Tuesday night is cheap movie night at the Maplewood movie theater, so Phil and I headed off to co-worker Lynn's hometown to meet up with her and her hubby in order to see Crash for $6.
Crash tells the story of different Los Angelinos, as they crash literally and figuratively into one another over the course of two days. Mostly it involves thoughts on race - particularly when those thoughts are blatantly discussed. In some respects, I agree with Phil that there are points where the overtly racist things people in the film say seem ridiculous. In other words, while it is not shocking that these characters think along these lines, it is shocking that they would say it out loud, particularly in a city as diverse as L.A. But, I think it's tremendously thought-provoking on the whole. And I liked it. True, as A.O. Scott of the Times pointed out, it's not remotely subtle (and I usually get annoyed with movies that beat me over the head) but like Sin City, I have to appreciate a film that has me mulling it over the next day.
I thought it was well-written and superbly acted. Standouts included Ludacris as a car-jacker with interesting theories on racism, Matt Dillon as a racist cop, Terrence Howard and Thandie Newton as a wealthy married couple who get harassed by Dillon's cop. A list of reviews are here.
Afterwards, we headed to the excellent St. James Gate, where Tuesdays are $2 pint night. I've eaten at the Gate several times as well, and it's really quite good and reasonably priced. No dinner last night, but it reminded me that I really ought to head over there for some bangers and mash soon.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Luncheon Luncheon Luncheon Luncheon
Forgive me, but I only just returned an hour ago from luncheon. I had bitoque - sirloin with a garlic sauce, cooked rare, naturally, with an egg on top. It was delicious. I am very very full, though and have nothing good to tell anyone about anything. In fact, Mireia fell asleep on the car ride home, and really, I'd like to do that right now too.
There's nothing like a large meal to sap all your energy and will to work. I was going to write a snotty letter to John Tierney, but now I think I'll just lie around.
Please do check out the NJ Appellate Division's decision on gay marriage. Unfortunately, the ban on marriage was affirmed, but Judge Collester wrote an excellent dissent.
There's nothing like a large meal to sap all your energy and will to work. I was going to write a snotty letter to John Tierney, but now I think I'll just lie around.
Please do check out the NJ Appellate Division's decision on gay marriage. Unfortunately, the ban on marriage was affirmed, but Judge Collester wrote an excellent dissent.
You Got a Reaction
Luncheon luncheon luncheon luncheon. Today, I get out of work for several hours to go to an end of term luncheon in the Ironbound district of Brick City (aka Newark). Hooray! So, posting will be light today.
First things first. Guess who's going to Vienna in July? I am, bitches! Ha hahahahahahahahaha!
Janet and I are booking our Vienna trip today. We are paying for it with our income tax refunds. Thank you federal government, for giving me back money that I can now spend in a foreign country.
John Tierney is officially on my shit list with his misinformed and statistically lacking op-ed piece in today's Times about how old people are slothful and should go get jobs and contribute to the economy.
At some point today, I hope to give you my review of the movie Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, but it'll have to wait till after luncheon luncheon luncheon luncheon. Sorry for the hyperativity. Getting out of work reminds me of half-days in high school. Good times.
Last, but not least, I was in the grocery store yesterday, mulling over my ice cream options, when the White Stripes new single, "Blue Orchid" came on. It was weirdly sandwiched between Steve Winwood's "Back in the High Life" (which reminds me of high school English teacher Mrs. B) and some Gloria Estefan song from after her bus accident. It was strange to hear at the local Stop and Shop, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Although, I do have to say, Meg White isn't much of a drummer is she? I know next to nothing about music, but even I can tell she seems really lacking.
First things first. Guess who's going to Vienna in July? I am, bitches! Ha hahahahahahahahaha!
Janet and I are booking our Vienna trip today. We are paying for it with our income tax refunds. Thank you federal government, for giving me back money that I can now spend in a foreign country.
John Tierney is officially on my shit list with his misinformed and statistically lacking op-ed piece in today's Times about how old people are slothful and should go get jobs and contribute to the economy.
At some point today, I hope to give you my review of the movie Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, but it'll have to wait till after luncheon luncheon luncheon luncheon. Sorry for the hyperativity. Getting out of work reminds me of half-days in high school. Good times.
Last, but not least, I was in the grocery store yesterday, mulling over my ice cream options, when the White Stripes new single, "Blue Orchid" came on. It was weirdly sandwiched between Steve Winwood's "Back in the High Life" (which reminds me of high school English teacher Mrs. B) and some Gloria Estefan song from after her bus accident. It was strange to hear at the local Stop and Shop, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Although, I do have to say, Meg White isn't much of a drummer is she? I know next to nothing about music, but even I can tell she seems really lacking.
Monday, June 13, 2005
For Your Consideration
The New York Times' New Jersey section restaurant review dished out an "Excellent" to newcomer Restaurant Latour in Hardyston. If you're looking for a place for a very special occasion and you're tired of Highlawn Pavilion, it sounds really good. Oh, and apparently they have a 20,000 bottle wine cellar.
Thanks to Rajeev, I have started reading blog A Hamburger Today. I am now overwhelmed with an urge to go to the Shake Shack. Also, the reviewer headed over the river to New Jersey to try out White Manna and White Mana (the Hackensack one gets an excellent review).
And did you know that IKEA sells good cheap coffee? I had no clue. Phil was kind enough to share today.
And on an unrelated note, I actually got to catch a replay of This American Life yesterday - it was a repeat from last year about the private sector in Iraq - Nancy Updike interviewed dozens of people and it was a fascinating piece. I love Nancy because she occasionally gets worked up when dealing with her subjects. For instance, Hank, who is a private security guy in Baghdad, talks about not wanting to change Iraqis, but he disapproves of the male Iraqi custom of holding hands with a friend in public. He'll needle his Iraqi co-workers and pals about it. Nancy got pissed at him and yelled "Jesus Christ! Leave them alone!" Hank asked her, "Don't you think it's wrong that they hold hands?" "No! I think it's nice! Just leave them be!" she snapped. She did not get worked up with the security guard who talked a co-worker into letting his wife go out in public without a burka. Listen to it here.
Thanks to Rajeev, I have started reading blog A Hamburger Today. I am now overwhelmed with an urge to go to the Shake Shack. Also, the reviewer headed over the river to New Jersey to try out White Manna and White Mana (the Hackensack one gets an excellent review).
And did you know that IKEA sells good cheap coffee? I had no clue. Phil was kind enough to share today.
And on an unrelated note, I actually got to catch a replay of This American Life yesterday - it was a repeat from last year about the private sector in Iraq - Nancy Updike interviewed dozens of people and it was a fascinating piece. I love Nancy because she occasionally gets worked up when dealing with her subjects. For instance, Hank, who is a private security guy in Baghdad, talks about not wanting to change Iraqis, but he disapproves of the male Iraqi custom of holding hands with a friend in public. He'll needle his Iraqi co-workers and pals about it. Nancy got pissed at him and yelled "Jesus Christ! Leave them alone!" Hank asked her, "Don't you think it's wrong that they hold hands?" "No! I think it's nice! Just leave them be!" she snapped. She did not get worked up with the security guard who talked a co-worker into letting his wife go out in public without a burka. Listen to it here.
Wands and wings! Floaty crowny things!
One of the things that helped me through this three-year-old intensive weekend was Nickelodeon. When I was little, I loved Saturday morning cartoons, naturally. But we didn't have cable till I was a teenager, so I missed out on the Nick cartoons. Aside from that, I don't think Nick had as many awesome cartoons when I was a kid as they do now.
Connor is interested in toons, but he'll usually color or play with his train set while they are on.... unless it's Thomas the freaking Tank Engine, which always gets his full attention.
Anyway, I watched an awful lot of Rugrats, SpongeBob SquarePants, and the awesome Fairly Odd Parents. The best part is that I'm more into these shows than Connor is. He'll sing along with the Spongebob theme song, but I'm the one laughing at all the jokes, and the following conversation did occur:
Connor: Megan, come play trains with me.
Megan: Wait, I have to see how Rugrats ends. Give me five more minutes.
Sad, I know. Anyway, I've liked SpongeBob for awhile - he's completely adorable and the show is generally hysterical. And Rugrats is cute, of course. But I had never caught Fairly Odd Parents before, and hot damn, who knew I was missing such fun? F.O.P. follows the exploits of ten-year-old Timmy, who has two slightly bungling fairy godparents, Cosmo and Wanda. In an episode from last year, Timmy had a crappy day in which he gets beaten up by the school bully, gets screamed at by nasty babysitter Vicky, and his teacher Mr. Crocker decides to give him an "F" on every assignment for the rest of the year. So, Timmy wishes that the world would be more like his favorite comic book and wacky highjinks ensue.
So, good times on Nick. If you haven't basked in the warm glow of SpongeBob, then seriously, get on that. Same goes for Fairly Odd Parents.
Connor is interested in toons, but he'll usually color or play with his train set while they are on.... unless it's Thomas the freaking Tank Engine, which always gets his full attention.
