Takei: gay!

Mr Sulu has come out, to the surprise of very few. Jokes about newly-discovered moons aside, he is pretty cool:

Takei's clear, booming voice and perfectly enunciated English as he helmed the U.S.S. Enterprise, flew in the face of traditional Asian male stereotypes prevalent even up to that time on TV and in film.

I mean, just as I'm about to make fun I think about what it must have been like seeing him in that role at the time, not ah-so'ing his way around at all, and what it would have meant to people who were used to being dumped on.

His magnificence lingers on

We would be remiss in failing to point out that today's events were predicted.

Two items

1. It's hilarious that Brad DeLong gets multiple copies of the "Land's End" catalogue. Too perfect. (This google search reveals that Brad is not even a person at all-- he's a chart.) 2. I followed Atrios' link to an Ann Coulter column against Miers, which contains this gem:

But when the Supreme Court used common senseâ€"rather than the text of the Constitutionâ€"to strike down Connecticut's law banning contraception, it opened the door to the Supreme Court’s rewriting all manner of state laws By creating a nonspecific "right to privacy," Griswold v. Connecticut led like night into day to the famed "constitutional right" to stick a fork in a baby's head.

This got me wondering about Griswold-- do the originalists really think this is wrongly decided? Is this a decision that, legally speaking, is just as much an indecency as Roe, only without the added oomph of destroyed fetuses? That would be cool. I've never read that decision closely, but it sounds like a fun project. UDPATE: it's heartbreaking that W-lfs-n would think I'd deliberately avoid the permalink. Clicking in the appropriate places didn't lead to the correct address in the browser window, so I laboriously typed the right address, just for Ben.

Satirists email the Corner?

Jonah gets email on the Miers thing:

I'm sorry Jonah, but this was the worst and most arrogant moment the conservative movement ever had. I fear the movement will come to regret this.

Party discipline matters. That's one area where Democrats have always outshone us.

I don't want to make fun. I want only to stand in awe at the majestic weirdness.

Go Sox Go

Red Sox in 2004. White Sox in 2005. It can only mean one thing... The Cubs are a mortal lock to win it all in 2006.

Ogged Hated Open Threads

Hey everybody! Let's have a night before Fitzmas open thread so we can make cock jokes about the White Sox!!!

Too Fancy For Us, Are You?

Brad DeLong has the temerity to laugh at my cooking tips: "Heresy! Keep this woman far away from California." I had to post this as a comment there, but I also need to tell the world.

I scoff at you, Brad Delong! Scoff, I say! I lived in California for many a year, and did I ever have a chance to ply my wiles with 1/2 t of white sugar in the creamed corn, even the corn from the Berkeley Bowl? You bet your lily-white etc., I did. My source for the whole sugar secret was my step-mother's momma, Grace, of Metter, GA. She raised 14 children. She sewed all their clothes. She raised most all of the vegetables they ever ate, in her spectacular garden in the back of their trailer; row upon receding row of corn, tomatoes, okra, peppers, cucumber, watermelon, peanuts, black-eyed peas, pidgeon peas... She put the vegetables up in jars, or froze them in big ziploc bags in her chest freezer, topping off the quantities of frozen venison, dove, and squirrel in there from her various sons and step-sons. If putting 1/2 t of sugar in her stewed okra and tomatoes was good enough for Grace, it's good enough for you, Brad DeLong, you elitist type you! That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Hmmph. You just see if I invite Brad DeLong for dinner the next time the mysterious Unfogged private jet deposits me in fair Northern California. Even if I'm making my famous homemeade gnocchi with porcini, shallots, oregano and creme fraiche. Rassafrassin, rootintootin, cotton pickin'....Finally, if you imagine that those fine restaurants you go to are never pulling this trick on you, then there's a war against Iran and Syria I need to sell you. "Oh, surely not Keller at the French Laundry; he would never play me like that!", you say. Consider yourself played.

What Should FL Eat?

I posted some of this in the comments, but it was getting too long. Much wisdom below the fold.

