly.  Fred Le Brun from the Albany Times Union also had a commentary on this story that is worth reading. 

Also, here is an Orthodox Jewish blog that was mentioned in the T-U article:  VOS IZ NEIAS Blog commentary on this tragedy with 81 comments as of this posting.

(Update 02/01/07) the I-Saratoga blog made a very interesting entry on this tragedy. 

Capital News 9 Story on the accident with video link.

Shifting gears, today's Saratogian (Tuesday January 30th) had Mayoral candidate Gordon Boyd's commentary on the editorial page.  They did put the words "Reader's View" fairly prominently above the headline, and they did note at the end that "Gordon Boyd is running for the office of mayor of Saratoga Springs".  With all that being said, the location of this commentary rubbed me the wrong way - it was right where the Newspaper's editorials (or, as is usually the case, other newspaper's editorials) are.  I'm not going to blast the Saratogian for this, but again it really left me feeling uneasy.  I think it was sort of lazy, maybe sloppy, or even just plain unprofessional to put a Mayoral candidate's commentary in the place where the editorial should go.  I've only seen one other newspaper ever put something other than a newspaper editorial in that location.  It was a "guest editorial" in another small upstate city daily and, incidentally, yours truly was the author. 

I am not saying that the Saratogian was being sneaky, I just think they were again being lazy or just unprofessional. That commentary was fine being either elsewhere on that page, or on the Op-Ed page, but not in that particular place where newspaper editorials should go.  OK again I won't blast them - and I made my point - enough said. 

I will repeat my call here, as I originally stated in a commentary on the (Dis)Utopia of Saratoga blog, that Mr. Boyd needs to get a web site if he is serious about running for Mayor.  I like a candidate that is with the times and can get things done quickly - and a campaign web site for me is a must.  It's easy, trust me. I built this blog using a "Blogging for Dummies" book, but I didn't even need that much - Typepad's software was excellent. 

I agree with Ben on the (Dis)Utopia blog that Mr. Boyd's support of the current form of city Government is a fatal flaw, at least as far as my vote is concerned.  But then again it's very, very early in the campaign, so after looking at all the facts, who knows what I'll think in November. 

Finally, the I-Saratoga blog had a commentary on the Saratogian's coverage of Barbaro's death.  While I don't necessarily disagree with the commentary, I have a bit of a different take.

This was sad certainly, but it was one horse that was painlessly euthanized.  Yes, not just any horse, but a great race horse with a wonderful story of months of mending and survival, but still one horse in the end.  It did not deserve that much coverage in any of the media entities that reported on this horse's life and death, and The Saratogian was certainly not the only one. Horses are euthanized every day, and yes this was sad, but if you really want a sad story that deserves widespread media coverage, go back to paragraph # 1 of this entry and read the story again about Alfred and Barbara Langner. 

Saratoga Dance Flurry and George Fletcher

I am traveling out of town on some important business, but I had a few minutes to get on line so I wanted to update a few things on here.

The Saratoga Springs Dance Flurry is on for February 16-18th, 2007 (Blogger added note: If you found this via a search, this is an old post for the 2007 flurry, if you are searching for the upcoming 2008 flurry, click here).  You may remember that most of last year's event was canceled when Saratoga Springs got hit with that blackout, so they took a beating financially.  I am glad to see it back this year!  Basically the Saratoga Dance Flurry is an awesome and huge array of workshops and music for those who love...well dancing and music.  Although a lot of the workshops are beginner workshops, I probably wouldn't recommend this for brand new dancers.  But if you know even just one dance, then that probably gives you enough of a base to learn all the others. It's a ton of fun, but exhausting! I will write on this some more but the deadline for the (reduced rate) early registration is January 29th so...if you think you may be interested then I can not encourage you enough.  Check out the schedule and that will tell you so much more than I can.  You can register on-line but do it by the 29th.  Here is some stuff I took off their web site which is hopefully enough of a teaser to get you to look further via the links above.

The Dance Flurry is a weekend Festival for Dancers & Music Lovers of all Ages! Dances - Performances - Workshops - Jamming - Crafts...and more!

Over 600 scheduled performers in seven venues. Over 250 events for all ages!

Dances and dance workshops: Contra, Swing, Latin, Zydeco, Waltzes, Texas Two-Step, Salsa, Irish Step Dance, International Folk (from many countries), Squares, Clogging, Family music and dance events -- just to name a few.

