Prediction: The Christian Right's Next Target

No, not the Oscars, at least not before Chris Rock finishes the gig. The debate will be sparked by Million Dollar Baby, one of the year's best films. If you've seen the film, you'll know what I mean. If you haven't, run - do not walk - to see it, because once the debate begins your enjoyment of the movie (IMHO) will be spoiled.

Donnie Deutsch: Can He Save CNBC's Night Time?

Donnie Deutsch launched the nightly version of his "Big Idea" tonight on CNBC, and from the little I watched, he's off to a good start. Star Jones kicked off the show with details about The Donald's wedding. One question: Deutsch's teeth look different, more perfect than I'd noticed in the past. New veneers? Or is he just smiling more broadly because he gets some regular time away from the office now?

Check "Yes" or "No"

I always check the "No" box where my 1040 asks if I want to contribute to the Presidential Election fund. Here's an idea: let us contribute to the reward for capturing Osama Bin Laden and I'd not only check the "Yes" box, I'd lobby everyone I know to do the same and so would everyone else. The probable result: a fundraiser that would put Jerry Lewis' work to shame.

Blizzard of '05

As of 10:45 am, we've had almost 24" of snow, and it's probably going to continue until this evening. The poor dog; he's so confused! Here's the view from our front door, looking onto Commonwealth Ave.



Looks like a good afternoon for a movie marathon - perhaps The Godfather trilogy or maybe the Marx Brothers.

How Kerry Blew It

Finally someone explains the real reason John Kerry lost the election. Kerry never explained what he meant by his oft-repeated campaign line: "I defended my country as a young man and I'll defend it as President." Recall that Kerry made his name by testifying against the war after he returned from 'Nam. So when, exactly, as a young man did he think he was defending his country, and against whom? If he thought he went to war to defend his country, but returned with a different belief, he never said so. If he still believes that he was defending his country in VietNam, then doesn't that call into question the core belief of the anti-war protest movement: that no US interests were at stake, that it was a civil war we had no business being involved with?

Maybe it's the altitude?

A man in Littleton, CO (near the mile-high city) survived with a 4-inch nail in his skull. Undiscovered for six days, the nail had been embedded by a nail gun that backfired. A toothache and some blurred vision led the man to seek medical attention, and an x-ray revealed the cause. Guess it's a good thing he didn't have to take a flight that week; he would really have flummoxed the folks at security.

Braised Short Ribs, Part Deux

The verdict is in....the shirt ribs were succulent, falling off the bones, soft as butter. I see why the techniques and recipes of French cooking have stood the test of time. The folks down under at Rosemount Estates contributed to the success as well: the ribs braised in their Cabernet/Merlot blend and the Shiraz/Cabernet accompanied the meal. We finished with simple fresh strawberries and hand-whipped Chantilley cream. All in all, a fine night of dining.

Balthazar's Short Ribs, part one

Deep breath - let's try to make Balthazar's recipe for braised short ribs. Start the clock...30 minutes of prep (get that mise en place in place!); 15 minutes to brown the ribs, ten minutes of sauteing, and 20 minutes of reducing the Cabernet/Madiera/tomato paste/beef juices mixture. Let cool, then put in the 'fridge to marinate overnight. Stay tuned for part two, and the results!

Don't Ask, Don't Tell Don't Work

The U.S. military has discharged more than two dozen linguists for being gay during the past six years. Meanwhile, we're trying to fight a war on terror, and the deficit of trained speakers of Arabic as well as Farsi puts our soliders, marines, airmen, and sailors at great peril to say nothing of the risks to homeland security. I guess this is just another way that Bill Clinton left the country less safe and less prepared for the dangers of the 21st Century.

Sayonara Serena!

Appearing in her last episode after a four year run, Elisabeth Rohm went out with a "Law & Order twist." Her character,Asst. Dist. Atty. Serena Southerlyn, was fired by her boss for being too passionate, rather than cold-blooded, in her pursuit of justice. Her response? "It's not because I'm a lesbian, is it?" Have we ever had even the slightest inkling that she was a sister of Sappho? I wish I could salute Rohm for playing an out-of-the-closet lesbian whose sexual orientation was irrelevant to her job performance, it was never reflected in her characterization. In fact, during her stint on the show she has demonstrated no growth or development as an actor. She started weak and never really created a character I cared at all about. Good-bye, and good luck, I say.

Flashback: 1969 Draft Lottery

I've been reading David Leavitt's most recent novel, The Body of Jonas Boyd. One character's 1969 military draft lottery number is four, and he decides to escape to Canada. This got me wondering: what would my lottery number have been, and would it have been low enough to mean I would have been sent to 'Nam? Turns out my birthdate was #27 in the 1969 lottery; my husband's was #30. Had we been born 15 years earlier, does this mean we might have met somewhere in the Mekong Delta instead of in New Haven?

Marriage, schmarriage!

Gavin Newsom, San Fransisco's mayor, has announced that he and his wife of three years are getting divorced. The couple cited the difficulties of dealing with careers--which they had before they met, got engaged, and wed--that place them on opposite coasts. Now, recall that this is the same mayor who granted marriage licenses to 4000 gay and lesbian couples in violation of California law and in the process contributed to the political firestorm that resulted in the passage of 11 state contitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage to say nothing of President Bush's support for amending the U.S. Constitution to do the same. I guess we now more fully understand what was going on: I don't doubt that he believes in marriage equality for gays and lesbians, but now we also see that his regard for marriage is something less than traditional for heterosexuals as well.

Anderson Cooper in Sri Lanka

Anderson Cooper has been a stand-out in the tsumani coverage on television. His is a calming presence, sincere and understated. Like the excellent ITN reporter Dan Rivers, whose reports have been on The NewsHour, Cooper's reportage has avoided adjectives, especially comparatives, and reported with nouns and verbs (not gerunds - so take that, NBC and Fox!). Now if only CBS would hire Cooper to replace Dan Rather.....

Bark Mitzvah? Oy vey!

Odd coincidence: two days after this article ran in the NY Times our Aunt Mary sent this Chanukah gift to our whippet, King Louie. Now, if only he would just learn his torah portion...

Has Dan Rather snapped his tether?

Does it bother anyone else that Dan Rather has started referring to "the government representing the people of the United States"? Why has he stopped calling it "the U.S. Government"? Is this the beginning of an industry-wide trend, or just another example of Dan-the-situation-could-give- an-aspirin-a-headache-Rather's blatherisms?

Dim Sum in Chinatown

Got together with the family for dim sum today at Emperor Garden. Judging from the procenium separating one huge dining room from the next and the murals on the wall, I assumed the building had once housed a grand movie palace. Turns out it was a site for entertainment, but for men only. According to my sister-in-law, who remembers it from her days at Tufts, it used to be a strip club known as The Naked I. As for the meal, my feeling is I always think I'm going to enjoy dim sum more than I ever actually do. The sweet pork buns are a treat, but overall I'd rather just order from the menu and share a few plates. Dim sum strikes me as a quintessentially male type of meal; it's all about hunting for the next bit to eat waiting for the carts pass by and then devouring what you nab.

Happy New Year, 2005

We watched this DVD last night, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)", courtesy of Netflix. I found parts of it a tad too psychodelic for my taste, but the creative impulse is breathtaking. Are there no limits to the imagination of Charlie Kaufman?