Pig bung is delicious

Words 424; audio clip 26 minutes

Pig bung could pass for deep-fried squid.  When I worked at the pork packing plant in Storm Lake, I was the first person, the primary player, the big kahuna in the Chits Department. Pig stomach and intestines come down form the kill floor to me on a slide.
I cut the stomach off by passing it through a mounted razor blade, and threw it to the left; then I cut off the bung hole (the other of the intestine) and threw it to the right.  This experience made me especially interested in something I heard on a podcast yesterday.
This American Life broadcast a segment on a story that someone had seen boxes of pig intestine that was labeled “artificial calamari.”  The reporter did an exhaustive search for the truth, ending with the final test—putting squid side by side with pig bung.  The subjects volunteering to take that test were completely fooled.  Everyone was SURE they were eating the squid and the OTHER people were eating the fried pig parts.
The best explanation came from that the guy on the restaurant staff, “I think when you cut something up really thin an deep fry it, it’s going to taste like something that’s been deep-fried.”  A particularly interesting/humorous interview during the segment was with the operator of some kind of animal plant in Missouri.  I could easily picture this guy sitting in his dusty office was bits of papers, stains, coffee cups, and bits of manure hanging around. It’s about 26 minutes long, but it is worth it.  Listen below to the segment if you wish:

Or go here for the whole show: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/484/doppelgangers

The other day, I told how I met someone else running.  Yesterday, at 7:20 a.m. I met another.  TODAY, I ran with Alexei at his regular running time.  The careful reader of this blog will notice that we began quite early.  Moscow received 2 inches of fresh, powdery snow, but the running was not terribly slippery.  All night, right now, and the forecast for the next 26 hours, is for a small bit of snow to be falling.
We ran to a spot where there is a group of exercise equipment.  In addition to the leg ups, dips, and pull-ups, I did some other lifting and some push-ups.  My arms will probably be sore today.  My lips, nose, and fingers were freezing by the time we finished.
It’s interesting to run with someone, but it also means that I do not get to listen to podcasts as much.  Such is the trade-off for being a social animal.