Music, concerts, music workshops, open jamming: African, Scottish, English, French-Canadian, Old-time American, Cajun, Scandinavian, Irish, French, Latin, Balkan, Italian, and SO much more!

Click here to find out what some of the attendees from previous years say about the flurry.

OK, I really hope that if you have the slightest interest in dancing then you will consider the Dance Flurry - people volunteer a ton of time to run this right here in Saratoga Springs, so the more support they get the better. 

Shifting gears,  I am a big fan of local musician George Fletcher.  I am also a big fan of people getting away from their TV's (and yes, their computers too!) and stepping out and patronizing local restaurants, clubs and pubs, especially when there is live music offered.  With that in mind, I am strongly encouraging you to stop out and see one of George's upcoming gigs, which are listed below.  George's web site is listed down in the right column under "Local Musicians".

Saturday, Jan. 27. Tinney’s Tavern, Lake Desolation Road, Greenfield, NY. 8:00 p.m.518-584- 8040.

Saturday, Feb. 3. Saratoga City Tavern, 19/21 Caroline Street, Saratoga Springs, NY. 8:00 p.m. 518- 581-3230.

Thursday, Feb. 8. Gaffney’s, 16 Caroline Street. Saratoga Springs, NY. 9:00 p.m. 518-587-9791.

Saturday, February 10. Ravenswood Pub, 1021 Rt 146 Clifton Park, NY. 518-371-8771. 8:00 p.m.

Their CD, "The Tequila Mockingbirds - Live at thirteen" is available at the following locations in Saratoga Springs, NY:

Barnes and Nobel Booksellers; Borders Books; Saratoga Guitar; Saratoga Music Center; thirteen; Last Vestige records and CDs.

You may also acquire a copy of "Live at thirteen" at all Tequila Mockingbirds gigs, on their web site (again see right column) and CDBaby.com.  Update 01/29/07: Also available on www.itunes.com

Saratoga updates

A few updates.  First of all I received my first trackback, compliments of Andrew Acomb.  What's a trackback?  It is a feature available on some blogs which is allows one blog (in this case Andrew's blog) to communicate with a different blog (in this case my blog here) and tell readers of that different blog that the first blog has a post that in some way relates to the post in the blog you are presently reading. 

Of course the quickest way to explain it more clearly is via a demonstration.  Go down to my posting from January 15th entitled Random Saratoga Thoughts - part 2.  You will notice on the bottom that there is a listing near the comment section for "Trackbacks" and it says there is (1) trackback.  Click on that and it will give you a link to a specific entry in Andrew's blog which shows a video of an ice storm in Portland Oregon which makes our little ice problem last week look like a walk in the park by comparison.  I am purposely not providing any links to Andrew's blog on here so you use the trackback feature to link it.  Aren't I annoying? 

It's a shame that not all blogging software has the trackback feature, otherwise I wouldn't have to take the time to link the I-Saratoga blog entry on the Saratogian's recent article on the awards they were recently trumpeting.  That blogger could have just simply posted a trackback on my recent entry regarding the Saratogian, and we would be automatically linked.  I will also again link the (dis)utopia of Saratoga blog entry on this subject, as well as a related one from Blogmaster-G. 

The book "Blogging for Dummies" said that one reason for success amongst blogs is that they more or less feed off each other, and it's been somewhat true lately right here in Saratoga Springs with some of the Saratoga area blogs listed in my blogroll on the right side here.  Trackbacks make this concept that much more efficient and easy, but right now Andrew Acomb and I are the only ones using software with this feature.

A few housekeeping notes here - a fellow blogger took a minute to point out that my link to Furl should have been www.furl.net - not .com as I originally had it.  I changed the original entry but I wanted to apologize and mention that in case you tried linking it and were confused.  Also, I added the Radnauseum.com blog to my blogroll recently.  Again I won't link it here - check out the blogroll!  Radnauseum is a Saratoga area blog focusing on music - it is good and on the edgy side.  Imagine that, an edgy blog.  Take care.

Saratoga blogs and so forth

I've been a bit busy and haven't posted in several days.  I really just wanted to create a link here to a rather humorous, yet on point, post in the (Dis)utopia of Saratoga Springs blog. 

I did stop by the Saratoga Farmer's Market yesterday, the indoor version.  It is understandably much smaller than the outdoor summer version (single degree temperatures tends to discourage crop growing), but still worth checking out in my book.  It's located at the Salvation Army building on Woodlawn Avenue, which is just west of Broadway. Basically draw a line between Putnam Market and the Price Chopper and you will find it.  I will stop there again with my camera one of these days and post some pictures. Here is a map that shows Woodlawn Avenue, and the Salvation Army building is between Church and Division Streets.

