Category: play

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books

Where Angels Fear to Tread

In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been consuming a lot of popular fiction so far this year. For balance, I grabbed some literature before heading out on vacation. This E.M. Forster fellow spins a good yarn and it made for some great vacation reading.

Forster wrote Howard’s End, which I didn’t read, but I saw the movie. I liked it, but I can’t remember it that well. I know for sure that Howard’s End (the movie) was not as shocking as this book. There were two shocking twists and it was more of a page-turner than I expected from so-called lit.

WARNING: PLOT KILLERS FOLLOW

This story appears to be about a headstrong and foolish young mother, Lillia, who’s husband has died. Her in-laws tolerate her despite their view that she is not worthy of their social standing in early-1900s London society. The in-laws send her off to a vacation in Italy and she meets a local common man (Gino) and weds shortly thereafter. The in-laws try and stop the marriage from happening, but it’s too late. Well, it turns out that the marriage is a bust and Lillia and Gino really don’t love each other, but they decide to have a kid (a son) anyhow.

Then Lillia dies. That’s right, at the end of chapter two or three, she dies from complications at childbirth. Shocking, at least to me. What’s this book about, I asked myself?

Well, it gets more warped from there. Her in-laws try and hide the existence of this young son from the world (and from Lillia’s daughter) but the world finds out. This causes some serious complications. I’m talking serious complications. In fact, the whole cadre (Lillia’s brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and friend) go to Italy to try and convince Gino to allow them to take the child back to England so they can raise him there.

This goes very badly because Gino will not give up the child, so the idiot sister-in-law kidnaps the child. To make matters worse, as they are making their getaway with the kidnapped child, their carriage overturns and the child dies.

Damn, this is heavy stuff. It’s like watching a Merchant Ivory movie. You may wonder why I would read such heavy stuff on vacation. Hmmm, for some reason, I embrace the carnage. Not sure why.

I’m in an especially reflective mode lately. A passage in the about the author section really struck me:

His six novels explore subtle political questions, as what seems at first to be merely stories of conflicts among friends, lovers, and families come to illuminate underlying tensions between the wealthy and the poor, individuals and nations.

Things that we still need illuminated today. I sit here during the aftermath of the Virginia Tech tragedy wondering about the parallels. How much of Cho Seung-Hui’s deranged lunacy was made even worse by today’s class struggle between rich and poor. Back in 1900’s England, young people rebelled, sure. But they did it by running off and marrying someone outside of their social class. Now you buy a gun and kill people outside of your social class. It’s a messed up world.

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books

N is for Noose

I’m 7 books away from being caught up to Sue Grafton’s alphabet series. I wonder if she’s just going to stop at Z. Anyway, I grabbed this one on the way out the door for a vacation in Santa Barbara wine country, which just so happens to be the heart of Sue Grafton country.

Kinda cool huh? I’m going to Santa Barbara, CA for a long weekend, so how appropriate is it to start reading a book by an author that lives in Santa Barbara and uses the city as the backdrop for her bestselling crime series? Well, I think it’s pretty damn appropriate. Plus, it’s a mangled paperback that I got on eBay so I’ll just leave it for another reader when I’m done and lighten my load for the trip back. I rule.

Not much to say. And what could I say that could possibly be interesting to a non-reader of the series or thought provoking 10 or 20 years down the road when I look back at this blog to figure out what was going on in my life in 2007? Well, I’m going to stray from my normal take on fiction and disclose some plot killers.

WARNING: PLOT KILLERS FOLLOW

This book separates itself from the others for a couple of reasons. First, there are a few very intense assaults against the main character, Kinsey Milhone; more so than in the previous books. Second, I pretty much figured it out about mid way through the book; something I haven’t done yet in the series.

About the assaults; twice Kinsey is confronted by a mysterious man in a black ski mask. Even though neither occasion was an attempt on her life, they were still darker and more ominous than even the murderous attempts on her life in the past. Grafton’s descriptions of the events were right out of thrillerdom and made for good reading. And I might add, the perp in both cases gets his due when Kinsey goes on a PCP-induced rampage and kicks his ass, then drops the f-bomb. Out-of-character, but great stuff.