Anyway, I watched an awful lot of Rugrats, SpongeBob SquarePants, and the awesome Fairly Odd Parents. The best part is that I'm more into these shows than Connor is. He'll sing along with the Spongebob theme song, but I'm the one laughing at all the jokes, and the following conversation did occur:
Connor: Megan, come play trains with me.
Megan: Wait, I have to see how Rugrats ends. Give me five more minutes.
Sad, I know. Anyway, I've liked SpongeBob for awhile - he's completely adorable and the show is generally hysterical. And Rugrats is cute, of course. But I had never caught Fairly Odd Parents before, and hot damn, who knew I was missing such fun? F.O.P. follows the exploits of ten-year-old Timmy, who has two slightly bungling fairy godparents, Cosmo and Wanda. In an episode from last year, Timmy had a crappy day in which he gets beaten up by the school bully, gets screamed at by nasty babysitter Vicky, and his teacher Mr. Crocker decides to give him an "F" on every assignment for the rest of the year. So, Timmy wishes that the world would be more like his favorite comic book and wacky highjinks ensue.
So, good times on Nick. If you haven't basked in the warm glow of SpongeBob, then seriously, get on that. Same goes for Fairly Odd Parents.
Tom Cruise, leave me alone!
So, my second nephew was born on Friday afternoon. Mom and baby are healthy and doing well. I spent most of my weekend looking after nephew number one. Needless to say, I am very tired.
On Friday night, after heading back to my apartment, I was delighted to find my Entertainment Weekly in my mailbox. Sure, it comes every Friday, but with the events of the day, I had completely forgotten about it. Yes, an hour on the couch with EW was exactly what I needed before bed, I thought. Alas, who was on the cover? Tom Cruise! Arrrggghhhh. "Tom Cruise! Why won't you leave me alone?!?!" I demanded as I shook the magazine.
Of course, I ran right inside to read the interview with Mr. Cruise.
First off, how does he feel about people making fun of/disapproving of his highjinks with Katie? Well, in Tommy's humble opinion, some people just don't like to see others happy. And he doesn't care what they think - he's madly in love and he wants the world to know! Thanks. Then he moved onto the whole Brooke Shields debacle. He doesn't understand why people are bothered by his speaking out against "drug use" (for the record, he speaks out about the use of anti-depressants and what not) because he doesn't see how it's any different than the anti-drug movement of the 1980s. Second, he says Carl Jung wrote for a Nazi paper in the 1930s. EW pointed out that there is nothing to substantiate that claim. Then he said that Hitler had a lot to do with the invention of methadone, which according to Tom was originally called Adolphine. That's apparently an urban legend.
Please, read it for yourself.
I've got nothin'. There's no point in making fun of someone who does such an excellent job of looking like a fool all on his own.
On Friday night, after heading back to my apartment, I was delighted to find my Entertainment Weekly in my mailbox. Sure, it comes every Friday, but with the events of the day, I had completely forgotten about it. Yes, an hour on the couch with EW was exactly what I needed before bed, I thought. Alas, who was on the cover? Tom Cruise! Arrrggghhhh. "Tom Cruise! Why won't you leave me alone?!?!" I demanded as I shook the magazine.
Of course, I ran right inside to read the interview with Mr. Cruise.
First off, how does he feel about people making fun of/disapproving of his highjinks with Katie? Well, in Tommy's humble opinion, some people just don't like to see others happy. And he doesn't care what they think - he's madly in love and he wants the world to know! Thanks. Then he moved onto the whole Brooke Shields debacle. He doesn't understand why people are bothered by his speaking out against "drug use" (for the record, he speaks out about the use of anti-depressants and what not) because he doesn't see how it's any different than the anti-drug movement of the 1980s. Second, he says Carl Jung wrote for a Nazi paper in the 1930s. EW pointed out that there is nothing to substantiate that claim. Then he said that Hitler had a lot to do with the invention of methadone, which according to Tom was originally called Adolphine. That's apparently an urban legend.
Please, read it for yourself.
I've got nothin'. There's no point in making fun of someone who does such an excellent job of looking like a fool all on his own.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
What's In a Name?
I will not be in to work tomorrow, and therefore this site will be post-free. Dry your eyes, though, I have a good excuse. My second nephew will be born, if all goes according to plan and I must look after my first nephew, Connor (who has many nicknames - Munchkin, Munchie, Germ Monkey, Dirt Farmer, Con Dog, Con Man, and Don't Do That). Connor is moderately excited about being a big brother, but mostly nervous about not getting all the attention anymore. I tried to explain that having a sibling means that when you're a teen, some of the heat is off of you, and that's a good thing, but this leads to a blank stare and a request for a cookie.
Anyway, Connor is a decidedly Irish name, which was the point when my sister and brother-in-law chose it. My sister really wanted a name that would reflect the other side of Connor's heritage, since his last name is Chinese. The name had to start with a "K" sound, because that's Chinese tradition (all the kids in a generation will name their children with the same sound). Connor's middle name is also Chinese (and I'm ashamed to admit that I only recently learned the pronunciation) so that his Chinese grandparents would have a name to call him. As you can see, a lot of Connor's name represents his Chinese heritage. I'll admit it was my hope that they would give Connor my mother's maiden name as a middle name, but alas, no such luck.
My sister didn't change her name when she got married, but there was never any question about whose last name the children would have. For me and my sis, it's just us and our cousins, Chris and Erik, to carry on Pop's name. Chris and Erik are older than my sister and don't appear to be headed to the child department. It makes me sad that our surname might not get passed along. I can't explain why - it's a perfectly common surname, but it's ours and I've never really understood why a woman's surname is any less worthy of being handed down.
When my grandma had my dad, she gave him her maiden name as his middle name, a tradition that I really like, and am subsequently going to recommend to anyone on the fence in the middle name department.
Back to my sister and first names. When they learned it was a boy, there was more disagreement on the name. No one liked Kyle. Kevin is already taken. So is Colin and Christopher. They eventually settled on Cooper, which I like, because I picked it. Cooper is English and comes from the long L'Angleterre tradition of having a surname that represents your profession - Abbott, Clark, Carter and so on are also in that vein. I suppose it's a trend these days to give kids a surname for a first name. My pops does not approve mof my sister's choice. He's decided that he will be calling Cooper "Butchie." I would say he's joking, except that he probably will call him that. Poor kid.
Cooper won't have our family name as a middle name - he'll also get a Chinese name. A few days ago, my cousin Colin had his first child - a little girl, Charlotte. Colin is my cousin through my mother's side and his last name is the same as my mother's maiden name. So, Mom's family name will be carried on. And I breathed a sigh of relief. "Your name's getting passed on!" I said excitedly to my mom. "I know! I'm so pleased." And I completely understood why.
Anyway, Connor is a decidedly Irish name, which was the point when my sister and brother-in-law chose it. My sister really wanted a name that would reflect the other side of Connor's heritage, since his last name is Chinese. The name had to start with a "K" sound, because that's Chinese tradition (all the kids in a generation will name their children with the same sound). Connor's middle name is also Chinese (and I'm ashamed to admit that I only recently learned the pronunciation) so that his Chinese grandparents would have a name to call him. As you can see, a lot of Connor's name represents his Chinese heritage. I'll admit it was my hope that they would give Connor my mother's maiden name as a middle name, but alas, no such luck.
My sister didn't change her name when she got married, but there was never any question about whose last name the children would have. For me and my sis, it's just us and our cousins, Chris and Erik, to carry on Pop's name. Chris and Erik are older than my sister and don't appear to be headed to the child department. It makes me sad that our surname might not get passed along. I can't explain why - it's a perfectly common surname, but it's ours and I've never really understood why a woman's surname is any less worthy of being handed down.
When my grandma had my dad, she gave him her maiden name as his middle name, a tradition that I really like, and am subsequently going to recommend to anyone on the fence in the middle name department.
Back to my sister and first names. When they learned it was a boy, there was more disagreement on the name. No one liked Kyle. Kevin is already taken. So is Colin and Christopher. They eventually settled on Cooper, which I like, because I picked it. Cooper is English and comes from the long L'Angleterre tradition of having a surname that represents your profession - Abbott, Clark, Carter and so on are also in that vein. I suppose it's a trend these days to give kids a surname for a first name. My pops does not approve mof my sister's choice. He's decided that he will be calling Cooper "Butchie." I would say he's joking, except that he probably will call him that. Poor kid.
Cooper won't have our family name as a middle name - he'll also get a Chinese name. A few days ago, my cousin Colin had his first child - a little girl, Charlotte. Colin is my cousin through my mother's side and his last name is the same as my mother's maiden name. So, Mom's family name will be carried on. And I breathed a sigh of relief. "Your name's getting passed on!" I said excitedly to my mom. "I know! I'm so pleased." And I completely understood why.
Shorts
Just when I thought Tom Cruise couldn't possibly piss me off any further than he already has, he takes a flying leap over yet another shark. When a reporter asked him if he has a speaking parenting relationship with ex-wife Nicole Kidman, Cruise told the reporter that he had "crossed a line." Umm, Tom, it's kind of hard for us to know where the line is when you keep blathering on about thetans and scientology and your love for Joey, and jumping up and down on sofas on national TV.
