THE NEW FALL TV SEASON.
Is it just me, or is the new fall TV Season the least exciting one in at least the last 25 years? I’m starting to wonder if all these new TV networks, instead of providing more and better choices, are just spreading out the talent too thinly. I guess it’s a good new season if you really like crime dramas, with CBS’s Without a Trace, Robbery Homicide Division, Hack, and CSI: Miami, and NBC’s Boomtown, mostly getting very good reviews. But I’m not really a crime drama fan at all. The only shows that looked interesting to me are American Dreams, which is opposite the Simpsons, and the all-new version of The Twilight Zone, which is opposite The West Wing, so I don’t think those are going to work out for me.
I actually did catch Sunday’s premiere of American Dreams. I was a little disappointed after the hype I’d gotten from NBC. I’ll say 2 and a half stars. Could they have beaten you over the head more that it took place in Philadelphia? Eagles this, Phillies that, Cheesesteak this, Bookbinders that, Phiadelphia, Philadelphia, Philadelphia. Okay, I get it, we’re in Philadelphia! You don’t have to use up all your references in the pilot.
I also saw the new show Boomtown. It was really just okay. 2 stars. The idea is you see one crime from the different points of view of all the characters. I was thinking that it might be too gimmicky. But, really, it wasn’t gimmicky enough. EVERY crime drama follows the points of view of different characters. This didn’t seem that different. And then, the story itself wasn’t all that particularly interesting. The end, especially, was much too tidy and two-dimensional, like an after-school special.
MORE NOTICE FOR MY REVIEW OF SLANDER.
William Burton’s blog calls my review of Anne Coulter’s terrible book, Slander, “The definitive Anne Coulter book review,” and he quotes it extensively.
BOOK REVIEW: THE NATURAL * * * 1/2 (3 and a half stars out of 4).
The Natural: The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton by Joe Klein, the Newsweek columnist who anonymously wrote Primary Colors takes an ambivalent view of the Clinton Presidency, as, I suppose, most all of us do. It takes the hardly controversial view that the Clinton presidency was characterized by policy triumphs and personal failures. But he also makes the insight that these are not entirely unrelated. That is, Clinton always made his politics personal, and traded on his ability to empathize with voters. Additionally, his personal relationship with his very influential wife often trumped his political judgments. In the end, Klein does convince me that Clinton was misunderstood, and that his policy successes were greater than he was given credit for, which only makes his personal mistakes, which cost him so much politically, all the more unforgivable.
A NEW LOOK-LOOK SURVEY.
1. Have you heard about Tony Hawk’s Boom Boom Huckjam, a traveling arena show consisting of vert skateboarding, BMX, motocross and punk bands? (Multiple choice.)
I never heard of it, and I’m not interested
I haven’t heard about it until now, but it sounds cool
I’ve heard about it, but I’m not interested
I’ve heard about it, and I’m interested, but I’m not sure I’ll go
I’ve heard about it, and I’m going to it
I never heard of it, and I’m not interested.
2. In the spirit of Boom Boom Huckjam, what types of arena shows would you be interested in seeing? (please describe the scene in detail!)
That is not my bag.
3. How often do you buy something new for your bedroom? (Multiple Choice)
Once a week
Once a month
Once a year
Every few years
Never
Once a month.
4. When decorating your bedroom and/or bathroom, where do you shop for furniture/decorations?
Department stores (Macy’s, Sears, J.C. Penney, etc.)
Home furnishing stores (Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, Pier One, IKEA, etc.)
Super stores (Target, Kmart, Wal-Mart, etc.)
Bed and bath stores (Bed Bath & Beyond, Linens & Things, etc.)
Clothing stores with added home section (Anthropology, Urban Outfitters, etc.)
Bed and bath stores (Bed Bath & Beyond, Linens & Things, etc.)
5. What is most important to you when you are furnishing/decorating your bedroom (i.e., a comfortable bed, a bright colored rug, lots of shelves, etc.)? Why?
I love my comfortable bed. The thing I think about next is space– I like lots of storage, and a good layout of the furniture. After that, my tasted become very eclectic. None of my furniture matches, and I just buy things that appeal to me.
6. Does your bedroom represent your personality? If it does, please describe what items in your room represent you and why?