About me figuring it out, well, I didn’t necessarily have it wired in, but I can remember the exact moment where Grafton foreshadowed the perpetrator. During the second assault mentioned above, Kinsey said the the perpetrator “smelled of sweat.” I said to myself, “it’s got to be Brant because he goes to the gym all of the time.” Well, it was Brant, I was correct. Although I backed-off on my assessment so maybe I don’t deserve credit for figuring it out.

Was this a coincidence or did I really root out the killer? Not sure, but it didn’t impinge on my enjoyment of the book because my conviction was not that strong. I was left in doubt just about until the end.

I’m going to take a few months off from Grafton.

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food

Homemade Meal of the Month Mise En Place

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My wife wips up a lot of nice pasta dishes. She is all about mise en place. Hah, you didn’t know that I speak the language of the kitchen, did you? Well, that means basically that she sets all of her ingredients and flatware on the counter in a nice organized fashion before she starts the creation.

Pictured above are the makings of her pasta with chicken, veggies, and Mizithra cheese sauce. It’s a think of beauty, her mise en place. Notice the organized placement of everything. Let’s start with the broccoli in the upper left and go clockwise. After the broccoli you have some olive oil, mushrooms, milk, pasta, Mizithra cheese, flower and butter, roasted red peppers, shredded chicken, and leeks. She makes the pasta, makes the sauce, then combines it all in a large skillet. Great stuff.

I have some Greek blood so I appreciate the efforts to use ingredients, like Mizithra cheese, that bring me in touch with my roots. Heck, my grandfather Sfaelos’ nickname was “The Greek.” That could explain why I love baklava and Zorba the Greek. But then again, maybe baklava is more Turkish than Greek. Kinda kills my view of my ethnicity, or lack thereof.

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food

Swim Cafe Chocolate Coconut Muffin

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Swim Cafe is fast becoming one of my favorite coffee shops. There are a lot of reasons. Most prominent, is the fact that they have a lot of great food. Pictured is a fine example. That’s the cross-section of the Swim Cafe chocolate coconut mini-muffin. I had two or three, they were highly enjoyable.

My enjoyment was heightened by their warmth. Yeah, the person waiting on me just pulled a steaming panful of these out of the toaster oven behind the counter. That’s right, a toaster oven. It looked like the kind you buy at Target. You know, the kind you want so bad but your wife won’t let you have it because it looks ugly on the counter. Well, that toaster oven gets a lot better looking if you’ve tasted something as good as these mini-muffins coming out of it.

My wife may convert. Let me tell you a little story. On this day, we came here after working out. Usually after a workout, my wife prefers that we grab food and go. Which is fine, but definitely not my preference. Well, she stared google-eyed as the person behind the counter dropped the steaming mini-muffins into the blue to-go bag. I had a hint, based on her expression, that she was ready to relax the “I won’t eat in sweaty workout clothes rule.” She grabbed the bag, felt the warmth radiating, and emphatically announced to me, “We’re eating here!”

This is just another example of the warm pastry rule (natural law stating that once the sensation of warm pastry is felt by the fingertips, even the most highly-disciplined human can be turned into a food-craving puddle of insatiable consumption).

Swim Cafe is a great place. Not only do they cook up a bunch of good pastry, cupcakes, and muffins, they also serve up some great sandwiches, soups, salads, and breakfast. Let me personally recommend the egg, fontina, and chicken sausage panini on focaccia. Wow, it is something special. I wish I had my camera so you could see it too.

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books

The Blind Side

If you read one football book this year, make it this one! It’s two stories in one. One, call it the main story, is a human interest story about a wealthy, white Memphis family that takes a poor, black student into their home and makes him part of their family. The other, call it the back story, is a technical, information-rich sports story about the profound changes that occurred in football over the course of 20 years, beginning in the early 1980s. Both stories are worthy of your attention and I could not put it down.

The first chapter starts with that fateful Monday night back in 1985 when Lawrence Taylor (Giants) ended the football career of Joe Theisman (Redskins). It’s a riveting account of that moment, but more so a treatise on the effect that LT had on the NFL. LT echoed in the era of the huge, speedy, violent, versatile linebacker/defensive end that wreaks havoc on the offensive backfield. The NFL has not looked back since.