Dave Chappelle met with Comedy Central execs the other day for the first time since he bolted. No word on if/when he'll return to work.
Curbed is doing a pretty funny contest called "Hoodwinked" in which ten finalists submitted proposals of names for neighborhoods in New York. Voting opens tomorrow, so be sure to check them out.
Recently confirmed to the Circuit Court of Appeals, Janice Rogers Brown compared liberalism to slavery. Ummm, okay.
And if you're really bored, vote on the cutest kittens.
Dave Chappelle met with Comedy Central execs the other day for the first time since he bolted. No word on if/when he'll return to work.
Curbed is doing a pretty funny contest called "Hoodwinked" in which ten finalists submitted proposals of names for neighborhoods in New York. Voting opens tomorrow, so be sure to check them out.
Recently confirmed to the Circuit Court of Appeals, Janice Rogers Brown compared liberalism to slavery. Ummm, okay.
And if you're really bored, vote on the cutest kittens.
Next Station Stop: New Brunswick
I'm thinking of starting a blog series called "Know Your Enemy: New Jersey" in honor of co-worker and pal Philly. In August, Phil will move back to Nueva York and leave behind our fair state. But I hope that he'll leave with a better opinion of it than when he initially came. And that's why I'm dragging him around to some of the state's highlights while I still have the chance.
I didn't always love New Jersey - in fact I mostly hated it until I was about 19 or so. I had really wanted to go to NYU for college, but for financial reasons, I got "stuck" at Rutgers in New Brunswick. It was my time in New Brunswick, surrounded by a bunch of Jersey-lovers, that began the warming process.
A couple of weeks ago, Dan asked me if I had told Phil about the Grease Trucks, because they would be right up his alley. And that's the god's honest truth. The Grease Trucks, just in case you've never known a Rutgers grad, are literally about four or five food trucks that are parked in a lot off of College Ave (the main drag of the campus). They serve up your typical burgers, fries, and so on, along with falafel and the what not (the owners are all of Middle Eastern descent). But the real draw are the "Fat" sandwiches. It all started with the Fat Cat, which is two cheeseburgers served on a long roll with french fries, ketchup, mayo, lettuce and tomato. Over the years, more and more sandwiches have been added, most of them named for students. For instance, a Fat Darrell is chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, french fries, marinara sauce, lettuce and tomato all crammed on a roll. The price? $4.50. A bargain, if you ask me.
So, I brought Phil down to New Brunswick, which is always a fun trip for me given my many happy memories there. And obviously, given Phil's predilection for fries and meats, he was a fan of the Trucks. Specifically, we ate at Mr. C's, which has been around since I started school there nine (jeez, has it really been that long?) years ago. I had a fat cat, Phil had a Fat Moon, which consisted of chicken, egg, bacon, french fries.... and maybe some other stuff, but I can't remember.
New Brunswick is much quieter in the summertime, something that I always loved about it. But there were still plenty of kids milling about Voorhees Mall, taking classes. I remember driving down College Ave with my former apartment-mate Devon, about a year after we had moved out of town. "Ohhh, college boys," Devon sighed as we moved past groups of cute guys walking down the sidewalks. "There's nothing like college boys," she said. And it's true. No where else do cute boys travel in packs. I thought of that last night, and felt a momentary pang for lazy summer evenings in New Brunswick, watching baseball, eating Thomas Sweet ice cream, grabbing a slice at Skinny Vinnie's or just sitting around the kitchen table and talking with Elana, Lauren, Dev, and Jerusha. It's only a momentary pang, though.
Also, allow me to throw this out there. While looking for Grease Truck reviews, I stumbled across this asinine article from the Daily Princetonian. Rutgers and Princeton have a long-standing rivalry from their early days (mostly, it involves stealing a cannon.... I know, it's a dumb story) but now, they just think they're better than us and we think they're assholes and everyone goes home happy. Anyway, read this article about two Princeton girls heading to the Bruns for a night on the town.... I can't believe they think the walk from the train station to Union Street is sketchy. How awesome would it be to drop these debutantes on Clinton Street in Newark? Ahh, a girl can dream.
I didn't always love New Jersey - in fact I mostly hated it until I was about 19 or so. I had really wanted to go to NYU for college, but for financial reasons, I got "stuck" at Rutgers in New Brunswick. It was my time in New Brunswick, surrounded by a bunch of Jersey-lovers, that began the warming process.
A couple of weeks ago, Dan asked me if I had told Phil about the Grease Trucks, because they would be right up his alley. And that's the god's honest truth. The Grease Trucks, just in case you've never known a Rutgers grad, are literally about four or five food trucks that are parked in a lot off of College Ave (the main drag of the campus). They serve up your typical burgers, fries, and so on, along with falafel and the what not (the owners are all of Middle Eastern descent). But the real draw are the "Fat" sandwiches. It all started with the Fat Cat, which is two cheeseburgers served on a long roll with french fries, ketchup, mayo, lettuce and tomato. Over the years, more and more sandwiches have been added, most of them named for students. For instance, a Fat Darrell is chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, french fries, marinara sauce, lettuce and tomato all crammed on a roll. The price? $4.50. A bargain, if you ask me.
So, I brought Phil down to New Brunswick, which is always a fun trip for me given my many happy memories there. And obviously, given Phil's predilection for fries and meats, he was a fan of the Trucks. Specifically, we ate at Mr. C's, which has been around since I started school there nine (jeez, has it really been that long?) years ago. I had a fat cat, Phil had a Fat Moon, which consisted of chicken, egg, bacon, french fries.... and maybe some other stuff, but I can't remember.
New Brunswick is much quieter in the summertime, something that I always loved about it. But there were still plenty of kids milling about Voorhees Mall, taking classes. I remember driving down College Ave with my former apartment-mate Devon, about a year after we had moved out of town. "Ohhh, college boys," Devon sighed as we moved past groups of cute guys walking down the sidewalks. "There's nothing like college boys," she said. And it's true. No where else do cute boys travel in packs. I thought of that last night, and felt a momentary pang for lazy summer evenings in New Brunswick, watching baseball, eating Thomas Sweet ice cream, grabbing a slice at Skinny Vinnie's or just sitting around the kitchen table and talking with Elana, Lauren, Dev, and Jerusha. It's only a momentary pang, though.
Also, allow me to throw this out there. While looking for Grease Truck reviews, I stumbled across this asinine article from the Daily Princetonian. Rutgers and Princeton have a long-standing rivalry from their early days (mostly, it involves stealing a cannon.... I know, it's a dumb story) but now, they just think they're better than us and we think they're assholes and everyone goes home happy. Anyway, read this article about two Princeton girls heading to the Bruns for a night on the town.... I can't believe they think the walk from the train station to Union Street is sketchy. How awesome would it be to drop these debutantes on Clinton Street in Newark? Ahh, a girl can dream.
Soterius Strikes Again
Further proving my theory that New York born and raised Soterius Johnson, host of WNYC's Morning Edition, is a Mets fan/Yankees hater, Johnson snarked his way through the results of last night's ball game results.
First off, yes, the Yankees finally won last night. And A-Rod hit two home runs, reaching the 400-homer club. Soterius remarked, "Well, it was bound to happen eventually. The Yankees stopped their losing streak, at least for one day, by beating Milwaukee 12-3." He then went on to add that A-Rod had reached 400 home-runs and finished with a brief, "Houston beat the Mets, 4-1."
Soterius, I'm certainly not claiming that the Yankees are looking great and far be it from me to tell you what teams you should or should not be a fan. But could you please stop being such a smugglepuss when you do the sports scores? Save that attitude for reports on Mayor Bloomberg.
If he keeps it up, you can expect a daily report from me.
First off, yes, the Yankees finally won last night. And A-Rod hit two home runs, reaching the 400-homer club. Soterius remarked, "Well, it was bound to happen eventually. The Yankees stopped their losing streak, at least for one day, by beating Milwaukee 12-3." He then went on to add that A-Rod had reached 400 home-runs and finished with a brief, "Houston beat the Mets, 4-1."
Soterius, I'm certainly not claiming that the Yankees are looking great and far be it from me to tell you what teams you should or should not be a fan. But could you please stop being such a smugglepuss when you do the sports scores? Save that attitude for reports on Mayor Bloomberg.
If he keeps it up, you can expect a daily report from me.
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
I'd win every time, if it weren't for luck
So said Phil Hellmuth last year, when he lost at the World Series of Poker. I greatly dislike Hellmuth. He really does believe, though, that he's the greatest and he'd win everytime if it weren't for luck.
The World Series of Poker started on June 3rd with the $1500 No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em championship. The main event will conclude on July 15th. For the first time ever, the series will be at the Rio, instead of Binion's Horseshoe.
ESPN should be covering it soon, although I have yet to figure out when they'll be airing it. There's a chart, where they are laying out air dates... but I feel like they must be wrong because why are they waiting till the end of August, when they said they'd be covering it in June. Effing ESPN. I want my summer poker! Are they going to make me wait till July 19th for the circuit?Last year they would have on a nice Tuesday block from 9-11pm. It was the only bright spot in my miserable bar-studying experience last summer.