A lot of it is very functional, with lots of shelves, the TV, and the remote-control for the air conditioner all accessible from my bed. That’s the way I am: practical.
7. Do you like your hair for the most part, or are you always wishing it looked differently?
I like my hair for the most part
I’m always wishing it could look different
I like my hair for the most part.
8. How often do you shop for hair care products?
Once or twice a year
Every few months
Once or twice a month
Weekly
Every few months.
9. How much money do you spend on hair care products each time you shop?
Less than $5
$6-$10
$11-$20
$21-$40
$41-$75
More than $75
Less than $5.
10. How often do you get your hair cut?
Yearly
2-3 times a year
Every 8-12 weeks
Every 6-8 weeks
Every 4-6 weeks
Every 2-4 weeks
Every week
Every 6-8 weeks.
11. If you were to color your hair, how would you go about doing it?
Go to a salon
Buy women’s hair color and dye it at home
Buy men’s hair color ad dye it at home
Buy men’s hair color ad dye it at home
12. If you had the opportunity to change your hair color (at a low cost) as many times as you could, how often would you change it?
Once a week
Once a month
Twice a month
Few times a year
Never
Never.
13. Do you associate your look with one particular style, or do you have many styles?
Yes, I associate my style with one particular look
No, I have a few different styles
No, I have many different styles
Yes, I associate my style with one particular look.
14. How important is your personal style to you?
Very important
Somewhat important
Not important at all
Somewhat important.
15. Do you have a TiVo or Replay box in your home?
Yes, I have TiVo
Yes, I have Replay
Not currently, but I plan to get TiVo soon
Not currently, but I plan to get Replay soon
No, and I don’t plan on getting either in the future
Yes, I have TiVo.
16. What is the best feature/advantage about having TiVo or Replay?
I never have to rush home to catch a show. When I’m not watching TV, I never have to think about TV. It’s freed me from having TV affect my schedule.
17. Which instant messaging platform is the most popular among you and the people you message?
AIM
MSN Chat
Yahoo Chat
ICQ
I don’t use instant
I don’t use instant.
18. Which instant messaging platforms (AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, etc.) do you use on a regular basis? Check all that apply.
AIM
MSN Chat
Yahoo Chat
ICQ
I don’t use instant messaging software
I don’t use instant messaging software.
19. If you could make IM better, what features/capabilities would you add to it?
It could give people my phone number, so I wouldn’t have to waste time instant messaging with them ever again.
20. Have you ever used Netflix, or any other online service for DVD or video rentals?
Yes, I use Netflix regularly
Yes, I use Netflix once in awhile
I have used Netflix before, but I wouldn’t use it again
No, I have never used an online service for DVD or video rentals
Other
No, I have never used an online service for DVD or video rentals.
21. Are you excited about the new Xbox Live, set to launch on November 15, 2002? Why or why not?
This is the first I’ve heard of it.
22. What new video game, that has NOT come out yet, are you most excited about?
The next sequels to Sim City, Civilization, and Grand Theft Auto.
23. What brand-new TV shows are you most excited about this fall?
American Dreams
The Twilight Zone (though I won’t get to see it for a while, since it’s opposite The West Wing).
24. What new seasons of previously existing TV shows are you excited about this fall?
Six Feet Under
The West Wing
Enterprise
The Simpsons
25. What one fall movie are you most excited to see?
Star Trek: Nemesis
26. Guys: What do you do to handle all of the junk you have to carry in your pockets, like your wallet, cell phone, keys, Palm Pilot, etc.?
I am a girl, so this question does not apply
I carry it all in my pockets– it doesn’t bother me
I carry it all in my pockets, but it bugs me
I buy baggier pants so it all fits
I use a man purse
I carry a backpack
I carry it all in my pockets, but it bugs me.
27. What beer brands are the least appealing to you? Why?
Budweiser, Miler, Coors, etc. They represent the consumer culture, which I reject.
MORE LINKS TO MY REVIEW OF “SLANDER”.
My review of Ann Coulter’s book, Slander, also has a difficult-to-spot link to it from Scoobie Davis Online. Apparently, my “succinct article” is “The Last Word on Ann Coulter.” Though, I think what he may mean by that is that linking to my article is the last word that he, Scoobie Davis is going to mention on the subject.