Along with the advent of the super-linebacker, came the offensive reaction to stop these monsters. Since most quarterbacks are right-handed, his blind side, or left side, is most vulnerable because he can’t see much of that side of the field during the standard drop-back. This aspect of the game eventually turned any offensive tackles who were especially skilled in blind side protection into some of the highest paid men in the sport.

Thus far, the attribution for this blind side protection requirement has been laid at LT’s doorstep. But as you find out, it’s more attributable to a confluence of the rise of the passing game (brought about by Bill Walsh) and LT. This confluence came to a head in January 1981, when Bill Walsh’s highly technical offense (Montana, 49ers) came face-to-face with the relentless passion of LT’s pass rush (Bill Parcells, Giants) in a playoff game. Walsh stopped the fiery LT with a makeshift blocking scheme that had left guard John Ayers pulling back from the line of scrimmage to pick up LT. Walsh won, but knew that this scheme would not last forever and what was really needed was a left tackle that could handle the likes of LT without scheming or assistance.

Michael Oher had the physical attributes to be just such a left tackle. He was a huge, strong, fast, mobile wall of humanity; but he was mired in the Memphis public school system, which meant basically that he didn’t go to school . One day, in like 2002, Michael’s guardian (named Big Tony, note that I did not say legal guardian either) decided to find a better place for his son and just brought Michael along. He drove the two kids across Memphis to a primarily white, evangelical Christian school called Briarcrest. The two kids could not have been further from the prototypical Briarcrest student if they had tried, but Big Tony got them both enrolled.

It just so happens that Briarcrest has a lot of wealthy, interested athletic boosters. Sean Touhy is one of those. He is a Memphis businessman and former record setting point guard for Ole’ Miss. His daughter went to Briarcrest and he is sort of an athletic counselor and coach’s assistant for the school. Sean is married to a headstrong former Ole’ Miss cheerleader, also has a son named Sean Junior, owns a bunch of Taco Bells, and is the Memphis Grizzlies color analyst. Sean just seems to hang around the Briarcrest athletic facilities a lot, he eventually befriends Michael, and introduces the rest of his family to the shy young man.

Everything unfolds from there and you are let into this world of football, high school politics, NCAA rules, and race relations in Memphis. It’s a strange story. It’s also very current. Michael Oher is still at Ole’ Miss if I’m not mistaken. This book really sucked me in. I loved it.

If you like football, you will like this book. In fact, if you have a pulse, you’ll like this book. Lewis brings a few things to the table, in my view, that make him a sports author worth reading. First, he brings a quantitative, analytical approach to explaining the whys and wherefores of his thesis (I like quantitative and analytical). Second, he brings a genuine care and concern for honoring sports and their import in American life (I honor sports). Finally, he is a great storyteller. He delivers the back story with a tone of resolute detachment that has a chilling effect at times (case in point, chapter one on LT/Theisman) and he retells the main story with a lot of passion for the characters.

Great stuff, grab it and read it.

Categories
food

I’m Getting a lot of Heat

Wow, I’m getting a lot of flack from Tasty Nation (that’s what I want my fan club to be called when it gets formed). John, they say, why don’t you ever say anything negative about food? You’re not a real food critic!

Well, they’re correct. I don’t say negative stuff about food and I’m not a food critic. I just write about stuff that I like to eat. If it’s bad food, I just don’t write about it. There’s enough negativity in this world without some dude like me throwin’ hatred on a restaurant that screwed up my burger or didn’t put enough black beans in my burrito. Not gonna happen here, it’s that simple.

Now if you see me at a place and I don’t end up writing about it, you can assume one of three things:

  1. I forgot my camera. Each food post has a picture, that’s my rule. No picture=no writing.
  2. I was too embarrassed to whip out my camera and take a picture. I’m a self-conscious guy, what can I say.
  3. I did not like the food.

If you want critique, check out my takes on golf. I’m more knowledgeable about golf than I am about food so I’m a little more comfortable spewing out some negativity if it’s warranted.

