Sneaking Suspicions |
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This page includes posts from
February 25-March 10, 2007 in the usual reverse
order.
Each posting on the home page is perma-linked to these archive pages.
March 4, 2007 Blogging's been light this past week, a sign that life outside of blogging has been busier than normal. Recently, for example, I've been spending the last several Thursday nights as part of a team competition. Not in athletics, of course, but a contest in which I can actually contribute--trivia. A good friend of mine asked me to join him, his son, and another friend and his sons for the Team Trivia game held at the Dewey Beach Club restaurant. We won the first three times we played, and a couple more times since then. We've added older daughter and her boyfriend to the team, and their contributions have been invaluable. For example, I knew older daughter was extremely good at music questions, but I had no idea she could easily name all four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I was so proud. The boyfriend is adept at literature, befitting his graduate school education, but he also possesses a deep, abiding knowledge of the movies that celebrate slacker culture. Should I be concerned? The combination of our two generations has been remarkably helpful, but occasionally the answer slips between us. On one night, we were asked to name the huge hit song performed by Kiss that was named after a girl. None of us had a clue, so I wrote a name on the slip of paper and had older daughter take it up to the DJ, John Mixon. Once all the entries were in, he read them all out as usual. When he reached our entry, Mixon called out, "Anita Mann." As the crowd began laughing, Mixon said, "You were hoping I'd read that out loud, weren't you? We agreed, heartily. Mixon then said, "Two words--I'm thinking two words right now." We said, "You're welcome." Mixon said, "Not those two words." The crowd kept laughing.
March 4, 2007 This afternoon I posted my newest golf book review at Hole By Hole. Golf Tales from The Chestnut Hills Country Club is a thoughtful collection of six short stories, woven among several recurring characters. In addition, here's a link to the newest golf column:
I hope you like these.
February 26, 2007 This weekend my wife boiled up a batch of small potatoes, and had a bunch left over that she didn't need for the potato salad she made. I used five or six of them for this concoction, which both older daughter and my wife enjoyed very much. Ingredients
Directions Combine the wine, cider, and mustard in a sauce pan, and reduce over medium heat to about a cup in volume. Remove from heat. Cook the onion in the oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat for a few minutes until softened. Add the flour and cook until the flour begins to turn a very light brown. Season the cut chicken with the salt and pepper, and add to the sauté pan. Cook for five minutes or so, until the chicken is whitened, and then add the boiled potatoes and reduced wine/cider mixture. Simmer on low heat for 10-15 minutes, until the mixture thickens. Serves three.
February 25, 2007 Here are my picks for tonight's Oscars, limited to the nominated movies that I've seen. This approach is in stark contrast to some folks, who apparently don't mind trying to speak intelligently about books they never actually read, but only skim. (I could do so many more book reviews if I did that--but I can't help but think I'd miss out on a lot by doing so.) I've also listed next to each pick the other nominated movies I saw in each category, if any.
Leading Actor--Will Smith, Pursuit of Happyness Some of the remaining categories include movies I saw, but which don't deserve the Oscar from my perspective. That includes An Inconvenient Truth, whose title is only the beginning of that movie's misleading elements. UPDATE: So I picked a few winners:
Leading Actress--Helen Mirren, The Queen
February 25, 2007 I like Larry Miller's comedy work a lot, so I was already pre-disposed to enjoy his columns for The Weekly Standard when he began writing for the opinion magazine a few years ago. What's interesting about his situation is that some people are so strongly identified by their primary work history that folks have trouble thinking of them working in some other capacity. He's one of those people who might have been pigeonholed in this way. Fortunately, the grace and fundamental decency that runs through so many of Miller's comedic routines also runs through his political commentary. That common thread has perhaps eased the path for acceptance of his intentionally serious, if not to say unfunny, essays. I especially liked his most recent Standard piece, based on a single Hebrew word--"hineni," often understood as meaning "here I am." As Miller explains, this word can have special meaning and significance:
Miller's discussion about hineni is tied to his heightened sense of scorn for the recent Congressional ineptitude concerning the non-binding resolutions about the Iraq surge. It leads to this conclusion, which I share:
I also recently finished reading Miller's new book, Spoiled Rotten America: Outrages of Everyday Life. It's a very good blend of his comedic material and the pieces written in a far more serious vein. Go buy it. *Why yes, that was a cheap and easy headline for this post. Thanks for noticing. |
Contact Information: Fritz Schranck fschranck-at-sneakingsuspicions.com
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Official small print disclaimer: This is, after all, a personal web site. Any opinions or comments I express here are my own, and don't necessarily reflect the official position of my work as a government attorney or any of my clients. That fact may become obvious later on, but it needs to be said here anyway. © Frederick H. Schranck 2002-2007 |