Flash

Amazing Race 7 started yesterday. Thankfully, there are a minimum of models and aspiring actors this time around. There are actually teams that have real foreign language skills! Anybody notice the free “mata de coca” drink they were giving out in front the zip line clue? It’s tea made from the leaves of the plant used to make cocaine, supposingly useful for altitude sickness. And no silly cruises or vacations this time for coming in first:

Inca dude: Welcom-me a [sic] to Cuscu, Peru!
Phil: Debbie and Bianca…… You’re Team number one! (music swells, girls scream).
Phil: Now, I’ve got some good news for you guys. As the winners of this first leg of the race…
[the girls are staring expecting some vacation package]
Phil: … you have won $10,000.
[the girls stare with their jaws dropping]
Debbie: No way! No way! Are you kidding me?
Phil: It gets better… $10,000 each, a total of $20,000.
[mad jumping up and down]

That was enough to convince P– we should try out for #8 with her sister and her sister’s husband.

No more pictures for a while — I totaled my digital camera during the last snow storm. It was either a static shock or some water, but all of a sudden there was a big flash of light and the camera started to smell like smoke. Too bad, I had gotten over 7,000 photos out of that, which was a great investment. Have to find another camera before the next trip.

As for Oscar commentary, not too much interest in who actually won, but Chris Rock showed that he can get down to business. Maybe he got himself disinvited to Oprah’s house, but anyone that can bring in the Oscars 20 minutes early is a genius. Also, a great shout-out to Brooklyn at the end!

March!

I’m tired of snow. Really I am. Unless I get an actual day off, I don’t think the snow does for much (besides helping us avoid a drought).

Travelocity’s latest commercial – the Traveling Gnome is sounding less British. He loses his cuteness that way, even as he attempts to make us go travel more.

So, okay, I didn’t watch very much of the Oscars (because I was busy doing stuff for Alma Mater). Some great comment from Slate.com’s movie critic David Edelstein:

Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman were gracious and touching, although Swank should not use the word “humbled” when she means “honored.” Someday I’d like to meet the person who devises the music cues, to ascertain why the orchestra sent Freeman off the stage to the strains of the theme from Star Trek: The Motion Picture (and The Next Generation). Was this a way of working in a tribute to the late Jerry Goldsmith?

I did watch the Morgan Freeman speech and thought it was great (but kind of predictable) that he won. I remembered that part where they played the Star Trek: The Next Generation theme song (for me, it is TNG’s theme song; no offense to The Motion Picture, but I saw TNG first). I was thinking why was this being played before we go to a commercial? It surely had to be to honor Jerry Goldsmith, but if you were going to do that, why not tell your viewers that that’s why you’re doing it? And, Clint Eastwood was gracious, although I felt a little bad for Martin Scorsese. He ought to win something already. (I just didn’t think “The Aviator” was it, and it wasn’t even a movie I had seen, so perhaps I shouldn’t say?).

The Oscars show was too fast – it was too strange to see it actually end before midnight. And, it made no sense to put some of the sound/technical awards nominees on stage and then other sound/technical awards nominees from the floor. It’s just silly.

NY Times article by Jane L. Levere – “Busman’s Holiday, Famous Chef Edition” – when famous chefs are traveling, they eat healthy food and food that the rest of us eat:

What do famous chefs have for breakfast when they travel? Oatmeal, mostly.

For lunch? Something light, perhaps grilled fish or an egg salad sandwich on whole-wheat toast. For a quick bite? A Whopper and fries will do nicely.

After 8 p.m., they get serious. They are adept at finding the best local restaurants, even in out-of-the-way villages, and they tuck into the foie gras and grilled turbot with gusto. But in general, they prefer simplicity at breakfast and lunch.

That early in the day, “I don’t want an intellectual meal where you have to engage your critical facilities,” said Patrick O’Connell, the chef at the Inn at Little Washington in Washington, Va. “I only wish to engage these once a day, at night. The rest of the time I like to be normal. It can be exhausting listening to your inner voice analyzing the food you’re consuming.”

Some chefs do indulge in elaborate breakfasts from time to time. Daniel Boulud, the chef at Daniel and restaurants elsewhere, prepares a fancy breakfast for his family on special occasions that includes scrambled eggs garnished with chives and grated lemon zest, accompanied by steamed Yukon gold or German Butterball potatoes, plus smoked salmon or caviar served with crème fraîche.

But for breakfast on the road, Mr. Boulud is content with granola, plain yogurt, fresh fruit, orange juice and coffee. “Granola’s much healthier than a croissant,” said Mr. Boulud, a native of Lyon, France. [….]

The chefs are equally unfussy about lunch, generally choosing sparse fare like fish or a salad, and asking for bottled water rather than a glass of wine. Why such restraint? “A lot of food with wine makes me sleepy,” said Wolfgang Puck, the chef at Spago in Los Angeles.

Others tuck unapologetically into fat-laden fast food or calorie-rich soul food. Recently, Mr. Boulud went out of his way to try the hamburger at a Los Angeles landmark, the Apple Pan; while visiting Nashville, he lined up for grits, barbecued ribs and chicken, pulled pork, collard greens and cornbread at Nick’s Famous Barbecue.

[Thomas Keller of French Laundry in Yountville, Ca.] says he used to have a weakness for Burger King’s Whopper with extra cheese and French fries, but now that he lives in California, he has switched his allegiance to the cheeseburgers at In-N-Out Burger, with French fries and a milkshake. He also favors Krispy Kreme doughnuts. “I like pretty much all junk food,” he said. [….]

Wow. What a thought – famous chefs actually liking junk food? Who’d a thunk it? And, yeah, I’d say that granola is healthier than croissants.

“American Idol” – the men and the women seemed a little less showy than they were last week. The women certainly were, anyway. They just seemed subdued, less energy. We’ll see who’s out tomorrow.

Wow – watching the first installment of the latest “Amazing Race” – quite good. “Survivors” Rob and Amber are the people you’d love to hate. Then again, why all the hating? The drive to go against them may backfire on the people. One quibble – couldn’t they make the Amazing Racers more… well, racially diverse? It’s just me, maybe. Fun tv anyway – real character building stuff.