Well, when it finally makes its way back onto the air, I'll let you know. Oh, and do make sure you catch the ladies tournament this year - it's fascinating to see how different the play is from the regular tournament, which has a mix of men and women, but is mostly comprised of men.
Of course, what makes ESPN's coverage so great, aside from just the cards, is getting to watch these characters play - Daniel Negreanu, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Hellmuth, Howard Lederer, Chris Moneymaker, Joe Cassidy, Doyle Brunson, Annie Duke, and all the uppity internet poker kids. Lord, how I hope Doyle Brunson smacks down those cocky bastards again.
The World Series of Poker started on June 3rd with the $1500 No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em championship. The main event will conclude on July 15th. For the first time ever, the series will be at the Rio, instead of Binion's Horseshoe.
ESPN should be covering it soon, although I have yet to figure out when they'll be airing it. There's a chart, where they are laying out air dates... but I feel like they must be wrong because why are they waiting till the end of August, when they said they'd be covering it in June. Effing ESPN. I want my summer poker! Are they going to make me wait till July 19th for the circuit?Last year they would have on a nice Tuesday block from 9-11pm. It was the only bright spot in my miserable bar-studying experience last summer.
Well, when it finally makes its way back onto the air, I'll let you know. Oh, and do make sure you catch the ladies tournament this year - it's fascinating to see how different the play is from the regular tournament, which has a mix of men and women, but is mostly comprised of men.
Of course, what makes ESPN's coverage so great, aside from just the cards, is getting to watch these characters play - Daniel Negreanu, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Hellmuth, Howard Lederer, Chris Moneymaker, Joe Cassidy, Doyle Brunson, Annie Duke, and all the uppity internet poker kids. Lord, how I hope Doyle Brunson smacks down those cocky bastards again.
Starving Artists
So, after lunch I headed over to Century 21 with Mireia and Dan. I needed to get a birthday gift for the aforementioned friend. Once again, I could not be stopped from looking for myself. It's an illness, really. You know, when I go shopping with a friend who is looking to buy something for another, I'm a task-master. Clearly, that's what I need. Someone to yell, "Put the shoes down, Megan!" The good news is, I did find a gift for my friend, as well as a cute little handbag for myself. Mireia laughed at me when I said this, but I really did need it.
Anyway, yesterday I had the opportunity to read an issue of Us Weekly from earlier in the month. They had a spread on Nicole Richie and Lindsey Lohan, both of whom have lost quite a bit of weight. Lindsey particularly looked like she could use a sandwich. I find it disturbing that Nicole, who is 5'2" weighs under 97 pounds now. FYI, for a female, ideal body weight is 100 pounds for 5 feet, and 5 pounds for each subsequent inch, making Nicole's ideal weight 110 pounds. And Lindsey claims that as you get older, you just naturally lose weight because you lose the baby fat. Uhhh, my personal experience has been that the older you get, the harder it is to lose weight. You don't magically turn 18 and see over 20 pounds fly off, sweetie, unless you stop eating.
It's annoying enough that rather than saying, "Gee whiz, Lindsey looks like she's lost a lot of weight. What's going on?" places like Awful Plastic Surgery suggest that she had her implants removed. Look, I don't know if she ever had implants, nor am I particularly concerned. But she's not looking healthy. This whole weight shit is so out of synch with reality. I myself am perfectly within my ideal range of weight. But even I occasionally find myself being hyper-critical of my appearance when a pair of pants won't fit. Did you know that over 85% of women develop cellulite after the age of 18? You'd never know that if you read Vogue. Last year, Vogue did a spread where they told you how to dress for all body types. Guess how big the "heavy" model was? A size 10-12. A size freaking 12 is Vogue's idea of a heavy woman. No wonder so many of us have body image issues.
Kate and I talked about this the other day. As she pointed out, she couldn't understand why someone like Lindsey Lohan, who had a curvy figure before, would want to lose so much weight, when the standard of beauty doesn't necessarily include women who are skeletal anymore. That may be true, but I don't think that's the case in Hollywood, where Tommy Mottola apparently told Lindsey, "You look great! You lost so much weight!" I think the "You can never be too thin" adage is alive and well out there.
It's true that anorexia has a lot more to do with control than about actually being thin, but it always starts somewhere - the paparazzi prints pics of LL by the pool in her bikini looking.... rounded. I don't know jack about LL's eating habits, or whether she just snorts a lot of coke, as the rumor mill claims. Regardless, I don't think 20-30 pounds thinner Lindsey is doing anyone any favors. I, for one, wouldn't mind a return to Botticelli's beauty standards.
Anyway, yesterday I had the opportunity to read an issue of Us Weekly from earlier in the month. They had a spread on Nicole Richie and Lindsey Lohan, both of whom have lost quite a bit of weight. Lindsey particularly looked like she could use a sandwich. I find it disturbing that Nicole, who is 5'2" weighs under 97 pounds now. FYI, for a female, ideal body weight is 100 pounds for 5 feet, and 5 pounds for each subsequent inch, making Nicole's ideal weight 110 pounds. And Lindsey claims that as you get older, you just naturally lose weight because you lose the baby fat. Uhhh, my personal experience has been that the older you get, the harder it is to lose weight. You don't magically turn 18 and see over 20 pounds fly off, sweetie, unless you stop eating.
It's annoying enough that rather than saying, "Gee whiz, Lindsey looks like she's lost a lot of weight. What's going on?" places like Awful Plastic Surgery suggest that she had her implants removed. Look, I don't know if she ever had implants, nor am I particularly concerned. But she's not looking healthy. This whole weight shit is so out of synch with reality. I myself am perfectly within my ideal range of weight. But even I occasionally find myself being hyper-critical of my appearance when a pair of pants won't fit. Did you know that over 85% of women develop cellulite after the age of 18? You'd never know that if you read Vogue. Last year, Vogue did a spread where they told you how to dress for all body types. Guess how big the "heavy" model was? A size 10-12. A size freaking 12 is Vogue's idea of a heavy woman. No wonder so many of us have body image issues.
Kate and I talked about this the other day. As she pointed out, she couldn't understand why someone like Lindsey Lohan, who had a curvy figure before, would want to lose so much weight, when the standard of beauty doesn't necessarily include women who are skeletal anymore. That may be true, but I don't think that's the case in Hollywood, where Tommy Mottola apparently told Lindsey, "You look great! You lost so much weight!" I think the "You can never be too thin" adage is alive and well out there.
It's true that anorexia has a lot more to do with control than about actually being thin, but it always starts somewhere - the paparazzi prints pics of LL by the pool in her bikini looking.... rounded. I don't know jack about LL's eating habits, or whether she just snorts a lot of coke, as the rumor mill claims. Regardless, I don't think 20-30 pounds thinner Lindsey is doing anyone any favors. I, for one, wouldn't mind a return to Botticelli's beauty standards.
Pedro's Two-Hitter
Last night I went shopping in an attempt to find a birthday gift for a friend. Didn't find anything for her. Found plenty of stuff for me. Sigh. At least everything I bought was from the sale rack.
So, I've come to the conclusion that WNYC's Soterius Johnson is a Mets fan. I can practically hear him smirking through my radio when he announces "The Yankees lost last night, making this their ninth loss in the last ten games." He's probably pumping his fists in the studio. Then he goes on to talk about the Mets nice win last night. But what does he say? "The Mets have never had a no-hitter in the history of the club, but they came very close last night when pitcher Pedro Martinez struck out 12 batters before giving up a home run in the 7th inning." Please. Pedro Martinez's performance, while impressive, was not "very close" to throwing a no-hitter. "Very close" is Mike Mussina getting one strike away from throwing a perfect game up at Fenway in 2001. That's "very close." Pedro just threw a two-hitter and did a good job, Soterius, so stop your gushing.
So, I've come to the conclusion that WNYC's Soterius Johnson is a Mets fan. I can practically hear him smirking through my radio when he announces "The Yankees lost last night, making this their ninth loss in the last ten games." He's probably pumping his fists in the studio. Then he goes on to talk about the Mets nice win last night. But what does he say? "The Mets have never had a no-hitter in the history of the club, but they came very close last night when pitcher Pedro Martinez struck out 12 batters before giving up a home run in the 7th inning." Please. Pedro Martinez's performance, while impressive, was not "very close" to throwing a no-hitter. "Very close" is Mike Mussina getting one strike away from throwing a perfect game up at Fenway in 2001. That's "very close." Pedro just threw a two-hitter and did a good job, Soterius, so stop your gushing.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Sick Californians Can't Get Their Smoke On
Yesterday the Supreme Folk, aka the Supreme Court, handed down two decisions which wound up with a somewhat strange split in the majority/dissenters camp. The first decision dealt with the states' ability to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes and the second involved the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act to cruise ships with foreign registration.
In the medical marijuana case, the Court agreed with the feds that US drug laws preempt state ballot initiatives which allow an ill individual to grow and use marijuana under a doctor's supervision. It was a 6-3 decision, with Chief Justice Rehnquist, Sandra Day O'Connor, and Clarence Thomas dissenting. The opinions can be read here. This isn't necessarily the end of the fight - the 9th Circuit and others may still hear other cases, so long as different constitutional issues are raised (this one dealt with Commerce Clause).
