9.16.2004
oh wow...
Happy New Year!
Honestly, the changing between one year and the next is so seamless anyway, that any of the 365/6 days of the year could be your own personal new year's day.
Angels in America just came out on DVD. This is one of my favorite plays, having seen it performed by an amazingly talented cast in college and later having read both parts and feeling absolutely gobsmacked. It's tough reading, to be sure: some of it's grotesque and over the top, other parts are profane and superfluously self-absorbed. But when a book like that comes along its raw power and energy and creativity spark something incredible. And now, this HBO special production starring the likes of Meryl Streep, Al Pachino, Emma Thompson, Mary-Louise Parker, and Jeffery Wright is a beautiful adaptation. If you can, go see it. But before you do, read it.
I just read a fantastic review of the new iMac in the New York Times. Check it out. It's amazing.
Finally, there were a few choice lines from today's article by William Grimes of the New York Times food section. Grimes was the chief restaurant reviewer for the Times for five years. His wit and culinary savvy were astonishing. So he's back, having unmasked himself earlier this past year, effectively retiring from food criticism, since now all of the restaurants know what he looks like. Today's topic: 30 minute meal preparation. He began with this: "Critics never stop criticizing. They just change thier targets. After nearly five years of finding fault with everyone else, I now impose my exacting standards on the chef least likely to live up to them: myself." Also, this gem: "Absolutely clueless college students probably constitute the ideal readership for Ms. Ray [Rachel Ray of the Food Network], who can explain to them how you make prosciutto and melon, a favorite with all 30-minute cookbook writers. For the record, you cut a melon into pieces and serve it on a plate with slices of prosciutto. Is this necessary to explain? Should she also include a recipe for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?" Finally, though, some words by which to live. "No one should ever dine at a quality lower than veal in sage-butter sauce. At least not at my house." So someone out there, take this adage to heart. And then invite me over for dinner. :)
Honestly, the changing between one year and the next is so seamless anyway, that any of the 365/6 days of the year could be your own personal new year's day.
Angels in America just came out on DVD. This is one of my favorite plays, having seen it performed by an amazingly talented cast in college and later having read both parts and feeling absolutely gobsmacked. It's tough reading, to be sure: some of it's grotesque and over the top, other parts are profane and superfluously self-absorbed. But when a book like that comes along its raw power and energy and creativity spark something incredible. And now, this HBO special production starring the likes of Meryl Streep, Al Pachino, Emma Thompson, Mary-Louise Parker, and Jeffery Wright is a beautiful adaptation. If you can, go see it. But before you do, read it.
I just read a fantastic review of the new iMac in the New York Times. Check it out. It's amazing.
Finally, there were a few choice lines from today's article by William Grimes of the New York Times food section. Grimes was the chief restaurant reviewer for the Times for five years. His wit and culinary savvy were astonishing. So he's back, having unmasked himself earlier this past year, effectively retiring from food criticism, since now all of the restaurants know what he looks like. Today's topic: 30 minute meal preparation. He began with this: "Critics never stop criticizing. They just change thier targets. After nearly five years of finding fault with everyone else, I now impose my exacting standards on the chef least likely to live up to them: myself." Also, this gem: "Absolutely clueless college students probably constitute the ideal readership for Ms. Ray [Rachel Ray of the Food Network], who can explain to them how you make prosciutto and melon, a favorite with all 30-minute cookbook writers. For the record, you cut a melon into pieces and serve it on a plate with slices of prosciutto. Is this necessary to explain? Should she also include a recipe for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?" Finally, though, some words by which to live. "No one should ever dine at a quality lower than veal in sage-butter sauce. At least not at my house." So someone out there, take this adage to heart. And then invite me over for dinner. :)
