Media

L.A. journalist turned Cincy blogger

state-route-013.jpgGordon Smith, the former Los Angeles bureau chief for Copley News Service, resigned last year as chief spokesman for the local ACLU to movie with his wife to a farm near Cincinnati. He observes on the new life at a blog he calls State Route 013. From a post in which he discovers that in a lot of America, the easily available food isn't that great.

After you live in Cincinnati for a while, you gradually begin to realize that there is a layer of invisible rays that covers the area like a dome. Everything entering the metro region — trucks, planes, cars, even boats — must pass through these rays.

We’re not naive — we know the government is behind them. And while we may never know their true purpose, we can say that they remove all freshness and flavor from food that’s shipped into the area. Sushi? Tastes like cardboard. Onions? You’re lucky if they last a week. Shrimp? Traces of chlorine. Bell peppers? Wrinkled and soft. Mozzarella cheese? You could be chewing rubber.

Occasionally, chicken does get past the rays with its flavor and tenderness intact. Although we cannot say for sure, we believe the Amish are smuggling it in in lead-lined, horse-drawn carriages.

Latest up: a snake in the wood pile.


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