And, just so it’s all in one place, The only other link to the review that I know about, besides that one, and the ones in the blog entry immediately previous to this one, is from Blake got Blogged, who very kindly called it “a great review”.
MY REVIEW OF “SLANDER”.
My review of Ann Coulter’s horrible book, Slander, has several links to it from three different blogs by Dr. Rush Limerick, that I’ve just learned of.
Liberally Lying About Liberals is a great collection of Web resources about the book, among which I’m quite honored to be included.
My review is also cited in his untitled, well-researched collection of factual errors in the book.
Finally, I am quoted in Dr. Limerick: The Blog.
The most salient part of the article for Dr. Limerick seems to be this paragraph, which I think is also my favorite, just because it is such a black-and-white example of the book’s distortion of the truth:
Here’s another great example of how she [Ann Coulter] twists the facts. I don’t have the page right in front of me, but in her attempt to portray the New York Times as left-wing, she says that because they have been endorsing Democrats, it’s been more than a quarter of a century since the New York Times endorsed a presidential candidate who has won a majority of the popular vote. Now, I’ll take Coulter’s word that that’s true. But, of course, it’s been more than 13 of those 25 years, since any presidential candidate won a majority of the popular vote, and in every one of those presidential elections, The New York Times endorsed the candidate who got the largest percentage of the popular vote.
THEATER REVIEW: MR. SHOW LIVE– HOORAY FOR AMERICA TOUR * * * * (4 stars out of 4).
If you liked the too-short-lived HBO show “Mr. Show“, you’ll like the stage show every bit as much. If you aren’t familiar with the show, then definitely get the DVD, and also try to catch the live show in your area.
I don’t want to give anything away, but the basic idea is that GloboChem buys a presidential election, and this loosely ties together a bunch of mostly new scenes, and a couple of favorite old scenes from the television show. The show is hilarious and brilliant and wonderful, and I can’t recommend it enough, though I should also warn that it often treads–and some might say crosses–the line when it comes to being tasteful.
But don’t just take my word for it. I saw the show with Jessica D. who also loved the show, and afterwards we saw Saturday Night Live‘s Chris Parnell outside, and I briefly introduced myself, and we spoke to him for a couple minutes. He had just seen the show, and he also claims to have liked it very much.
NYC RESTAURANT REVIEW: MAX * * * (3 stars out of 4).
This East Village Italian restaurant on Avenue B between 3rd and 4th Streets has the best pasta I’ve ever had, and is very cheap for Manhattan, with most pasta dishes costing only $8.95 for more food than I could comfortably have finished. Yet, my opinion of them is significantly lowered by the terrible service Manny F. and I received when we ate there Saturday night. While our waiter was very busy and over-worked, he also, clearly, forgot about us more than once. Perhaps on a Tuesday this problem would vanish. The food is too good not to give them another chance.
NYC RESTAURANT REVIEW: UNCLE NICKS * * * 1/2 (3 and a half stars out of 4).
I had dinner Sunday night at Uncle Nick’s with my Aunt Ellen, Uncle Phil, their daughter who is also my cousin Elizabeth, her husband Ron, and his cousin Andrea. It might very possibly have been the best Greek food I ever had, though I’m not a huge Greek food fan. Ron and Andrea are both half-Greek, and they, apparently, are both HUGE Greek food fans. Everything I tried there was outstanding, especially the lamb dishes and the desserts. Uncle Nick’s is highly recommended. It’s on 9th Avenue between 51st and 52nd Streets.
RESPONSE TO “AN ARM OR A LEG?”
Barry D. responds in his blog to the questions I raise in my very recent blog entry “An Arm or A Leg”, though he doesn’t actually answer the questions. He’s a little critical of some of my phallocentric answers, where by “phallocentric”, I mean “reluctant to amputate my phallus”. Actually, the word he uses is the in-some-ways-more-loaded-and-in-some-ways-less-loaded term “male-centric”. Oh, just see for yourself.
He also raises a difficult question, which I’m paraphrasing: How many years of memories from your life would you be willing to lose rather than lose a limb? In this scheme, you’d keep all the skills you’d acquired in that time, but you’d be unable to recall a single event in the missing time. He expects your answer may be different depending on whether the years come from the beginning of your life or the most recent part of it.