What do you think? Will you still be a loyal reader now that you know I’m not a food critic?

Categories
food

Calling all Restaurants Chili Dog

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Where do you get a good chili dog in this town? That whole “Chicago Style” dog thing kind of gets me down at times. Gotta tell ya, I’m not a big fan. My preference is the chili dog, like the kind above from Tony Packo’s, with some spicy pickles.

Raise your hand if you’ve heard of the famous Tony Packo’s in Toledo, Ohio. I guess you have to be at least 40 and remember the TV show M.A.S.H. There was a character named Klinger (cross dresser actually) and he was from Toledo. He would bring up Tony Packo’s occasionally in-show.

Well, the actor that played Klinger was real-life Toledoan Jamie Farr.

Toledo is near my hometown, which luckily has a Tony Packo’s outpost. I went when I was home last and started longing for the ability to get a damn chili dog whenever I please. What better topping for an encased meat than the spicy ground beef creation known as chili? I don’t want a bunch of veggies on my dog, I want meat on top of meat. Is that so wrong?

Actually, the ingredients for the Tony Packo’s chili dog are a dog, mustard, onions, and chili sauce. The next time you are driving through Toledo on the Ohio Turnpike, stop and grab one, you will not regret it. And if you know where I can get one around here, let me know.

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books

Citizen Vince

This is a recommendation from the Nick Hornby book I read last month. Hornby is actually quoted on the back jacket and says about it:

This terrific book…is smart, funny, dark, and moving-and Jess Walter is clearly a writer to watch.

As you know, I’m a big fan of crime fiction. I’m always looking for something that is “smart” and “dark,” so I was powerless and bought it even though I forgot my 30% off coupon from Borders Rewards. Oh well, I agree with Hornby for the most part, so it was a good purchase.

It’s the story of Vince, a small-time crook who testified against some very bad people in New York City, and now spends his time making donuts and partaking in credit card fraud in Seattle while in the witness protection program. Everything is clipping along fine, until a hired killer from the old neighborhood finds him.

Vince is a cool guy. At first it seems like it’s a classic “I’m gonna get out of the game as soon as I make enough money” crime novel. But it’s a lot deeper than that. There’s this sensitive relationship between Vince and his hooker friend who wants to be a real estate agent. There’s Vince buying and borrowing books so he can have one in-hand every morning when the beautiful woman comes into the donut shop (he starts the books, but never finishes them). There’s the beautiful woman’s local politician friend that Vince peppers with questions about his platform. And there’s Vince’s ongoing internal and external debate about whether to vote for Reagan or Carter (yes, the book takes place in 1980). All provide comic relief, character depth, and thoughtful diversions from your concern about this nice criminal with destructive tendencies.

There are even a few cool back stories. One is about the Seattle cop tracking Vince to New York. It is really moving. Another is about the local politician that Vince befriends for a night. Each story takes some very intense turns. You are on the edge of your seat at times, laughing at times, and learning at times.

Great stuff, thanks Hornby for doing me up with a good rec.

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books

Truman

Truman’s presidency occurred during times of immense global unrest and he was forced to make a few of the most pivotal decisions in US history. These decisions certainly affected the standing and prosperity of the US during his lifetime, but they also had reverberations that would affect the political and economic make-up of Asia and Europe for decades to come.

It’s been a while since I’ve listened to a book. But listening to this one really has me juiced for some more because it was really good. McCullough takes you through the expanse of Truman’s life, beginning with his humble beginnings on the Missouri countryside and detailing the significant events of his life through his death in 1972. Here is a quick timeline:

  • 1884-Born, Lamar, Missouri
  • 1914-Member of artillery brigade, World War I, mostly France
  • 1934-Elected to Senate (D, Missouri)
  • 1944-FDR re-elected to presidency with Truman as his VP
  • 1945-Truman becomes president upon FDR’s death (April)
  • 1945-Authorized use of the atomic bomb in Japan (August)
  • 1946-Threatened to take presidential control of the railroads and draft railway workers if they did not end their strike, effectively settling the strike but alienating labor
  • 1947-Develops Truman Doctrine (policy of containment) and appoints George Marshall as his secretary of state (who subsequently developed the Marshall Plan to assist in rebuilding Europe)
  • 1950-In second term as president, urged U.N. to intervene in Korea and authorized deployment of US troops to Korea under General MacArthur
  • 1951-Ceased aggression in Korea and fired MacArthur from his command in Korea and Japan
  • 1952-Lost New Hampshire primary and cancels re-election campaign
  • 1972-Dies the day after Christmas