As for the ADA case, it was 5-4, with O'Connor, Thomas, and Rehnquist dissenting again, as well as Scalia. Ahh, Scalia. At first I was befuddled - how come the federal government could arrest a woman with a brain tumor for smoking the weed that she grew herself, but cruise ships that do business in the U.S. don't have to abide by the ADA? Then I realized it's because Scalia hates sick people, and it made more sense to me. You can read the opinions here.
And so now I shall speak to my current, albeit very short-lived respect for Clarence Thomas, my permanent and intense dislike for Justice Scalia, and whatever else I have to say on the matter. I generally disagree with Thomas - he tends to take strict textualism to the nth degree, but he very concisely points out that in this case, there was absolutely no passing of cannabis over state lines - both women who were parties to this case either grew their own marijuana or bought it from local growers. If, Thomas posited, Congress is allowed to control activities that occur only within a state, then they can regulate everything. As Thomas states, California isn't saying, "Hey everybody! Let's smoke! Wheeee!" (although with the state of California politics, they might do well to do that). California said, okay, let's allow this very small sub-class of people to utilize cannabis under tightly controlled rules regarding possession and cultivation. "Nothing suggests that California's controls are ineffective" he wrote. So why do the feds have a right to intercede? For once, I think Thomas has written a sharp and concise dissent. And unlike Scalia, he's sticking to what he always says regarding the Commerce Clause. And honestly, Sandra Day O'Connor did a nice job, too.
Scalia bitches and moans in his concurrence that it doesn't make sense to argue semantics about whether the MJ was grown in state because, hey, marijuana that is entirely produced and possessed within one state is two shakes away from the interstate market place. Thomas did a nice job deflecting that argument. You know, Scalia is much smarter than most people, myself included. But he frustrates the hell out of me when he claims to be all states' rights lovin'..... unless the states want to do something he doesn't agree with. I found his concurring opinion to be superfluous to the majority's opinion on the matter, and really, I think he's a great big hypocrite. I love it when he claims that the constitution ought to be applied exactly as written, throwing aside the idea of a living document, except here, where clearly the feds have a right to kick down Ms. Monson's door and destroy her cannabis plants. I thought Scalia was alllll about leaving shit up to the voters and the legislatures? I guess not.
On an end note, one of the women in the marijuana case was confined to a wheel-chair and was very ill with a brain tumor before her doctor prescribed her marijuana. The voters of California (who are seriously ballot-happy.... they need to be smacked or something) saw fit to allow this woman to grow and to smoke her weed without being harassed or arrested by the government. And do you know what the drug czar under Nixon and Ford told NPR the other day? He said that in his opinion, someone who grows marijuana and smokes it sounds more like an addict than a sick person under medical care. Yeah? And you sound more like an asshole than a drug-use expert.
In the medical marijuana case, the Court agreed with the feds that US drug laws preempt state ballot initiatives which allow an ill individual to grow and use marijuana under a doctor's supervision. It was a 6-3 decision, with Chief Justice Rehnquist, Sandra Day O'Connor, and Clarence Thomas dissenting. The opinions can be read here. This isn't necessarily the end of the fight - the 9th Circuit and others may still hear other cases, so long as different constitutional issues are raised (this one dealt with Commerce Clause).
As for the ADA case, it was 5-4, with O'Connor, Thomas, and Rehnquist dissenting again, as well as Scalia. Ahh, Scalia. At first I was befuddled - how come the federal government could arrest a woman with a brain tumor for smoking the weed that she grew herself, but cruise ships that do business in the U.S. don't have to abide by the ADA? Then I realized it's because Scalia hates sick people, and it made more sense to me. You can read the opinions here.
And so now I shall speak to my current, albeit very short-lived respect for Clarence Thomas, my permanent and intense dislike for Justice Scalia, and whatever else I have to say on the matter. I generally disagree with Thomas - he tends to take strict textualism to the nth degree, but he very concisely points out that in this case, there was absolutely no passing of cannabis over state lines - both women who were parties to this case either grew their own marijuana or bought it from local growers. If, Thomas posited, Congress is allowed to control activities that occur only within a state, then they can regulate everything. As Thomas states, California isn't saying, "Hey everybody! Let's smoke! Wheeee!" (although with the state of California politics, they might do well to do that). California said, okay, let's allow this very small sub-class of people to utilize cannabis under tightly controlled rules regarding possession and cultivation. "Nothing suggests that California's controls are ineffective" he wrote. So why do the feds have a right to intercede? For once, I think Thomas has written a sharp and concise dissent. And unlike Scalia, he's sticking to what he always says regarding the Commerce Clause. And honestly, Sandra Day O'Connor did a nice job, too.
Scalia bitches and moans in his concurrence that it doesn't make sense to argue semantics about whether the MJ was grown in state because, hey, marijuana that is entirely produced and possessed within one state is two shakes away from the interstate market place. Thomas did a nice job deflecting that argument. You know, Scalia is much smarter than most people, myself included. But he frustrates the hell out of me when he claims to be all states' rights lovin'..... unless the states want to do something he doesn't agree with. I found his concurring opinion to be superfluous to the majority's opinion on the matter, and really, I think he's a great big hypocrite. I love it when he claims that the constitution ought to be applied exactly as written, throwing aside the idea of a living document, except here, where clearly the feds have a right to kick down Ms. Monson's door and destroy her cannabis plants. I thought Scalia was alllll about leaving shit up to the voters and the legislatures? I guess not.
On an end note, one of the women in the marijuana case was confined to a wheel-chair and was very ill with a brain tumor before her doctor prescribed her marijuana. The voters of California (who are seriously ballot-happy.... they need to be smacked or something) saw fit to allow this woman to grow and to smoke her weed without being harassed or arrested by the government. And do you know what the drug czar under Nixon and Ford told NPR the other day? He said that in his opinion, someone who grows marijuana and smokes it sounds more like an addict than a sick person under medical care. Yeah? And you sound more like an asshole than a drug-use expert.
Injera at Mesob
Saturday night found me in the company of co-worker and friend Lynn, whose husband was off at a weekend bachelor party in Myrtle Beach. As such, Lynn wanted to try Ethiopian food, which she had never had before, and which she suspected her hubby would bristle at.
As I have mentioned before, one of my favorite restaurants in all of New Jersey is Makeda's in New Brunswick. Liana has declared that the food there (and this is true of Ethiopian food in general) "looks like dog food, but tastes like heaven," and there's something to be said for that assessment.
Anyway, it just so happens that there is an Ethiopian restaurant in Montclair on Bloomfield Ave, where Lynn and I were headed to see a movie. Mesob could easily fade into the background of all the surrounding stores and restaurants, but the food certainly makes in stand out in my mind. Mesob is relatively new to the gustation landscape - it's only been around for about a year and a half, but judging by the Saturday night crowd, it's not going anywhere.
First things first that you ought to know about Ethiopian food - you do not use silverware - all dishes are served with a flat bread called injera, which is spongy and has a very distinctive texture and flavor. You scoop up the food with the injera. Second, all of the dishes are akin to a stew, and many of them are quite spicy, so if you dislike spiciness, you must make sure that you specify mild. The nice thing about Mesob is that every dish on the menu is marked as hot, mild, and so on.
Lynn and I started off with the ingudai tibs, which is portabello mushrooms, marinated and sauteed with onions, jalapenos, tomatos, herbs and so on. It's served warm in a small dish with some injera for scooping. It was very nicely done - the mushrooms were flavorful and tender.
We then shared the meat sampler, which included five meat dishes and three vegetarian dishes. On a side note, Ethiopian food is great for vegetarians as there are always plenty of protein heavy vegetarian entrees on the menu. The sampler had three beef dishes, one lamb dish and one chicken dish. Two of the beef dishes, the minchet abish key wat and the tibs wat, were on the spicy side, but not so overwhelming that a wuss like me couldn't eat them. My personal favorite was probably the lamb dish - yebeg aletcha wat - very tender and nicely seasoned. And the side dishes of pureed yellow split peas, pureed spicy lentils, and errr, something else that I have subsequently forgotten, were a nice complement.
The service was decent, but nothing great. Our waitress and the hostess were tremendously friendly, but occasionally difficult to grab hold of. I don't recommend going to Mesob is you have a specific timetable for the evening. The end of our meal was a bit rushed so as to make our movie. I attribute this to the sudden onslaught of people that came in after 7:30. I arrived early for our reservation and was given a choice of where I wanted to sit, as the restaurant was nearly empty. When Lynn arrived at 7:45, the restaurant was nearly full, and by 8:15, people were standing outside, waiting for a table. Kudos to Mesob for that - the food was solid and reasonably priced (read, less expensive than Makeda's) and I can understand why there would be a wait on a Saturday night.