I suppose for me it depends a little on the limb. On the other hand, there are specific memories I have that I would probably pay money to forget. It’s hard for me to think of almost any memory worth losing an arm for. There are wonderful memories I’d hate to lose, but I’d also really, really hate to lose my arm. So, I’m going to say that I’d be prepared to have total amnesia before I’d lose an arm. For a leg, I think I’d give up my whole childhood, at least until my senior year of high school. But even then, I’m almost never going to say that I wouldn’t give up just one more year to save my leg. But, I’d have to keep something. Barry D.‘s friend Halley seems to think we should prefer to lose my most recent memories to my earliest, but I think the opposite is true for me. If I held on to only the last few months, I’d be pretty well oriented in my life. I’d know all of the most important people in my life, and I’d be not that disoriented in dealing with people. By contrast, I don’t think about my childhood very often at all, and I certainly don’t draw from it very much today in deciding who I am. I don’t think I really started to become the person who I think of myself as being, until the very end of high school.
SPARE A THUMB, MISTER?
Cheesbikini.com‘s Sean S. writes in to say (among other things: “you say ‘I won’t spare my thumbs,’ etc. etc. I think you mean the opposite: that you won’t -sacrifice- your thumbs, etc.” He’s referring to my last answer in my immediately previous blog entry. He is right, of course, that I would spare my thumbs the horrible fate of being cut off. I meant I wouldn’t spare my thumbs and some other fingers in the same way that I might be unwilling to spare a quarter, even though I’d be sparing that quarter the fate of being in a smelly panhandler’s urine-soaked pocket. That is, I wouldn’t give those fingers away.
I deeply regret any horrifying, mutilating misunderstandings my earlier statement may have caused.
AN ARM OR A LEG?
Did you catch the season premiere of E.R. last night? That one scene– you know which one I’m talking about– completely took my breath away. I can’t stop thinking about how fragile we all are.
Anyway, at one point two of the doctors started playing “This or That”, only with some real teeth to it. Here it is from memory, with my answers.
I should warn you that some of this gets a little bit gruesome.
Would you rather lose a toe or a finger?
A toe, of course. You can have all ten toes before I give you one finger.
Would you rather lose an arm or a leg?
A leg. I’d miss working out, but I could still get around with a prosthetic, and people would hardly notice. If I lost an arm, I think that would make me a freak. I think nobody I don’t already know would ever look me in the eye again.
Would you rather be deaf or blind?
Deaf. I listen to books on tape all the time, as it is. While I would miss that if I were deaf, I already know what it’s like to go through most of my life shutting out most external noise. I guess it would make it hard to talk, but it seems like many people who become deaf later in life do not lose their power of speech. And I’d still have the whole Internet, which I’d pretty much lose if I were blind, along with my ability to take care of myself in basic ways.
Would you rather lose both arms or your penis?
That would be a really tough choice, and I’m sure I’d have big problems with depression no matter which I picked. But in the end I’d have to say a fond goodbye to my penis. What would I get to do with it without any arms, anyway? Maybe if I were already married, and I knew my wife would stay with me no matter what, then my answer would be different. Obviously, this question only applies to men, but it’s easy enough to change it around to apply to a woman.
Here’s some questions that were NOT on the show, but that I’ve thought about.
Would you rather lose your ability to hear music or your ability to hear speech?
I’d much rather lose my ability to hear music. I like music, but if I never heard it again, I don’t think it would really change my life that much. But if I couldn’t communicate with other people, that would change everything about my life. Yet, every person I’ve asked this to says they’d rather lose their ability to hear speech. I find that impossible to fathom.
If you are heterosexual, would you rather have sex with a dog of the opposite sex or a human of your same sex?
Every guy I’ve ever asked this picks the dog. Every woman always picks the person. I’m no exception.
And here’s one I just thought of, that’s actually got me a little stumped:
If you are male, would you rather lose a finger or one of your testicles?
I keep going back and forth. Losing a testicle somewhat decreases my ability to reproduce, and it deprives me of a back-up if something happens to the other one. I suppose some potential mates might notice, and might object. But, more likely than not, it would have no real effect on me at all. Losing a finger would be noticeable to almost everyone I meet, and might really creep a lot of people out. Also, depending on the finger, it might have some serious functional difficulties, and almost any finger would make it harder for me to type or play the piano or guitar. I guess my answer is going to be that it depends on the finger. I won’t spare my thumbs, or my index fingers, and I wont spare the middle finger of my right hand (I need it to write), even at the cost of a testicle. But I’ll give up either pinky, either ring finger, or the the middle finger of my left hand.