dsquared is right. Real italian food generally does not take much time to cook and uses surprisingly few ingredients, though they must be good ones. Also, Perla Meyers' Spur of the Moment Cook is very, very good and has lots of delicious, quick recipes. Seriously, you should buy this right now. Many meals take only 20 minutes and all are good. I haven't had a dud recipe yet. General tips: always have around: some boxed chicken broth, canned tomatoes in sauce, spaghetti, eggs, butter, olive oil, lemons, celery, carrots, parmesan cheese, potatoes, onions, shallots, salad greens, flat-leaf parsely and garlic. you can get by with this stuff. also, canned tuna in olive oil, anchovies, olives, pickles, sun-dried tomatoes and such like are good. frozen spinach and frozen peas, always helpful. it's nice to have some chicken or sausages or shrimp in the fridge, too. when all else fails, make an omelette or frittata and salad (or that helpful spinach). 10 minutes. or spaghetti with olive oil and garlic. or add a fried agg to the spaghetti aglio e olio and some chili flakes. It's like a whole new meal!! The microwave is great for steaming vegetables; just wash and cut them, then put them in a dish with a tiny bit of water and cover tightly with plastic wrap. A few minutes is all most need. Finally, never be ashamed to tart up your vegetables with a small amount of white sugar. Corn a bit old and starchy? No more! Vegetable soup bland? Uh-uh. Tomato sauce for spaghetti not lively enough? Solved that. E-Z meals: steamed salmon; hellmann's mayonnaise mixed with dill, shallots, capers and lemon juice; steamed asparagus (you can do this in a two level bamboo steamer, though the asparagus must be put on later); new potatoes halved, boiled, and mixed with butter and dill. this takes about 25 minutes all told. shrimp cooked in olive oil and lots of garlic and chopped parsley; good bakery-bought bread to dip in said olive oil; salad. (15 minutes, tops) sausages with red and yellow peppers (brown the sausages; pour off most of the grease; fry sliced onions in the grease; add sliced pepper and garlic; cook, then return sausages to skillet); rice or mashed potatoes or bread; green salad baked chicken; roasted baby potatoes with olive oil and rosemary; whole roasted garlic heads (cut off top, pour some olive oil over and wrap in foil, then cook with the potatoes); broccoli steamed in the microwave. then the next day you can have chicken salad over green salad, with whole wheat toast, and make stock with the carcass, and then the *next* day you have chicken soup, either with carrots, zuchhini, potatoes and whatnot or with shiitake mushrooms, chinese noodles, thinly sliced carrot, green onions, soy sauce and sesame oil. you can add sliced boneless chicken breast to these soups to make them more hearty. salad nicoise (just make tuna salad, boil halved new potatoes, blanch some green beans, and hard-boil some eggs. arrange, with sliced tomato and black olives, over green salad, olive oil and lemon, bada-bing) lentil soup (fry chopped onion; add finely chopped carrot; add lentils and chicken stock; cook 20 minutes. can be flavored with cumin, or thyme, or you could cook sausages first and slice them and put them back in the soup later, or you can add chunks of sweet potato); stewed okra and tomato (fry onion, add okra and chopped tomato and water, or canned tomato in sauce); rice vegetable soup of whatever you got: saute chopped onions and shallots in butter or olive oil; add vegetables of choice and one potato and chicken stock to cover; cook till tender; puree in blender or food processor with some plain yogurt or sour cream or cream and fresh herbs of choice; serve with bread or make cornbread or something. some good combinations: cauliflower with basil; carrot with rosemary; zucchini with mint or cilantro or parsely; leek and potato, natch; tomato and fresh orgegano. plain old fried pork chops (dredge in flour, salt, pepper and fry; remove to plate and fry onions in the grease and add a little water or stock and some worchestershire sauce) serve over potatoes or rice; green salad steak. expensive but fast, or flank steak, cheaper. fry red and yellow peppers in the pan after. patty melts: fry the burger first, then onions; put them inside the sandwich with some cheese, fry as for a grilled cheese sandwich. speaking of which, grilled cheese sandwiches with ham or smoked turkey and thin apple slices, salad; can't beat that. good side dish; heat olive oil in a pan, fry chopped garlic for a minute, add cherry tomatoes and shake pan around till they are just hot and the skins are starting to split; add chopped basil.

Burned into my retina

Look away!

Burning questions II

Al/amei/da's posting about food, and Weiner's admission of culinary error, prompts me to ask a question that's been on my mind recently. Given that I have about 90-120 minutes to cook, eat, and clean up, what's the best I can do? I'd like to vary my diet from the graduate-school staples of "rice, beans, 'n' stuff" and "pasta 'n' stuff," though I must admit that these two have served me well. (The stable-- let none call it boring!-- diet also makes trips to the grocery store easier, but I suppose I could give that up.)

Burning Questions

Should I get a food processor? I briefly had one my mom bought me, but I left California for Singapore before fully getting the hang of it, and have never bothered to replace it. I have a blender. I have a huge mortar and pestle. I sort of don't trust the food processor to, say, slice onions as evenly as I can with a sharp knife (let's grant, given my blogging ways, that I am insensitive to the time-wasting aspect). But then, people seem to make super-easy cake batters and pastry doughs in their food processors...So, what's the verdict?

A fun game we can play to pass the time

Ogged may be on hiatus, but something tells me he still reads this thing. How strong is his will? I propose the following game: make comments (or posts) designed to goad him into breaking silence.

Here, I'll start: Persian swimmers are teh suxx. Also, liberals only supported the war because they [need to appear macho].

Silence!

Some teachers are willing to ask a question and let it hang in the silence for an excruciating interval-- until some poor student breaks down and says something, just to get the awkwardness to stop. I am not one of those: I lack the will. Similarly, I can't bear the absence of new posts, even though I got nothing. (I will continue to have nothing, thanks largely to work demands.) Hey, maybe the threadbot thing is a good idea after all...