Oh, and the decor is quite lovely - there's a bar placed in the center of the elongated dining room, which has a series of tall lanterns. The lanterns all have writing on them in what I am guessing is Amharic, the native language. And the entire room smelled of cloves. As is the case for most restaurants in Montclair, Mesob is a BYO, so do bring a bottle of wine. We had a Riesling, which went nicely with the spicier stews.
Star-Ledger review here and AOL's City Guide review is here.
As I have mentioned before, one of my favorite restaurants in all of New Jersey is Makeda's in New Brunswick. Liana has declared that the food there (and this is true of Ethiopian food in general) "looks like dog food, but tastes like heaven," and there's something to be said for that assessment.
Anyway, it just so happens that there is an Ethiopian restaurant in Montclair on Bloomfield Ave, where Lynn and I were headed to see a movie. Mesob could easily fade into the background of all the surrounding stores and restaurants, but the food certainly makes in stand out in my mind. Mesob is relatively new to the gustation landscape - it's only been around for about a year and a half, but judging by the Saturday night crowd, it's not going anywhere.
First things first that you ought to know about Ethiopian food - you do not use silverware - all dishes are served with a flat bread called injera, which is spongy and has a very distinctive texture and flavor. You scoop up the food with the injera. Second, all of the dishes are akin to a stew, and many of them are quite spicy, so if you dislike spiciness, you must make sure that you specify mild. The nice thing about Mesob is that every dish on the menu is marked as hot, mild, and so on.
Lynn and I started off with the ingudai tibs, which is portabello mushrooms, marinated and sauteed with onions, jalapenos, tomatos, herbs and so on. It's served warm in a small dish with some injera for scooping. It was very nicely done - the mushrooms were flavorful and tender.
We then shared the meat sampler, which included five meat dishes and three vegetarian dishes. On a side note, Ethiopian food is great for vegetarians as there are always plenty of protein heavy vegetarian entrees on the menu. The sampler had three beef dishes, one lamb dish and one chicken dish. Two of the beef dishes, the minchet abish key wat and the tibs wat, were on the spicy side, but not so overwhelming that a wuss like me couldn't eat them. My personal favorite was probably the lamb dish - yebeg aletcha wat - very tender and nicely seasoned. And the side dishes of pureed yellow split peas, pureed spicy lentils, and errr, something else that I have subsequently forgotten, were a nice complement.
The service was decent, but nothing great. Our waitress and the hostess were tremendously friendly, but occasionally difficult to grab hold of. I don't recommend going to Mesob is you have a specific timetable for the evening. The end of our meal was a bit rushed so as to make our movie. I attribute this to the sudden onslaught of people that came in after 7:30. I arrived early for our reservation and was given a choice of where I wanted to sit, as the restaurant was nearly empty. When Lynn arrived at 7:45, the restaurant was nearly full, and by 8:15, people were standing outside, waiting for a table. Kudos to Mesob for that - the food was solid and reasonably priced (read, less expensive than Makeda's) and I can understand why there would be a wait on a Saturday night.
Oh, and the decor is quite lovely - there's a bar placed in the center of the elongated dining room, which has a series of tall lanterns. The lanterns all have writing on them in what I am guessing is Amharic, the native language. And the entire room smelled of cloves. As is the case for most restaurants in Montclair, Mesob is a BYO, so do bring a bottle of wine. We had a Riesling, which went nicely with the spicier stews.
Star-Ledger review here and AOL's City Guide review is here.
Monday, June 06, 2005
Make Mischief
So, the new season of Entourage started up last night and it was eggggcellent - even funnier than last season. The boys have returned from filming in New York and lament the loss of good pizza and bagels now that they have returned to Hell-A. In a nutshell - Eric has adapted to his roll as Vince's official manager, Vince does not want to be Aquaman, but can't get any other offers, Jonny is typically ridiculous, and Turtle can't get no respect. And Ari, oh Ari. Where would this show be without Jeremy Piven?
Other good stuff from the world of media this weekend - All Things Considered interviewed Maurice Sendak, of Where the Wild Things Are fame. He's 76 now, working on a new book, and utterly fascinating. I don't think I realized how important Where the Wild Things Are was in its time in terms of changing the tone and drawing of children's books. Mo also had the best quote I've heard in weeks - he was apparently a huge Mickey Mouse fan as a child. Mickey is what got him into illustrating in the first place. But, as he put it, "I adored him as a child. Of course, I don't now because he's a fat whore." Yeah, he called Mickey Mouse a fat whore. Awesome.
And Mahwah's own Les Paul was interviewed on Weekend Edition: Saturday. The reason he became so obsessed with making a layered electrical sound? So that his mother would recognize his music when it was on the radio. It's amazing to me that he still plays in New York every week at the age of almost 90.
Lastly, Lynn and I caught Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room on Saturday night at Roberts Wellmont theater in Montclair. It was enraging, disturbing, insightful and attempted to be as clear as it could be. But there are so many layers of fraud and scheming in Enron's downfall that it becomes difficult to follow exactly what who was doing when at some points in the film. Still, the exceeding greed and hubris comes across loud and clear. It's ironic that the company's catchphrase was "Ask why" and no one - from Arthur Anderson, to the financial analysts, to the lawyers, to the execs, was asking why. Still, I walked out understand a lot more about the massive downfall than I did before. And while the filmmaker has a point of view (hard not to when you see these narcissists making millions of dollars while their company is sinking and their employees lose billions in pension funds), he doesn't demonize Skilling or Lay.
I also ate at an Ethiopian restaurant in Montclair - more on that later.
Other good stuff from the world of media this weekend - All Things Considered interviewed Maurice Sendak, of Where the Wild Things Are fame. He's 76 now, working on a new book, and utterly fascinating. I don't think I realized how important Where the Wild Things Are was in its time in terms of changing the tone and drawing of children's books. Mo also had the best quote I've heard in weeks - he was apparently a huge Mickey Mouse fan as a child. Mickey is what got him into illustrating in the first place. But, as he put it, "I adored him as a child. Of course, I don't now because he's a fat whore." Yeah, he called Mickey Mouse a fat whore. Awesome.
And Mahwah's own Les Paul was interviewed on Weekend Edition: Saturday. The reason he became so obsessed with making a layered electrical sound? So that his mother would recognize his music when it was on the radio. It's amazing to me that he still plays in New York every week at the age of almost 90.
Lastly, Lynn and I caught Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room on Saturday night at Roberts Wellmont theater in Montclair. It was enraging, disturbing, insightful and attempted to be as clear as it could be. But there are so many layers of fraud and scheming in Enron's downfall that it becomes difficult to follow exactly what who was doing when at some points in the film. Still, the exceeding greed and hubris comes across loud and clear. It's ironic that the company's catchphrase was "Ask why" and no one - from Arthur Anderson, to the financial analysts, to the lawyers, to the execs, was asking why. Still, I walked out understand a lot more about the massive downfall than I did before. And while the filmmaker has a point of view (hard not to when you see these narcissists making millions of dollars while their company is sinking and their employees lose billions in pension funds), he doesn't demonize Skilling or Lay.
I also ate at an Ethiopian restaurant in Montclair - more on that later.
Faith is a fine invention
Sorry for the delay in posting, peeps. My boss, in an attempt to get the eff out of Dodge for the summer is working like a crazy person, and is thus keeping me busy. Hope y'all had a great weekend.
I finally finished Under the Banner of Heaven, by Jon Krakauer. Interestingly, the same weekend I finished that, This American Life's theme was "Godless America." It ruled. The book was pretty great too. Anyway, first the book.
You may be familiar with Jon Krakauer as the writer of the best seller Into Thin Air about the ill-fated 1996 expedition to scale Mt. Everest. Krakauer is a prodigious writer and he always conducts an amazing amount of research before he sits down to write. I've read Into Thin Air, which seriously makes mountain climbing fascinating and a page-turner. This was Krakauer's first foray into a subject outside of man and the outdoors, so I was a little nervous about what kind of job he would do.
Under is the true story of Dan and Ron Lafferty, fundamentalist Mormons who murdered their sister-in-law and baby niece because they believed they had been instructed to do so by God. Krakauer presents the story of the Lafferty brothers, alongside the history of Mormonism, the fundamentalist off-shoots of Mormonism, and the personal stories of other fundamentalist Mormons. It was exhaustively researched (Krakauer spent three years interviewing and researching before he sat down to write) and as is universal to his works, laid out in a suspenseful and comprehensible manner.
The belief, not just in God, but in the notion that God is speaking directly to you and commanding you to do unspeakable acts, in a person who is otherwise mentally sane, is a disturbing idea. And it's something that Krakauer addresses at length. My one complaint with the book involved Krakauer's jumping about. In an attempt to better understand fundamentalists, Krakauer does an excellent job of explaining how Mormonism got started, Joseph Smith's background, the horrendous persecution that early Mormons suffered, the polygamy situation, and the church all the way up to the 20th century. As such, he skips around. My problem is that the story of the Laffertys is so riveting and disturbing, that one wants to know right away what happened when they were on the run from the law. Instead we must wade through more Mormon history, which is highly relevent and important to the central themes of the book, but is rather annoying when the reader wants to know what happened next.