If you’d like to answer these probing questions on your blog, here they are. I don’t have a comment section, but I promise that if you do it, and you write to me, I’ll put a whole, proper blog entry about it here, along with a link. My e-mail address is david@danzig.comDELETETHISPART. Delete the part that says “DELETETHISPART”. That’s to foil spammers who are harvesting e-mail addresses.
Would you rather lose a toe or a finger?
Would you rather lose an arm or a leg?
Would you rather be deaf or blind?
Would you rather lose both arms or your genitalia?
Would you rather lose your ability to hear music or your ability to hear speech?
If you are heterosexual, would you rather have sex with a dog of the opposite sex or a human of your same sex?
If you are male, would you rather lose a finger or one of your testicles?
THE FRIDAY FIVE — COMMUNICATION
1. Would you say that you’re good at keeping in touch with people?
Not as good as I used to be. I feel like I’m so busy lately.
2. Which communication method do you usually prefer/use: e-mail, telephone, snail mail, blog comments, or meeting in person? Why?
Meeting in person is always my first choice, but I’m also a big e-mail fan. I think e-mails are more thoughtful and more permanent than a telephone conversation, and they’re faster and easier to save than letters.
3. Do you have an instant messenger program? How many? Why/why not? How often do you use it?
No. I tried it for a week, but it was such a huge waste of time that I uninstalled it.
4. Do most of your close friends live nearby or far away?
I have many close friends nearby, but most of my close friends live scattered around the country.
5. Are you an “out of sight, out of mind” person, or do you believe that “distance makes the heart grow fonder”?
Out of sight out of mind.
THIS OR THAT — THE NAME’S THE SAME (SORT OF), PART 2
The name’s the same (sort of), part deux…
1. Portland, Maine or Portland, Oregon?
I dunno. Maine?
2. New York or New Jersey?
“A major theme of this blog is the love affair between the blogger and the city of New York.”
3. Van Gogh or Van Halen?
Van Gogh.
4. Bill Clinton or Bill Gates?
I’m a huge Bill Clinton apologist!
5. Leonardo daVinci or Leonardo DiCaprio?
daVinci.
6. “American Pie” or “American Idol”?
No, thank you.
7. George W. Bush or Curious George?
Heh, how about Bi-Curious George?
8. Billy Joel or Billy Idol?
I’m a big Billy Joel fan.
9. Donny Osmond or Donald Duck?
Donald Duck.
10. Dr. Seuss or Dr. Kevorkian?
Dr. Seuss!
THE MONDAY MISSION — CREATIVE WRITING
1. Do you have a favorite piece of poetry or prose written by someone else? Care to share it?
My favorite poem was always “Invictus” by W. E. Henley. So, I was very disappointed when Ted McVeigh (the guy that blew up the Oklahoma federal building) chose that poem as his final words. The most famous part of the poem, and the part the media always quoted when they mentioned that about McVeigh are the lines “I am the master of my fate, / I am the captain of my soul.” But my favorite part is this stanza:
In the fell clutch of circumstance,
I have winced but not cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance,
My head is bloodied but unbowed.
2. In High School, did you enjoy creative writing? Do you currently do any other writing in addition to your Blog?
I did, and I was very proud of some of it, and I wish I kept up with it better. One of the things I like about blogging, is that it’s good to be writing again. But it’s not the same as writing a story. I did take a few comedy sketch writing classes a while back. They were fun, and I wrote some stuff I really liked.
3. Have you ever noticed that the Blog entries you least expect to get the most comments do, and those you expect to generate a lot of feedback don’t? Which Blog entry of yours surprised you by getting a lot of comments? Which one did you think would generate a lot but didn’t?
I don’t allow commenting on my blog. Write your comments about my blog on your own damn blog. Or e-mail me: david@danzig.comDELETETHISPART. Delete the part that says “DELETETHISPART”. Unless you’re a computer program. Then go ahead and leave it.
