The Pawling Daily NewsQuaffable But Far From Transcendent(Untitled)- January 14, 2005 One of my favorite TV programs of recent years, the loopy Japanese cooking show "Iron Chef", is being re-launched in the US, and the premiere of the new series, titled "Iron Chef America" airs on Sunday night on the TV Food Network. I'll definitely be watching, but with some trepidation. Two of my favorite food celebrities, Mario Batali and Alton Brown (his recipe for Thanksgiving turkey is ace), are apparently involved, as are two of the original Iron Chefs, Masaharu Morimoto and Hiroyuki..http://radio.weblogs.com/0125907/2005/01/14.html#a25 (Untitled)- January 5, 2005 A MYSTERY SOLVED Have you ever experienced one of those moments when something that has been irking you for years finally gets resolved in your mind Maybe it's a line from a film that you can't quite place or a song whose lyrics you can't quite figure out. Well I had just such an experience today, and however small or insignificant it may seem, it brought a smile to my face. Here's the backstory. In about 1988 or 1989, Marna and I were driving from Boston to New York and listening to the...http://radio.weblogs.com/0125907/2005/01/05.html#a24 (Untitled)- January 4, 2005 The State of California has launched a Megan's Law website, where, by entering a city of zip code, you can view detailed information on registered sex offenders in your area. A quick search using my childhood zip code returned about a dozen names. If the photos aren't enough to frighten the hell out of you, the details they provide on each sex offender will - aliases, tattoos, distinguishing marks, rap sheet. I shudder to think what a New York equivalent site might return for our area. ...http://radio.weblogs.com/0125907/2005/01/04.html#a22 (Untitled)- January 3, 2005 After we managed to get the kids safely in bed last night, we watched Chariots of Fire, which I had recorded on Tivo earlier in the evening. Marna had never seen it before, and I remember only vaguely seeing it in Pasadena when it came out, in 1981. The Vangelis score, so widely praised at the time, seemed kind of jarring, hearing it now. I kept having to fiddle around with the remote control to get it right. The Vangelis music would cut in at a high volume, I'd amp it down, then the...http://radio.weblogs.com/0125907/2005/01/03.html#a21 (Untitled)- January 2, 2005 A very happy New Year to all of you. So far so good. We celebrated with the kids last night. They went to bed well before midnight, of course, but not before Kieran downed half a bottle of "champagne" (Martinelli's Sparkling Cider) by himself. His college years should be interesting. Marna and I stayed up past midnight for the first time in several years and watched the amusing but slightly ridiculous Love Actually, with Hugh Grant (!) as the Prime Minister. It's one of those movies,...http://radio.weblogs.com/0125907/2005/01/01.html#a20 |