This American Life on NPR covered Christians in America, and specifically the entire idea behind whether we are a country that was supposed to have a separation of church and state or not. This story was informative and interesting, but it was the second half of the show that really caught my attention. Julia Sweeney, formerly of Saturday Night Live, performed a portion of her new one woman show called "Letting Go of God."
Julia started out talking about two Mormon missionaries who came to her door and told her the story about Mormonism. As I had just finished the book, I couldn't help but laugh at Julia's reaction to the story of Mormonism. Long story short, Mormons believe that the tribe of Levi lived in Israel, and then one day God told him and his family to get on a boat and sail away. So they came to America. While in America, two of the children - Nephi and Laman had lots and lots of babies and eventually started fighting with each other because Nephi was gooooood and Laman was eeevvvviiiillll. Then, when Christ was resurrected and on his way up to heaven, he swung by America and told the Nephites that if they stayed good, they'd win the battle. But they didn't and they all got killed by the bad Lamanites, except for Moroni who hid in the woods and wrote it all down so that Joseph Smith could dig it up thousands of years later and become a prophet to the Mormons. The End. Julia listened incredulously and thought "Boys, a word to the wise? Don't open with this story if you want to convert someone. I mean, even the scientologists know to give you a personality test before they launch into Xenu the evil intergalactic overlord."
Sweeney then thought about it and realized that if she had never heard about Catholocism before, she might think the story about God impregnating a very young virgin without sex, and thus the virgin gave birth to the son of God, was quite strange. The entire point of her piece is about how she came to become an atheist. It's very moving, entertaining and as opposed to making scientific arguments about why she does not believe, she relies on her emotional response to the bible. It was fascinating and if you have time to listen to it, I highly recommend it.
I finally finished Under the Banner of Heaven, by Jon Krakauer. Interestingly, the same weekend I finished that, This American Life's theme was "Godless America." It ruled. The book was pretty great too. Anyway, first the book.
You may be familiar with Jon Krakauer as the writer of the best seller Into Thin Air about the ill-fated 1996 expedition to scale Mt. Everest. Krakauer is a prodigious writer and he always conducts an amazing amount of research before he sits down to write. I've read Into Thin Air, which seriously makes mountain climbing fascinating and a page-turner. This was Krakauer's first foray into a subject outside of man and the outdoors, so I was a little nervous about what kind of job he would do.
Under is the true story of Dan and Ron Lafferty, fundamentalist Mormons who murdered their sister-in-law and baby niece because they believed they had been instructed to do so by God. Krakauer presents the story of the Lafferty brothers, alongside the history of Mormonism, the fundamentalist off-shoots of Mormonism, and the personal stories of other fundamentalist Mormons. It was exhaustively researched (Krakauer spent three years interviewing and researching before he sat down to write) and as is universal to his works, laid out in a suspenseful and comprehensible manner.
The belief, not just in God, but in the notion that God is speaking directly to you and commanding you to do unspeakable acts, in a person who is otherwise mentally sane, is a disturbing idea. And it's something that Krakauer addresses at length. My one complaint with the book involved Krakauer's jumping about. In an attempt to better understand fundamentalists, Krakauer does an excellent job of explaining how Mormonism got started, Joseph Smith's background, the horrendous persecution that early Mormons suffered, the polygamy situation, and the church all the way up to the 20th century. As such, he skips around. My problem is that the story of the Laffertys is so riveting and disturbing, that one wants to know right away what happened when they were on the run from the law. Instead we must wade through more Mormon history, which is highly relevent and important to the central themes of the book, but is rather annoying when the reader wants to know what happened next.
This American Life on NPR covered Christians in America, and specifically the entire idea behind whether we are a country that was supposed to have a separation of church and state or not. This story was informative and interesting, but it was the second half of the show that really caught my attention. Julia Sweeney, formerly of Saturday Night Live, performed a portion of her new one woman show called "Letting Go of God."
Julia started out talking about two Mormon missionaries who came to her door and told her the story about Mormonism. As I had just finished the book, I couldn't help but laugh at Julia's reaction to the story of Mormonism. Long story short, Mormons believe that the tribe of Levi lived in Israel, and then one day God told him and his family to get on a boat and sail away. So they came to America. While in America, two of the children - Nephi and Laman had lots and lots of babies and eventually started fighting with each other because Nephi was gooooood and Laman was eeevvvviiiillll. Then, when Christ was resurrected and on his way up to heaven, he swung by America and told the Nephites that if they stayed good, they'd win the battle. But they didn't and they all got killed by the bad Lamanites, except for Moroni who hid in the woods and wrote it all down so that Joseph Smith could dig it up thousands of years later and become a prophet to the Mormons. The End. Julia listened incredulously and thought "Boys, a word to the wise? Don't open with this story if you want to convert someone. I mean, even the scientologists know to give you a personality test before they launch into Xenu the evil intergalactic overlord."
Sweeney then thought about it and realized that if she had never heard about Catholocism before, she might think the story about God impregnating a very young virgin without sex, and thus the virgin gave birth to the son of God, was quite strange. The entire point of her piece is about how she came to become an atheist. It's very moving, entertaining and as opposed to making scientific arguments about why she does not believe, she relies on her emotional response to the bible. It was fascinating and if you have time to listen to it, I highly recommend it.
Friday, June 03, 2005
News and Notes
First up - Dave Chappelle dropped into a comedy club in Hollywood and performed a 25 minute set. No word on if/when he's headed back to Comedy Central. Read about it here.
Entourage returns to HBO for its second season this Sunday, June 5, at 9pm. Six Feet Under is inexplicably moving to Monday nights - the final season premiers June 6 at 9pm. Meanwhile, the sixth season of The Sopranos will premier in March 2006. Only HBO could get away with making people wait nearly two freaking years for a new episode of its most celebrated show.
I probably won't watch Six Feet Under. I've slogged through the last two seasons, even though they never topped the first two. Frankly, I just don't care for it - I think it's become self-important, smug and ridiculous. The writers clearly think the show has gravitas because it deals with death. Indeed, the first two seasons dealt with death in an interesting manner and the lives of the Fischers and friends were realistic portrayals of screwy people muddling through the every day. Then they completely jumped the shark and even the wonderful Lili Taylor couldn't save it. As Television Without Pity remarked about last season's finale, "Is this a Lifetime movie? Is somebody's mother Joanna Kerns? What's going on?"
In the world of food, restaurant week starts up in New York on June 20th. It's actually two weeks, though, not one, so I don't really get why they call it "restaurant week." Anyway, the participants are here.
Times says that Cinderella Man is schmaltzy (shocker!) and that Lords of Dogtown is a blast (that actually is a shocker, not a sarcastic shocker).
Entourage returns to HBO for its second season this Sunday, June 5, at 9pm. Six Feet Under is inexplicably moving to Monday nights - the final season premiers June 6 at 9pm. Meanwhile, the sixth season of The Sopranos will premier in March 2006. Only HBO could get away with making people wait nearly two freaking years for a new episode of its most celebrated show.
I probably won't watch Six Feet Under. I've slogged through the last two seasons, even though they never topped the first two. Frankly, I just don't care for it - I think it's become self-important, smug and ridiculous. The writers clearly think the show has gravitas because it deals with death. Indeed, the first two seasons dealt with death in an interesting manner and the lives of the Fischers and friends were realistic portrayals of screwy people muddling through the every day. Then they completely jumped the shark and even the wonderful Lili Taylor couldn't save it. As Television Without Pity remarked about last season's finale, "Is this a Lifetime movie? Is somebody's mother Joanna Kerns? What's going on?"
In the world of food, restaurant week starts up in New York on June 20th. It's actually two weeks, though, not one, so I don't really get why they call it "restaurant week." Anyway, the participants are here.
Times says that Cinderella Man is schmaltzy (shocker!) and that Lords of Dogtown is a blast (that actually is a shocker, not a sarcastic shocker).
Pappardelle alfredo and a coronary bypass to go, please.
Last night, Gena and I had dinner at Bensi in Denville. I should mention at this point that Anhabelle has sent me approximately nine e-mails suggesting a nickname for Gena. Most people who are mentioned in this blog don't get nicknames, the reason being that I only refer to people by their nicknames if I actually call them by said nickname in real life. I actually call Anh, "Anhabelle"; or Paul, "Pablo"; or Tara, "TK"; and I'm not a big believer in inventing new nicknames for a blog. That being said, if I don't refer to Gena as "G-Doll" at least once, I will never hear the end of it from Anh.
Anyway, back to Bensi. Bensi, which means "certainly" in Italian, is actually a chain in New Jersey, with several locations throughout Bergen and Passaic counties. Who new? Not we. The Denville one is located right off of Route 10 West in the Union Hill strip mall and it has an impressively large menu of Italian classics.
There was plenty of alfresco seating, but it was starting to cool off so we stayed indoors - there are a lot of booths with interesting tile work on the wall and tables in the center of the elongated dining room. The only drawback of the decor was that the wood floor was quite slippery.
