Quick reads

Wherein what I'm actually thinking today is that while a pork with sage and apple stir fry with a pumpkin and goat cheese souffle sounds good, what I really want for dinner is a grilled Italian sausage on a roll with salsa


malcolm gladwell has a blog. Sounds like he's using to expand on points and resources he was not able to mention in his articles.

Poppy Brite interviewed in the Village Voice:

Carnival isn’t about bare breasts? I'm crushed.
Carnival is variously a family celebration, a gay celebration, a traditional black celebration. This year we're seeing those elements more than ever, and less of the dorks. Zulu, the traditional African-American parade, is the only one being allowed to keep part of its traditional route rather than having to use a shortened Uptown route. This year's tourists seem a little more respectful and interested in our traditions than the usual drunken yahoos. And I think it was an act of amazing bravery for St. Bernard Parish—one of the most devastated areas—to hold a parade. That parade, the Krewe of Nemesis, was my favorite so far.

The Liquor novels are, of course, behind the time curve. Will Rickey and G-Man face Katrina?
I plan to write at least two more Liquor novels: Dead Shrimp Blues, which will end with the storm, and Hurricane Stew, which will deal with its aftermath and the rebuilding of the local restaurant scene. I feel it would be callous and irresponsible not to write about an event that will shape the city for the course of my lifetime and beyond.

Jaime J. Weinman goes off on conservative movie reviewers:

The nuts at Libertas are easy to make fun of, but they're the culmination of twenty years or more of trying to reduce cinema to politics, reduce "Hollywood" to a pejorative, and evaluate movies entirely based on whether their ideas are acceptable to conservatives.

Stephen Green is discussing Gulf War I - The Disaster:

Having left Saddam in power, we were also forced to leave troops behind in Saudi Arabia. For that reason, Osama bin Laden declared war on us for Despoiling the Holy Places, or Loitering on the Sacred Loam, or something. That one sure came back to bite us on the ass. In all fairness though, Osama is a clever fellow and undoubtedly would have eventually found some reason to smite us. That new Gillette Fusion, for example, is allowing millions of dhimmi to keep their faces infidel-smooth, and in record time. Nevertheless, our decisions back then handed Osama a loaded gun. In retrospect, it's no surprise he fired it at us.