Now - Don't You Feel Better? Since the use of jets commercially (1958) two consecutive years have passed without a single airline passenger death in a US carrier crash.
You Can't Be Too Rich or Too Thin -- Air India (run by the state) has fired 10 flight attendants for being "exceptionally overweight," adding that the airline gave them ample time to shape up. Some of the fired FAs took it to the New Delhi High Court for a legal challenge - which was thrown out.
Atta Boy! El Al's CEO agreed to give up 15% of his salary for 2009. El Al is the airline of Israel and its superior security practices have been borrowed by LAX among others.
Recession? Southwest, Jet Blue and Alaska Airlines reported an increase in their work forces in 2008.
February is Black History Month. This is from the Vanguard's newsletter (Vanguards is the retirees club of a Major American Airline.)
"Retired AA Capt. Dave Harris has received the 2008 Men of Honor and Distinction Award from American Legacy magazine, a publication geared towards the country's African-American population.
"He was recognized for being the first African-American to fly for a major passenger airline.
"I'm honored and humbled by this award, but the reality is that there were 500 pilots, Tuskegee Airmen, who were qualified for airline jobs when they left the service. None of them received an opportunity to sit in a cockpit, there is no way I should be the first -- it should've happened long before 1964," Harris said.
Harris, 73, joined American in 1964, retiring in 1994 as a captain. He was featured in a Smithsonian Museum exhibit called "Black Wings" and the CR Smith Museum in Ft. Worth, TX has a permanent exhibition honoring him.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Zounds! Foiled again!
I had what I thought was a very good idea last night, but when I googled it this morning, I found that it was by no means mine alone.
It all began when we met a couple of Richie's old mates and a wife at the #1 Buffet on Hawthorne, Lawndale (previousl reviewed.) This is an Asian place with an emphasis on shrimp - coconut, boiled, #1 style, garlic, salt and pepper (all of which I ate with gusto.) At the end of each set of steam tables was a steel cylinder full of paper-wrapped chopsticks. I took a pair, thinking, "This time it will be different! This time I'll be able to use them fluently!" knowing full well this wasn't going to happen. So I slipped them into my purse instead. (It would not have been sanitary to put them back.)
Riding home, cold sober (no alcohol served there at all) I thought, "If everyone is as inept with chopsticks as I am, they would be forced to eat more slowly. This in turn would give the stomach plenty of time to tell the brain, "Okay - I'm done; you can turn off the hunger thing." Thus, the Chopsticks Diet was born in a '99 4Runner somwhere on Hawthorne Boulevard.
Breakfast - bacon or sausage, eggs any tyle, toast or an English muffin. Pick up the bacon or sausage with your chopsticks and nibble. Pinch them together to make a shovel and go for the eggs. Okay to cut waffles or pancakes with a knife and downpointed chopstick, but you have to eat the bites with the chopsticks. Don't dribble syrup!
Lunch example -- half a corned beef sandwich on rye (use your fingers -- breads are still finger foods) cole slaw and potato salad. I think cole slaw with chopsticks would definitely be a challenge.
Dinner -- start with a nice cup of chicken noodle soup and eat it as Asians do -- close to the mouth for chopsticking out the noodles and vegetables and then drinking the broth. Whatever the main course you choose, you can cut the meat and/or vegetables as you would a waffle, but then back to using your chopsticks. Salad should be considerably easier; desserts would be well-nigh impossible.
Great idea? You betcha! Too bad I didn't think of it first. Google "chopsticks diet" and swoon, amazed at the numbers presented. At least I'm in good company.
It all began when we met a couple of Richie's old mates and a wife at the #1 Buffet on Hawthorne, Lawndale (previousl reviewed.) This is an Asian place with an emphasis on shrimp - coconut, boiled, #1 style, garlic, salt and pepper (all of which I ate with gusto.) At the end of each set of steam tables was a steel cylinder full of paper-wrapped chopsticks. I took a pair, thinking, "This time it will be different! This time I'll be able to use them fluently!" knowing full well this wasn't going to happen. So I slipped them into my purse instead. (It would not have been sanitary to put them back.)