As mentioned before, the menu is voluminous. G and I both had a glass of pinot grigio, after a momentary excitement about the Riesling on the menu - turned out they only had that by the bottle. Sigh. I started off with zuppa di muscles in a white wine sauce, Gena had the baked clams. Both were quite good - the muscles, of which there were many, were a really nice size and the broth was super garlicy - could have been saltier, but better to add salt at the table than have too much to start. There was a lovely crusty Italian bread at the table, which was nice for dipping in the sauce.
Gena's hubby, Mike, is a law school chum and he currently works his tail off every day for a large firm. As such, he is frequently eating out for various firm events and so on. In order to combat the excessive eating out, Gena and Mike have taken to eating lots of fish and veggies, and very few carbs for meals at home. For that reason, Gena, who is a great pasta lover, ordered the penne with vodka sauce, which she has not had in many weeks. I ordered the pappardelle alfredo, because I enjoy a heart attack on a dish. And I really like pappardelle.
Gena's penne with vodka sauce. "It's perfect!" she exlaimed. The penne was al dente and the vodka sauce contained shockingly fresh tomatos. I was impressed - vodka sauce is simple, but easy to eff up, and for a "chain" restaurant, the kitchen did a really nice job. The pappardelle was also nicely cooked and the alfredo sauce was creamy, but not overwhelming. I have not had alfredo sauce in quite awhile, and this did not disappoint.
Mike was able to meet us just before we ordered dessert - he ordered a salad and the potato crusted salmon, which looked colorful, with veggies and a sauce on top. Gena and I shared the chocolate lava cake, which was yummy and came with vanilla ice cream to cut the sweetness of the chocolate and a rasberry sauce.
On the whole, it was an excellent meal. Really, though, a restaurant of this style ought to have fresh parmigiano rather than a table shaker. Service was acceptable, if not particularly friendly, and by the end of the night, the waiter was certainly not bringing his A game. But considering the quality of service I experienced at Bread and Chocolate in DC, I can't complain too much about it.
And because Mike is of an excessively generous and kind spirit, this was all his treat. As ever, I am blessed with the kindest of friends. Mike, you will forever drink for free when I open my bar.
Anyway, back to Bensi. Bensi, which means "certainly" in Italian, is actually a chain in New Jersey, with several locations throughout Bergen and Passaic counties. Who new? Not we. The Denville one is located right off of Route 10 West in the Union Hill strip mall and it has an impressively large menu of Italian classics.
There was plenty of alfresco seating, but it was starting to cool off so we stayed indoors - there are a lot of booths with interesting tile work on the wall and tables in the center of the elongated dining room. The only drawback of the decor was that the wood floor was quite slippery.
As mentioned before, the menu is voluminous. G and I both had a glass of pinot grigio, after a momentary excitement about the Riesling on the menu - turned out they only had that by the bottle. Sigh. I started off with zuppa di muscles in a white wine sauce, Gena had the baked clams. Both were quite good - the muscles, of which there were many, were a really nice size and the broth was super garlicy - could have been saltier, but better to add salt at the table than have too much to start. There was a lovely crusty Italian bread at the table, which was nice for dipping in the sauce.
Gena's hubby, Mike, is a law school chum and he currently works his tail off every day for a large firm. As such, he is frequently eating out for various firm events and so on. In order to combat the excessive eating out, Gena and Mike have taken to eating lots of fish and veggies, and very few carbs for meals at home. For that reason, Gena, who is a great pasta lover, ordered the penne with vodka sauce, which she has not had in many weeks. I ordered the pappardelle alfredo, because I enjoy a heart attack on a dish. And I really like pappardelle.
Gena's penne with vodka sauce. "It's perfect!" she exlaimed. The penne was al dente and the vodka sauce contained shockingly fresh tomatos. I was impressed - vodka sauce is simple, but easy to eff up, and for a "chain" restaurant, the kitchen did a really nice job. The pappardelle was also nicely cooked and the alfredo sauce was creamy, but not overwhelming. I have not had alfredo sauce in quite awhile, and this did not disappoint.
Mike was able to meet us just before we ordered dessert - he ordered a salad and the potato crusted salmon, which looked colorful, with veggies and a sauce on top. Gena and I shared the chocolate lava cake, which was yummy and came with vanilla ice cream to cut the sweetness of the chocolate and a rasberry sauce.
On the whole, it was an excellent meal. Really, though, a restaurant of this style ought to have fresh parmigiano rather than a table shaker. Service was acceptable, if not particularly friendly, and by the end of the night, the waiter was certainly not bringing his A game. But considering the quality of service I experienced at Bread and Chocolate in DC, I can't complain too much about it.
And because Mike is of an excessively generous and kind spirit, this was all his treat. As ever, I am blessed with the kindest of friends. Mike, you will forever drink for free when I open my bar.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
That's the anthem, get your damn hands up
Last night, after checking in with the Yankees, who got spanked again by KC, I watched the Jay-Z documentary, Fade to Black. I'll do my best not to just quote Jay lyrics for the rest of this post, but it's a tall order.
Fade to Black follows Hova as he creates his supposed final opus, The Black Album, and performs his soldout farewell concert at Madison Square Garden. Really, the doc is a concert film, although his performance is intercut with conversations with his buddies and mostly, creating songs.
Selling out Madison Square Garden is piddling to acts like U2, but for a solo rap artist, it's huge. What's truly astounding about the film is the audience at the concert - as the Times review elaborated: "When he gives just a few notes of a song he is about to play, the audience breaks into an a cappella completion of that anthem." They literally know every word of every song, which, quite frankly, is more impressive that knowing all the words to a rock song because so many of Jay's tunes are quick and dense. And when Jay puts on a Tupac song as a tribute, the crowd busts out with all the lyrics to that one too.
What I truly enjoyed about the movie were the scenes of Jigga creating the album. At one point, he hits a wall and goes to visit Timbaland. As Timbaland plays some different tracks for Jay to use, his face lights up as the backing for what will eventually be "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" comes on. He pops into the recording booth and just starts to riff what will become a song on the album. As Timbaland quips, the man has an unbelievable number of verses floating around his hed at any given time.
Another highlight - Jay's trip to create one of his best songs on any of his albums, "99 Problems," at the great Rick Rubin's house. "Rick is not normal. But I love him," Jay remarks. Rick is indeed quirky, but he brings out the best in Hova. Rick puts together the track, Jay goes in and just starts spitting out this fantastic rhyme: "I've got two choices y'all, pull over the car or, bounce on the devil, put the pedal to floor.... so I pull over to the side of the road, I heard 'Son, do you know what I'm stopping you for?' Cause I'm young and I'm black, and my hat's real low? Do I look like a mind reader, sir, I don't know, am I under arrest or should I guess some more?" As Rick puts it, Jay never writes anything down. He hears the track, starts mumbling, and that's what comes out.
I personally think that you will not enjoy this if you don't like Jay-Z's music - you can't go into this expecting some deep insight into the man. Indeed, the weakest parts of the film are when he is narrating. But when he's "doing his Rain Man" thing, as he puts it, it's impressive to watch. And his relationship with the audience at MSG is as personal as any I've seen. Reviews here.
Fade to Black follows Hova as he creates his supposed final opus, The Black Album, and performs his soldout farewell concert at Madison Square Garden. Really, the doc is a concert film, although his performance is intercut with conversations with his buddies and mostly, creating songs.
Selling out Madison Square Garden is piddling to acts like U2, but for a solo rap artist, it's huge. What's truly astounding about the film is the audience at the concert - as the Times review elaborated: "When he gives just a few notes of a song he is about to play, the audience breaks into an a cappella completion of that anthem." They literally know every word of every song, which, quite frankly, is more impressive that knowing all the words to a rock song because so many of Jay's tunes are quick and dense. And when Jay puts on a Tupac song as a tribute, the crowd busts out with all the lyrics to that one too.
What I truly enjoyed about the movie were the scenes of Jigga creating the album. At one point, he hits a wall and goes to visit Timbaland. As Timbaland plays some different tracks for Jay to use, his face lights up as the backing for what will eventually be "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" comes on. He pops into the recording booth and just starts to riff what will become a song on the album. As Timbaland quips, the man has an unbelievable number of verses floating around his hed at any given time.
Another highlight - Jay's trip to create one of his best songs on any of his albums, "99 Problems," at the great Rick Rubin's house. "Rick is not normal. But I love him," Jay remarks. Rick is indeed quirky, but he brings out the best in Hova. Rick puts together the track, Jay goes in and just starts spitting out this fantastic rhyme: "I've got two choices y'all, pull over the car or, bounce on the devil, put the pedal to floor.... so I pull over to the side of the road, I heard 'Son, do you know what I'm stopping you for?' Cause I'm young and I'm black, and my hat's real low? Do I look like a mind reader, sir, I don't know, am I under arrest or should I guess some more?" As Rick puts it, Jay never writes anything down. He hears the track, starts mumbling, and that's what comes out.
I personally think that you will not enjoy this if you don't like Jay-Z's music - you can't go into this expecting some deep insight into the man. Indeed, the weakest parts of the film are when he is narrating. But when he's "doing his Rain Man" thing, as he puts it, it's impressive to watch. And his relationship with the audience at MSG is as personal as any I've seen. Reviews here.
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