4. Sometimes you get a chance to make a lifestyle change that has a huge impact on the course your life takes. That is, a moment where something became very clear to you, and that realization changed your life, such as: the need to leave a relationship, to stop an addiction, to bond with someone, to start a new career, and so on. Have you ever had an “awakening” moment in your life?
Sure, lots of times. One of my fondest was deciding to cut my long hair off. I was looking at myself in the mirror late at night, with my straightened hair down to my shoulders, and I thought, “What the hell am I doing?” The next day, it was all gone. That may not sound like much, but it was a big change in my life. After 6 years, I finally rejoined society.
5. Then there are other times where you can have a huge impact on someone else’s life. You suggest they see a doctor, stop them from taking that last drink, or maybe just say some kind words at the moment. Have you made a lasting positive impact on the life of someone else?
You make it sound so good and so easy. But a lot of times, people just tell you to mind your own business. I try to encourage the people I care about, but I never can tell how much my words mean to anybody.
6. Are there any charities or organizations which you support? How did you come to be involved with them?
I am or have in the past been a member of The Duke Journal of Gender Law and Policy, The National Organization for Women, The American Civil Liberties Union, The Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, The Sierra Club, Greenpeace, and Amnesty International. I’ve also gave money to Jerry Brown’s 1992 presidential campaign. As you can See, I am a feminist, an environmentalist, and a civil rights activist.
7. Care to collaborate with me? Help me out and write the rest of this poem:
I drifted though a dream last night,
visions full of colors bright.
My thoughts began to drift to you,
and in an instant we were two.
I touched your hand,
We began to blend,
Filled with a feeling
that should have no end.
….
I penetrated your soft flesh,
Not with skin but wire mesh.
As your skin began to blister,
Suddenly you were my sister.
Then I was at the county fair,
Clad only in my underwear.
Then, in class, I gave my best,
But hadn’t studied for the test.
I drifted through a dream last night.
BONUS: Hey cutie, what’s up with this attitude?
As if.
Today’s PG-13 comment question: Where on your body do you like to be kissed?
I guess it’s not that creative, but I like to kiss on the lips: long, sweet, lingering, movie kisses.
RESTAURANT ROW.
Restaurant Row is the block of 46th Street between 8th Avenue and 9th Avenue in Manhattan. It includes, I have heard it said, 26 restaurants. I have been to perhaps half of them, and they have almost all been very good, and they have all been an excellent value for the price.
I’m always surprised by how many locals have never heard of New York’s Restaurant Row, and I don’t think very many tourists are aware of it. I was searching around, trying to find a site to link to for this article, and there is absolutely nothing out there. So here’s a partial and possibly out of date list of the restaurants on Restaurant Row, along with the kind of food they serve.
B. Smith’s (global eclectic)
Bangkok (Thai)
Barbetta (Italian)
Becco (Italian)
Broadway Joe (steakhouse)
Clay Oven (Indian)
Da Rosina (Italian)
Danny’s Grand Sea Palace (seafood / steak / Thai).
Firebird (Russian)
Hourglass Tavern (American / continental)
Hunan Chef (Chinese)
Joe Allen (American)
Joshua Tree (American)
La Rivista (Italian)
La Stanze Verde (Italian)
Lattanzi (Italian)
Le Beaujolais (French)
Le Rivage (French)
Les Sans Culottes (French)
Lofti’s (Moroccan)
Marlowe (American)
Meson Sevilla (Spanish / Italian)
O’Flaherty’s (Irish)
Orso (Italian)
Pomaire (Chilean)
Swing 46 (American / Continental)
So, I’m pretty sure some of those are gone, and I stuck on some newer ones that I know are there. And I know there’s a Japanese one (with no sushi) near the NW corner, but I forget the name. But this should be a good starting point for getting an idea of the street. Anyway, the correct way to pick a Restaurant Row restaurant is not to pick it off a list, but to walk along it, and look at the menus and the crowds and the specials, and see which restaurant calls you inside. I’ve very rarely eaten at a restaurant there that wasn’t exceptionally good, and the prices are usually far less than you’d expect, considering how nice the restaurants are there. If you walk in by 7, and tell them you have a Broadway show at 8, they are invariably prepared to hear that information, and to get you out of there in plenty of time for your show. It’s a great resource here in midtown, and as often as I go there, it isn’t often enough.