Finally, fellow bloggers take note.  In my very first post on here I credited the book "Blogging for Dummies" as my only source for learning about blogs.  That was incorrect, and I forgot to mention that I took an excellent course on "New Media" given by this guy Shel Holtz, who I would describe as a blogging and podcasting guru.  The course was really an eye opening experience, and he not only talks about blogging and podcasting, but also:

1.  Wikis -ie. wikipedia - but there are several wikis - which are basically reference web sites in which the users actually provide the input - for instance try  The New PR wiki, a wiki on, well, Public Relations. There is a wiki on pregnancy - aptly entitled wikipregnancy.  There are wikis on a large number of subjects - wikipedia is the most well known, but certainly not the only one.

2.  Social bookmarking/tagging - coming up with a label for things important to you - a classification system that others can search on the web.  ie. del.icio.us (note: that is the exact URL - there is no "www" there) , www.furl.net , www.flickr.com (pictures).

3.  Social Ranking - Readers/web users decide what's important - through votes or algorithms.  Try www.digg.com

4.  Social Networking - virtually all of us know about Myspace, but there are many others.  The one that is really freaky is Second Life - it's a virtual reality web site where you exist on line through an avatar - which is your on line persona.  I'm not giving much of a description here but you'll hear more and more about second life as time goes on I think.  I believe in a year it will be as well known as myspace - although it's a very different thing. 

There were other interesting things I learned in Shel's two day seminar.  It was well worth my time.  He runs a blog and a podcast, and those of you intersted in learning about the latest issues and changes in new media may want to check it out - I just started to and have been learning a lot.  Take care folks and please spread the word about this blog and the other excellent Saratoga area blogs that I have linked in the blogroll to the right.

Trying not to be redundant but...

OK, I'm really going to try to restrain myself and not make this the "Let's bash the Saratogian" blog too often. 

Starting tomorrow.

But today I must vent.  Yet again, The Saratogian shows a total lack of ability to keep Saratoga Springs residents informed.  This time not for what was in that fine publication, but for what wasn't in it.  Thursday's Albany Times-Union had an article with the headline "Dubai ruler adds stable to realm."  The article went on to explain that "The ruler of Dubai has purchased Stonerside Stable, a prestigious 106-acre horse farm that adjoins Saratoga Race Course, for nearly $17.5 million."

It's just not that often a leader of a foreign country makes a $17.5 million land purchase right next to our beloved racecourse, and our hometown daily should have told us about it.  If it's not big news, then it's at least very, very interesting.  Rather than Saratoga Springs' only daily newspaper telling us about humongous and unusual property sales in our city, it was the Albany Times-Union that found out this basic piece of information and was the first to report it.

OK, the T-U is a huge newspaper with a large and experienced staff and all sorts of other things that make it a powerful and respected newspaper.  How could we expect the little old Saratogian to keep up?  You know what?  In most cases, The Saratogian probably can't keep up.  Fine. It's a small town daily.  But I asked once before if the folks at the Saratogian had any pride, and I'll ask it again.  You'd think that they would say to themselves "OK, The T-U is going to beat us at a lot of things - sports, world news, national news, state news, etc., but doggone it, when it comes to reporting on things happening under our noses right here in Saratoga Springs, NY, no one, and I mean no one, will beat us to the punch or scoop us in any way."

Those words are apparently never spoken over at 20 Lake Avenue.  The T-U cited as it's source a property transfer file at the Saratoga County Clerk's Office. Now why isn't the Saratogian sending someone down to Ballston Spa and checking those things on a timely basis?  I imagine I'll see it in Monday's money section but....I could go on, but you get the point.

One last thing - is The Saratogian going to print this information in their Friday edition, one full day after the T-U reported it?  And if they do print it, will they at least have the sense to do something different than the T-U, like obtaining new information or at least reporting if from a different angle?   We'll know in about six hours, won't we? 

Again, I don't want to be redundant here and keep pointing out the flaws in the Saratogian.  But when they are so obvious I am going to do that because I feel someone has to.  Luckily there are others in the local blogosphere doing the same thing, so I know some people agree with me.   

Random Saratoga thoughts - part 2

Well I apologize for those of you that read that last entry - something about those Typepad glitches are persistent.  I tried fixing it three times and it just insisted on going up like that.  I tried some new tricks tonight (pretty bad when you have to fight with your blogging software) and I think I have it cleaned up.