Riding home, cold sober (no alcohol served there at all) I thought, "If everyone is as inept with chopsticks as I am, they would be forced to eat more slowly. This in turn would give the stomach plenty of time to tell the brain, "Okay - I'm done; you can turn off the hunger thing." Thus, the Chopsticks Diet was born in a '99 4Runner somwhere on Hawthorne Boulevard.
Breakfast - bacon or sausage, eggs any tyle, toast or an English muffin. Pick up the bacon or sausage with your chopsticks and nibble. Pinch them together to make a shovel and go for the eggs. Okay to cut waffles or pancakes with a knife and downpointed chopstick, but you have to eat the bites with the chopsticks. Don't dribble syrup!
Lunch example -- half a corned beef sandwich on rye (use your fingers -- breads are still finger foods) cole slaw and potato salad. I think cole slaw with chopsticks would definitely be a challenge.
Dinner -- start with a nice cup of chicken noodle soup and eat it as Asians do -- close to the mouth for chopsticking out the noodles and vegetables and then drinking the broth. Whatever the main course you choose, you can cut the meat and/or vegetables as you would a waffle, but then back to using your chopsticks. Salad should be considerably easier; desserts would be well-nigh impossible.
Great idea? You betcha! Too bad I didn't think of it first. Google "chopsticks diet" and swoon, amazed at the numbers presented. At least I'm in good company.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Deconstruction
I was studying the Valentine's dinner menu for Le Saint Raphael (a place we know and like) and several of the terms on it gave me pause because I wasn't exactly sure what they were. I had the vague idea, for example, that a "coulis" is a sauce made of fruit that's been chopped and cooked down to reduce the volume and make the fruit thicken.
It turns out that "coulis" is the French word for "strained" and thus a fruit (strawberries, raspberries) is cooked down with sugar and lemon juice and then strained (raspberry/strawberry pits) and kept in a squeeze bottle for last-minute additions to desserts. It's the drizzle you see on your plate near the chocolate cake, for example. It lasts three days, refrigerated. One can also make a vegetable-based coulis by roasting or charring vegetables and reducing them with a little water. Arguably, catsup is a coulis!
You can easily make "creme fraise" right in your own kitchen. Add a bit of lemon juice to a pint of heavy cream and beat it a little, just enough to mix the two. Trader Joe's now sells creme fraise in the cheese section.
"Mousseline" -- any sauce to which whipped cream or beaten egg whites is added. Saint Raphael is sending out a Vodka-Lime version with its halibut.
A "mousse" is similar but sturdier (think chocolate mousse.) A mousse is simply egg yolks and sugar beaten together with beaten egg whites folded in with various flavorings such as strawberries or chocolate (white or dark.)
An "emulsion" is two liquids that don't want to mix -- oil and vinegar is a prime example.
Here's an example of using a few ingredients for a spectacular presentation: steam asparagus until just tender; let it cool. Wrap each spear with a thin slice of smoked salmon, sauce with a tequila-lime creme fraise and garnish with grains of caviar. (Saint Raphael menu.)
Even simpler -- prepare the asparagus as above, wrap each spear in a slice of pancetta and broil till the pancetta is done; give it a splash of red wine vinegar with chopped capers and serve.
It turns out that "coulis" is the French word for "strained" and thus a fruit (strawberries, raspberries) is cooked down with sugar and lemon juice and then strained (raspberry/strawberry pits) and kept in a squeeze bottle for last-minute additions to desserts. It's the drizzle you see on your plate near the chocolate cake, for example. It lasts three days, refrigerated. One can also make a vegetable-based coulis by roasting or charring vegetables and reducing them with a little water. Arguably, catsup is a coulis!
You can easily make "creme fraise" right in your own kitchen. Add a bit of lemon juice to a pint of heavy cream and beat it a little, just enough to mix the two. Trader Joe's now sells creme fraise in the cheese section.
"Mousseline" -- any sauce to which whipped cream or beaten egg whites is added. Saint Raphael is sending out a Vodka-Lime version with its halibut.
A "mousse" is similar but sturdier (think chocolate mousse.) A mousse is simply egg yolks and sugar beaten together with beaten egg whites folded in with various flavorings such as strawberries or chocolate (white or dark.)