These were the highlights in the abridged version I listened to. There was evidently not enough time to talk about the Berlin Airlift, Israel, civil rights, the Fair Deal, the Red Scare, or Vietnam.

I love McCullough’s delivery on the audio book version. He reads it like a grandfather telling a story. He doesn’t use much voice inflection but you can tell he cares deeply about the topic. It’s comforting to listen to his silvery voice and smooth delivery.

There were some chilling moments in Truman’s presidency. Shortly after dropping the bomb on Hiroshima, he said these words in his address to the nation.

…we are now prepared to obliterate more rapidly and completely every productive enterprise the Japanese have above ground in any city. We shall destroy their docks, their factories, and their communications. Let there be no mistake, we shall completely destroy Japan’s power to make war. If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a reign of ruin from the air the like of which has never been seen on this earth.

That’s heavy stuff. Often McCullough would mix in real audio, but not for the above. I’m sure it’s on tape, I wonder if someone would not let him use it or if he thought it would be too horrifying to hear it from Truman himself. The book goes into a fairly lengthy discussion on the aftermath. There is some real audio after the second bomb on Nagasaki from Truman where he tells Japanese civilians to leave the cities because he was going to destroy everything in them. Sobering stuff.

Truman never went to college, but he was worldly, well read, and very grounded. I think this is why he was careful in selecting his advisers and why he deflected a lot of the credit for victories to others but took responsibility for failures. Perhaps his most famous appointment was making George Marshall the Secretary of State in 1947. Marshall engineered the aptly named Marshall Plan to assist in the post-war rebuilding of Europe and to help stop communist aggression. It has it’s detractors, but for the most part it is viewed by historians as an unmitigated success.

Truman’s most famous public brawl was with General MacArthur. MacArthur wanted to continue north of the 38th parallel in Korea because he did not feel that the Russians or Chinese would intervene on the North’s behalf. MacArthur said this in public, which was particularly discouraging to the Truman administration. Truman disagreed, and when Truman relieved him of duty there was a public outcry of massive proportions. MacArthur went on an unprecedented “victory” tour of the US when he got back from Korea and made speeches espousing his ideas for the war and where he thought Truman got it wrong. Truman basically ignored this and eventually the country came around to ignoring MacArthur also. Finally, MacArthur made his “old soldiers just fade away” speech and the public battle between the two giants of US history faded away also.

Truman ended up living out a his life after the presidency in a state of unending wonderment and joy. You may not agree with every decision that he made, but I would say he honored the office of the Presidency.

Categories
food

McDonald’s Cinnamon Melts

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It’s gotta be tough to be a food snob. I could not imagine living with the idea that I’m too good for a fine dessert like the Cinnamon Melts at McD’s. For $1.59, I had to try them. Of course, it was in the comfortable atmosphere of the Oak Brook location near the World HQ of the beloved Golden Arches.

I got two words for you, “see you later Cinnabon.” We’ll, actually that’s four words, but I got carried away.

If you listen to AM 1000 you’ve probably heard the woman with the sexy voice talking about how this dessert combines “only the best parts of the cinnamon roll.” She is referring to something called the “gooey center” I think. She is not far off base. This is a bunch of randomly sized pastry chunks (?) rolled in some cinnamon sauce and covered in white frosting, then warmed up so it all melts together. It’s pretty good, and you can get it all day.

You may have heard me speak of the four food groups; bacon, coffee, burgers, and cinnamon rolls. Some day I’m going to McD’s and ordering up a bacon cheeseburger, some cinnamon melts, and a premium roast coffee just to say “I had all four in one sitting.” Wouldn’t that make momma proud?