But I have bigger problems anyway.  I have been without electricity since this afternoon - and my condo is electric baseboard heat - so this could be a problem.  The frustrating thing is that my neighbors' houses next to and behind me are lit up like Christmas trees, and my house is all dark. Oh well I won't take electricity for granted any more, and I feel for my fellow Saratoga Springs residents who are going through the same thing.  Hopefully those nice folks at National Grid will hook us up soon.

So I am at Uncommon Grounds here on a Monday night, again b/c I have no electricity.  Yesterday I went to visit friends and my Godchild near Herkimer so that took most of the day - especially with the icy ride home which took a while.  Even with the rough weather I decided to take RT 29 back to Saratoga - it was a direct shot east for me and it was about 75 miles, it would have been about 110 if I took the Thruway, so I just went slow and it all worked out. 

OK so I walked around Saratoga and took some pictures Saturday, and some pictures of the frozen rain today.  Lets see how they came out:

OK, above we have the building formerly known as Skidmore College's Moore Hall (aka "the Pink Palace"), but now it's empty and awaiting demolition.  This location will become the site of the Union Ave Townhomes - and the 18 units in that development will be pricey.  Something tells me these townhomes will be a nice addition to Union Avenue and Saratoga Springs, because anything is better than this 1958 building, which is about as ugly as it gets.   I put this picture on here so those of you can get a look at it before they (presumably) implode it later this year.

 

These two pictures above are of the new Empire State College building at the corner of Union Ave and Circular Street in Saratoga Springs.  This building is coming along nicely, and it seems that the college does a good job of making their new buildings appear consistent with the other Saratoga Springs buildings.  The building pictured below is across Union Ave from the above building, and it's just a few years old.  Nonetheless, at least to the average person, this newer building below is consistent with the architecture of the buildings around it and it does not look out of place.

OK the below pictures are of Monday's freezing rain damage along Union Avenue.  Pretty, but still destructive.  Be safe in this weather that's it for now.

Random Saratoga thoughts - part 1

      I haven't posted for a while so I am feeling pretty guilty about that.

 

      Well it is obvious that I haven't been shy about criticizing  Saratoga Springs' daily newspaper, The Saratogian.  Let me say that I really think long and hard before I take such a step, and I want to make sure I am fair and not piling it on.  Therefore, I felt a sense of justification today when I read Gabe Anderson's blog and his entry on the Saratogian, which is consistent with my last entry. In fact, Gabe linked my last posting in his entry, and I appreciate the fact that he took the step of actually writing to The Saratogian and pointing out their mistakes.  Maybe I should do the same thing.

      Where the heck does the time go on the weekends?  Geez I love my weekends but time just flies way too fast and, although I do a good job of recharging, I do not do a good job of getting things done.  Oh well I have had fun so far. 

      Friday night I hung with some friends both at home and downtown at The Bullpen and City Tavern.  Thank God for D'Andrea's Pizza at 2am. I wasn't really hungry but when I am out at that time I am like the dog in that Beggin Strips commercial.  Just like the dog can only think of "bacon!!!!", at 2am I can only think of "pizza!!!!"  Well, I think of one other thing also, but I would rather that this remain a family friendly blog.

 

      I Ran into George Fletcher on my way downtown and he told me he just got through playing at a benefit. I think he said he was at Bailey's.  Downtown Saratoga Springs had a pretty good crowd.  I really like living in Saratoga and going downtown on the weekends is pretty cool here whether it is track season or not. 

      OK I have to get my butt to the YMCA because I am feeling mega-guilt (maybe it's the pizza).  I realized I need some more pictures on here (Andrew Acomb's blog is inspiring me in that direction) so I have been trying to remember to bring my camera when I step out.  I took some pictures today and I will continue this enthralling story about my weekend with a second entry tomorrow.  Hopefully I can post some Saratoga pictures.  Have a great weekend. 

Saratoga Springs' hometown newspaper

The Saratogian (sigh).  OK I need to beat up on them a little bit, not because I want to, just because they keep showing me they deserve it.   In addition to their typos, amateurish writing,  overall lack of professionalism, and apparent lack of knowledge about basic journalism, they simply are incorrect just too often in their reporting. 