An "emulsion" is two liquids that don't want to mix -- oil and vinegar is a prime example.
Here's an example of using a few ingredients for a spectacular presentation: steam asparagus until just tender; let it cool. Wrap each spear with a thin slice of smoked salmon, sauce with a tequila-lime creme fraise and garnish with grains of caviar. (Saint Raphael menu.)
Even simpler -- prepare the asparagus as above, wrap each spear in a slice of pancetta and broil till the pancetta is done; give it a splash of red wine vinegar with chopped capers and serve.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
No Mas!
My sister lives in Illinois ("Where our governors make your license plates!") and has been avidly following the governor's downfall. Last night, Blago was to be interviewed on "Larry King Live" (and I'd question that "live" part) so, to be au courant with my sister at least, we watched it.
During a commercial break, one of them was totally in Spanish -- spoken and written words. I was so shocked -- CNN! -- that to this minute I couldn't tell you what it was for.
This morning I counted the station listings for our area -- there are some 78 of which four are Spanish-speaking, plus BET and the BBC. (None in Italian, French, German and I don't remember seeing any for Asians.)
It had to have been a programming error because it doesn't make sense that a Spanish-language only person would watch an all-in-English show.
"To hear this message in English, please press 1" is bad enough.
During a commercial break, one of them was totally in Spanish -- spoken and written words. I was so shocked -- CNN! -- that to this minute I couldn't tell you what it was for.
This morning I counted the station listings for our area -- there are some 78 of which four are Spanish-speaking, plus BET and the BBC. (None in Italian, French, German and I don't remember seeing any for Asians.)
It had to have been a programming error because it doesn't make sense that a Spanish-language only person would watch an all-in-English show.
"To hear this message in English, please press 1" is bad enough.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Morality and Mortality
This morning at the gym, I was sitting in the car, waiting for Richie to finish his workout, peacefully reading a book. My reverie was disturbed when another car pulled into a slot several cars away. The windows were wide open and a wistful chorus was blaring. The chorus was only six words ("Come on, m----r f----r, come on") but the vulgarity offended me. It's one thing to swear in private when exceedingly angry (or mildly irritated, for that matter) but this was Way Too Much. Just as I was girding up my loins to throw the miscreant the hairy eyeball laser of death, Richie came to the car. Opening the door, he said, mildly, "I see you've got the radio on."
There is a British singer-performer named Any Winehouse. I have never heard any of her songs, never seen any video footage on her, only various photos in which she appears to be waif-thin with a pair of improbably-large after-market headlights, jet black hair that certainly looks dyed and lots of tattoos. But every couple of days, I google her name. Why?
Winehouse, 26, is alleged to be a crack smoker and alcoholic who has been in rehab (unsuccessfully) many times. She's been hospitalized (at death's door) from emphysema (said to be caused by smoking crack.) Her own father has publicly wrung his hands and moaned about her, saying he doesn't know why she's still alive and if she doesn't change, she won't be.
My interest is simply that of any healthy 68 year old (no prescription meds) in the longevity of someone who so clearly and badly abuses her health. It's kind of "Look how the weeds flourish, but the roses are dead." Happily, the most recent news about her is that she'll be performing at the 2009 Coachella music festival. This after an idyll in the Caribbean where (allegedly) resort management cut her off from the bar so she resorted to stealing the other guests drinks off of their tables and downing them. She's very resourceful in her own way ...
There is a British singer-performer named Any Winehouse. I have never heard any of her songs, never seen any video footage on her, only various photos in which she appears to be waif-thin with a pair of improbably-large after-market headlights, jet black hair that certainly looks dyed and lots of tattoos. But every couple of days, I google her name. Why?
Winehouse, 26, is alleged to be a crack smoker and alcoholic who has been in rehab (unsuccessfully) many times. She's been hospitalized (at death's door) from emphysema (said to be caused by smoking crack.) Her own father has publicly wrung his hands and moaned about her, saying he doesn't know why she's still alive and if she doesn't change, she won't be.