NYC RESTAURANT REVIEW: BANGKOK * * 1/2 (2 and a half stars out of 4).
This newcomer to Restaurant Row (the block of 46th Street between 8th Avenue and 9th Avenue) was a little disappointing. The menu is great, and they have a fabulous weekday lunch special which will stuff you full of food for only $6.95, or stuff you more full of food and include a free soft drink for $8.95. But the food itself was just okay, and the service was terrible. They’ve only been open a couple months, so maybe they’ll get it, but in the meantime, they are not up to the high standards of Restaurant Row.
REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW.
Thanks, Blake, for the nice compliment of my review of Slander.
I have to admit, though I normally write just for myself, I really did want people to read that particular post, and I know it was kind of long, and that’s sort of why I posted so little this week, so the half-dozen or so people who read my blog once in a while would go ahead and read it instead of skipping it, since there was nothing else to read here. So, please read it if you haven’t already.
ABOUT THESE RESTAURANT REVIEWS.
I should probably have mentioned at some point that 100% of these restaurant reviews are for New York City restaurants. I think I’ll re-name the feature “New York Restaurant Reviews.”
BOOK REVIEW: SLANDER: LIBERAL LIES ABOUT THE AMERICAN RIGHT (2002) no stars (0 stars out of 4).
The deliberate misstatements in this this infuriating screed, which is actually the number one best-selling book on the New York Times bestseller list right now, are very well documented. I was shocked to learn there were so many provably false statements in the book, which the author, conservative pundit Ann Coulter, constantly boasts contains 35 pages of footnotes. When I was reading it, I had taken her at her word in her recounting of provable facts. There are lots of Web sites devoted to compiling examples of Coulter’s outright lies. A nice set of links, and some contributions of his own, can be found at Scoobie Davis Online, so I won’t bother to list them here. What I want to talk about is not Coulter’s constant misstatements of facts, but her consistent misuse of logic.
Practically all of her arguments fall into this format:
Liberals always do X, and they never do Y.
Conservatives always do Y, and they never do X.
Here are some examples of Liberals doing X.
There, you see? I’ve proved it.
Thus, suppose Ann Coulter wanted to prove that the New York Times only ever runs sports stories, and never runs any other kind of stories, unlike the conservative Washington Times, which would never dream of publishing a story about sports. The proof would go like this:
Look at these headlines from today’s New York Times: “Redesigned Yankees to Face an October of Uncertainties”, “The Giants Aren’t Out When Down”, “W.N.B.A. and Players See No Urgency to Start Talks.” Story after story in The New York Times deals with nothing but the subject of sports, to the exclusion of all other forms of discourse. Can you even imagine stories like this running in the Washington Times? No, of course you can’t, because the liberal media would never let them get away with it. (Of course, let me be clear that, as everyone knows, The New York Times publishes stories about national, international, and business news, among many other categories, and the Washington Times does have a sports section.)
This goes to her central argument, which is that all liberals only engage in name-calling, and never engage in meaningful debate, and all conservatives always engage in meaningful debate, and never engage in name-calling. Now, we all know that this is absurd. In the first place, there are lots and lots of very thoughtful liberal commentators who publish interesting and engaging arguments that do not resort to name calling. There are so many of these, and they are so easy to find if you look for them, that I do not think there is any point to singling out any of them here. It wasn’t a liberal who coined the term “faminazis”; it was Anne’s hero, Rush Limbaugh. It wasn’t a liberal who said that Socks is the White House cat, and Chelsea is the White House dog, it was Limbaugh again. It wasn’t a liberal who wrote a memo instructing conservative candidates to call their opponents “bizarre”, “corrupt”, “destructive”, a “disgrace”, “incompetent”, “insecure”, “insensitive”, “intolerant”, “pathetic”, “radical”, “self-serving”, “selfish”, “shallow”, “sick”, “traitors”– it was Newt Gingrich. It wasn’t a liberal who turned the word “liberal” itself into an insulting label, it was George Bush the elder. And, of course, it wasn’t a liberal who called called Gloria Steinem a “deeply ridiculous figure”, Christie Todd Whitman a “birdbrain”, Adlai Stevenson a “boob” and a “blowhard”, Michael Moore a “working-class phony”, Jim Jeffords a “half-wit”, letter-writers to the NY Times “pathetic little parakeet males and grim, quivering, angry women on the Upper West Side of Manhattan hoping to be chosen as that day’s purveyor of hate”, American Journalists “retarded”, Bill Clinton a “rapist”–those were all said by Coulter herself. But her argument goes like this: here’s some examples of liberals engaging in name-calling. There, you see? I’ve proved it. Liberals always engage in name-calling, and conservatives never do.