A while back, in reporting on the Breeders Cup, a Saratogian reporter wrote that the racehorse "Lava Man" was "a five year old colt".  OK, first of all it was a gelding, and second of all a five year old male horse can never be considered a colt - anyone that knows anything about horses knows it would either be a stallion or a gelding.  They were amazingly wrong on not one but two counts. In the same issue, our esteemed hometown daily had an editorial on the then hot Sweeney-Gillebrand election battle, and they wrote that the twentieth Congressional District bordered Canada.  No.  Wrong again.  It just doesn't, and the Saratogian editorial staff should have known that. 

Now this Sunday's edition (January 7, 2007) had an article on the Union Avenue Townhomes being built on the site of the former Skidmore dormitory building on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs ("The Pink Palace").  Again, these are townhomes, yet at one point the article referred to the buildings as "condominium buildings".  No, "townhome" and "condominium" are not interchangeable words - they are different things.  Owning a townhome means you own not only part of the building, but the land underneath it and sometimes  some land adjacent to the building.  Owning a condominium means you own just that inside part of a building - like owning an apartment.  These townhomes are not condominiums, and the article is wrong to refer to them as such.

Are these three examples of mistakes, which seem to me to be common in the Saratogian, quibbling about minor things?  No way.  Think about it.  These pieces (articles and editorial) were about horse racing, the Congressional District representing Saratoga Springs, and new housing developments in our city.  These are things that are extremely relevant to Saratoga Springs and its residents, and they are reported in the news often.  Saratogian reporters should be experts on horse racing, our one Congressional district, and new residential construction terminology.  If they made a mistake reporting on NASCAR, the British Parliament, or oceanfront hotels, I would hope I would cut them a little slack.  But being inaccurate on those relevant Saratoga issues is simply inexcusable.   

I've asked this once before, and I'll ask it again:  If I'm catching such blatant errors, with what seems to be regularity, what errors am I not catching and just how misinformed are they making me and other readers?    With the internet really taking off and threatening conventional forms of media, like newspapers and television, all I can tell the powers that be at the Saratogian is to look out.  In a way they are the only game in town these days, but the changes are coming fast and with their lack of accuracy and professionalism these guys may be in trouble a short way down the road.  I believe the saying goes "Adapt, migrate, or die."  No one wants to see the Saratogian die, and they can't migrate, so they better adapt and improve.

Yesterday was great in Saratoga Springs!

Wow!  Double Wow!  That weather was great yesterday - and today isn't so bad either.  Another Saratoga Springs Blogger, Blog Master G, had a good entry on this subject as well.  I love warm winter weather so much, but this is almost ridiculous. As much as I love it, I am really starting to feel sorry for the ski resort operators, snowmobile related businesses etc.  Some people are really going to suffer financially.  The good news is that even if we start getting hit with snow soon, the winter will still be short.  So far I certainly can't complain about my first Saratoga winter.

I was supposed to put an entry in a few days ago announcing that the band The Ruddys, consisting of my friend Jess, her father Scott, and any one of her tribe of drummers, were performing at Clancy's on Caroline Street in Saratoga Springs.  I started off the night by hosting some friends for snacks and drinks at my condo, then we all went down to see the Ruddys (listed as "The Rudys" on Clancy's band listing). I thought I wouldn't like Clancy's - it almost seemed like a biker bar - but it was really just a down to earth blue collar bar - at least based on my one experience.  The Ruddys were great, and they had the place hopping and dancing.  Cool. 

I guess I am just slow to announce things on here this week, because tonight at 6pm on the Home and Garden TV Network (HGTV), the show "Offbeat America" is going to profile a house right here in Saratoga Springs.  Sorry, I should have given you more notice, but at least I am getting this out with at least some notice.  PJ and Carolyn Davis, owners of PJ's barbecue on Broadway near exit 13, have a 50's house that they live in - I guess it's pretty cool and it's totally retro 50s with all the furniture, appliances etc. I always seem to miss the tour when they offer it in the summer.  I imagine the microwaves and home computers were really huge back then.  Here's the link to the specific show info, but it's channel 41 on Saratoga Time Warner cable stations and it's at 6pm - pretty cool.

The Ripe Tomato and wild salmon

I had a work meeting about 7pm last night, but thankfully it didn't last too long.  I was driving home around 7:45pm and I just didn't feel like going home and making dinner, so I started pondering where to eat.  I considered the chain restaurants off Exit 15 but...wasn't in a chain restaurant mood.  I considered downtown and, although there are some great choices, I was in the mood for something new and not so formal.  Then I remembered I have never been to The Ripe Tomato. So, after a quick departure off the Northway at Exit 13, I headed to the well known establishment on Route 9 in Malta.