My interest is simply that of any healthy 68 year old (no prescription meds) in the longevity of someone who so clearly and badly abuses her health. It's kind of "Look how the weeds flourish, but the roses are dead." Happily, the most recent news about her is that she'll be performing at the 2009 Coachella music festival. This after an idyll in the Caribbean where (allegedly) resort management cut her off from the bar so she resorted to stealing the other guests drinks off of their tables and downing them. She's very resourceful in her own way ...
Monday, February 2, 2009
Three Women
"Bone By Bone" by Carol O'Connell G. P. Putnam & Sons 340 pages $24.95
Two boys walk into the woods ... only one walks back out. The other is never found. But 20 years later, "Someone' begins leaving the boy's bones, one by one, on his father's front porch.
The women in this who-dunnit range from the all-knowing housekeeper to the alcoholic rich wife and her daughter and a very sharp policewoman. The tone throughout is psychologically dark in that the characters all have secrets and silences -- and their own reasons for everything they do. It's a good read. And, if you know, don't tell me how it ends! I'm 20 pages away from that.
"Mistress of the Sun" by Sandra Gulland Touchstone, a division of Simon & Schuster 382 pages $26
This is an excellent book about Louise de la Valliere who became Louis XIV's favorite consort -- how they met; how she resisted his advances and then finally, unable not to love him, succumbed. Court intrigues, out-of-wedlock children (she and Louis had four!) and the machinations of other wanna-be mistresses made for a riveting read.
"The Legs Are the Last To Go" by Diahann Carroll with Bob Morris (who may have succumbed to boredom and died writing it) HarperCollins 272 pages $24.95
I had thought it might be interesting to read a contemporary black woman's biography (February being Black Awareness month) but clearly I overlooked the show biz side of her memooirs. It's a self-aggrandizing whine most of the way through -- "Should, coulda -- but didn't -- My Career!" Clearly she loved it far above family (including a daughter from her first husband -- she wed four times.) Her most famous husband was singer Vic Damone who was a demon golfer and preferred that to her company (most of the time.) Today she celebrates being in her '70s with all of the wisdom age brings to us. (All through the book she goes on and on about being a senior citizen and how much she's learned.) She hopes to be able to spend time with her grandchildren. If she doesn't get a better offer. (In April, 2006, she opened her first solo show in New York.)
Two boys walk into the woods ... only one walks back out. The other is never found. But 20 years later, "Someone' begins leaving the boy's bones, one by one, on his father's front porch.
The women in this who-dunnit range from the all-knowing housekeeper to the alcoholic rich wife and her daughter and a very sharp policewoman. The tone throughout is psychologically dark in that the characters all have secrets and silences -- and their own reasons for everything they do. It's a good read. And, if you know, don't tell me how it ends! I'm 20 pages away from that.
"Mistress of the Sun" by Sandra Gulland Touchstone, a division of Simon & Schuster 382 pages $26
This is an excellent book about Louise de la Valliere who became Louis XIV's favorite consort -- how they met; how she resisted his advances and then finally, unable not to love him, succumbed. Court intrigues, out-of-wedlock children (she and Louis had four!) and the machinations of other wanna-be mistresses made for a riveting read.
"The Legs Are the Last To Go" by Diahann Carroll with Bob Morris (who may have succumbed to boredom and died writing it) HarperCollins 272 pages $24.95
I had thought it might be interesting to read a contemporary black woman's biography (February being Black Awareness month) but clearly I overlooked the show biz side of her memooirs. It's a self-aggrandizing whine most of the way through -- "Should, coulda -- but didn't -- My Career!" Clearly she loved it far above family (including a daughter from her first husband -- she wed four times.) Her most famous husband was singer Vic Damone who was a demon golfer and preferred that to her company (most of the time.) Today she celebrates being in her '70s with all of the wisdom age brings to us. (All through the book she goes on and on about being a senior citizen and how much she's learned.) She hopes to be able to spend time with her grandchildren. If she doesn't get a better offer. (In April, 2006, she opened her first solo show in New York.)
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Ah, the Superbowl...
We are seven minutes away from kick-off and Himself has muted commercials five times. Good to see him getting some exercise...
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