Okay, vegetarians: you're going to want to skip this post. We have some Real Man (and Real Woman) stuff we're talking about and I don't want you getting all woozy or getting your foo-foo all over me. Maybe you could go rub tofu blocks all over yourself, follow it with a good cry and then write some unbearable poetry-accompanied-by-acoustic-guitar afterwards.

Are the hippies gone? Good.

Let's talk about pork.

Better yet, let's first look at pork. Pictured below is the area just outside the kitchen at my grandmother's house in the town of San Juan, located in the province of Batangas, Philippines. On the table is a lechon, which is a whole roast sucking pig, served with a crispy rind and sweet and sour liver dipping sauce on the side.

Photo: Lechon being served at my grandmother's house in San Juan, Batangas, Philippines.

In Balayan, another town in Batangas province, there's the "Parada ng mga lechon", which is basically a giant roast pig parade: people carry the spits of roasted pig around town and eat them afterwards.

Lechon is so beloved by Filipino people that we've even made hipster clothing about it! Check this out:

Photo: 'Lechon' baseball shirt.

Oh, dude, I am soooo getting one of those.



Graphic: Title graphic for startrek.com Klingon advice columnist K'plett.

In Robert Asprin's sci-fi humour novel Phule's Company, the pork-lovin' Filipinos were renowned as the best cooks and fighters on old Earth. In the Star Trek universe, Klingon cuisine is catching on, and we all know that they're the ass-kickers of the Alpha Quadrant. On the Star Trek site, you'll find an advice column written by K'Plett, a Klingon who until recently worked at the Klingon Embassy. He's also a big fan of pork. Here's his last entry:

...allow me to express my unending gratitude to your planet for introducing me to bacon. O, meaty ambrosia, I worship at the alter of your salty tastiness! I have acquired replicator recipes for bacon, and I have also arranged for fresh bacon to be delivered to the homeworld several times a year. It has been suggested that upon my retirement, I should open up a bacon restaurant back home, and I am considering it, although others have noted that such an arrangement would be akin to an alcoholic opening up a liquor store.

As the Klingons would say: Qa'pla!



My friends who keep kosher (or halal or ital) may think that they can't enjoy the goodness that is pork, but remember: Chinese food is safe treyf!



All of the above, however, is merely porcine preamble for the main point of this posting: allow me to direct you to Bacontarian.com, the blog for bacontarians (people who supplement "an otherwise normal diet with large amounts of pork"). Ethan "GeekCorps" Zuckerman -- who happens to be the husband of one of the officiants of our wedding -- is a contributor and bacontarian.

(Somebody should let Anthony at The Meatriarchy know about this site.)

Give the site a look-see and then: pig out!