The Ripe Tomato has the feel of a country diner - warm with lots of wooden booths and tables.  The staff was pretty friendly and certainly quick - of course it helped that it wasn't too busy - although the full parking lot sure made it look busy.  At my request the server guided me through the large menu - lots of choices in many categories, with most dinner entrees in the $15-20 range.  I didn't know what I wanted, so I just asked the server to tell me her favorite dish, which turned out to be the Pollo Tres Modos. 

I ordered this house chicken specialty ($17.50), which, if my memory serves me, turned out to be a construction of a layer of fried chicken breast, topped with prosciutto, then another breast topped with red peppers, and finally a third breast (I guess the "tres" gave it away) topped with spinach.  This was all covered with cheese, and it was all served over an orange cream (or cheese?) style sauce.  It was an impressive presentation, and shame on me for not running out to my car to get my camera.  In case those (presumably) 1,500 calories didn't fill me up, it was served with a generous portion of pasta.  I have to give an appreciative note here and say that they happily substituted penne for their standard side of angel hair pasta.  I'm not an angel hair fan, but I am a fan of restaurants that are willing to fill simple substitution requests. 

Anyone over the age of, oh, I don't know, 35, must remember those old Alka Seltzer TV commercials ads withthe man lamenting "I can't believe I ate the whole thing", and with the woman's voice replying "You ate it Ralph".  Well that was me.  It was good, don't get me wrong, but I never should have eaten that much food (I did take some of the pasta home but by the time I realized how much I ate, it was too late and I was Thanksgiving full).  I guess if I go there again, I will watch what I order or at least plan on taking about half of it home.

And I will go there again. I don't think I'll crave the food there, but it has a loyal following -  probably with good reason, at least based on my one experience.  The rolls and bread served with the dinner were rather plain and didn't seem overly fresh, but I should qualify that and note that it may have just seemed that way because they were served warm and crisp.   Their red sauce served with the pasta had a good homemade taste. 

I have to go off on a tangent here (imagine that).  I see the menu has "wild salmon", which is a rarity around here, and in fact is a rarity in most east coast restaurants.  Atlantic salmon that is for sale is always farm-raised, because wild Atlantic salmon is an endangered species.  It doesn't matter if it says Norwegian, Chilean etc. - it's still farm-raised.  And as you probably know there is an issue with pesticides with that type of salmon because the pesticides in the feed (usually soybean pellets) makes its way into the salmon and then into you.  Lovely.  Hey have a few toxic chemicals with your fish. 

So I love seeing wild salmon on a menu, and that's great that The Ripe Tomato has it. But there are five species of wild Pacific salmon, so which one is it?  Is it the expensive and tasty King (aka Chinook) salmon?  Or the much less expensive (but still decent) Chum salmon (some supermarkets call it "Silverback", probably because the word "chum" just isn't too appetizing).  Supermarkets often list it simply as "wild", "Pacific" or "Alaskan" salmon.  That still doesn't tell you anything - which type is it?  If it's Sockeye, which is delicious, you'll know just by looking at its deep red flesh, but the other wild salmon all look the same orange color as the farmed salmon.  And I always wonder if what is listed as "wild" salmon, or organic farm raised, is really as advertised.  I am not saying that The Ripe Tomato would lie, but there have been instances of distributors and supermarket chains passing off (non organic) farm-raised (and probably pesticide laden) salmon as wild or organic salmon.  So restaurants themselves, in addition to their customers, could be victimized by unscrupulous distributors.  I just am always suspicious on those things - am I really getting what they say I'm getting?

And hey, as a tangent on my tangent, I learned about salmon and lots of other types of edible fish from this great fish guidebook/cookbook cleverly entitled "Fish".  Actually the full name is "Fish, The Complete Guide to Buying and Cooking." The author, Mark Bittman, explains the ins and outs of 70 kinds of fish and how to buy them, which ones to stay away from, etc.  As a tangent on my tangent on my tangent (yes, that's a triple tangent), I will note that he has nothing good to say about Tilapia.  His chapter on it states the following:

More and more, we're seeing tilapia in fish markets being sold as a substitute for red snapper and other whole fish.  But every farm-raised tilapia I've ever had (and all the tilapia sold here is farm-raised) has an undesirable, muddy flavor.  I avoid this fish when I see it, and recommend that you do also.

That's me, the tangent loving, suspicious blogger that loves wild salmon, but wants to know what kind of wild salmon he's getting.  Take care folks.