This pattern appears over and over. She says the New York Times is liberal. Then she mentions some of the occasions where the New York Times took the liberal position on an issue in one of its editorials. There, you see? She says that liberals call conservative women ugly, but conservatives never call liberal women ugly, and she gives a couple of examples of conservative women who were called ugly (even as she, in the very same sentence, calls Bella Abzug ugly!) There, you see?
Here’s another great example of how she twists the facts. I don’t have the page right in front of me, but in her attempt to portray the New York Times as left-wing, she says that because they have been endorsing Democrats, it’s been more than a quarter of a century since the New York Times endorsed a presidential candidate who has won a majority of the popular vote. Now, I’ll take Coulter’s word that that’s true. But, of course, it’s been more than 13 of those 25 years, since any presidential candidate won a majority of the popular vote, and in every one of those presidential elections, The New York Times endorsed the candidate who got the largest percentage of the popular vote.
I’d like to think that I would be just as harsh if Coulter were a liberal or a nonpartisan writer. I was very troubled by some of the distortions in Michael Moore’s book, Stupid White Men …and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation!, but he really did have some redeemingly good ideas, and, more importantly, he regards himself as a humorist, and his book is labeled as a humor book. Coulter’s latest book is incorrectly labeled as non-fiction. I had a lot of criticism of Bork’s book, The Tempting of America, but I also gave it its share of praise, and gave it 3 stars out of 4.
I find it hard to believe that many people will be converted by her book. Anyone so easily duped as to fall for her nonsensical arguments and insupportable assertions has probably already been inducted into a cult, long ago. Anyone who is already so pre-disposed to agree with her that they don’t catch the illogic and inconsistency of what she says, is going to be woefully unprepared in an argument about politics with any liberal or moderate who is older than nine. So, despite its popularity, I’m pretty sure the book is harmless for the most part.
The only positive things that I can think of to say about the book are these. First, as I said, Coulter has obviously lied when she said that liberals call conservative women ugly, but conservatives never call liberal women ugly. Conservatives do it plenty, they do it famously, and they do it to children. But she is right that media pundits have no business insulting women’s appearances, no matter what their politics are. I haven’t verified this, and I know that Coulter lies a lot, so I don’t know for sure if this is true, but she says that Linda Tripp and Paula Jones both have gotten plastic surgery after they had their appearances brutally insulted in the media. That’s really terrible, and those insults should stop. Coulter is right to raise that issue, even though she is lying about who does it and who it’s done to. Second, I can say this positive thing about the book. It really is of great comfort to me as a liberal that on page after page, she demonstrates that she knows that she has to lie, distort, and make logical errors when trying to prove her points, more or less without exception, because, presumably, she knows that she could not have defended her views successfully by telling the truth.
MOVIE REVIEW: TADPOLE (2002) * * * (3 stars out of 4).
This was a delightfully cute and funny movie about a very precocious 15-year-old boy named Oscar, but nicknamed “Tadpole” (Aaron Stanford) who falls in love, romantically, with his 40-year-old step-mother. There are some really funny scenes, and some very satisfyingly witty dialogue. The movie also stars Bebe Neuwirth (Lilith from Cheers), Sigourney Weaver as Oscar’s step-mother, and John Ritter (forever Jack Tripper from Three’s Company) as her husband, Oscar’s father. This last is laughably appropriate as there is one very farcical scene when the characters are all out to dinner that made me whisper to my friend, Jin K., that “this is very Three’s Company.”
THE FRIDAY FIVE — SCHOOL.
The new Friday Five.
1. What was/is your favorite subject in school? Why?
In high school, it was definitely computer science. But in college, it lost it’s appeal. I became a philosophy major, and I loved it.
2. Who was your favorite teacher? Why?
I think my all-time favorite was Professor Stone, my Torts professor in law school.
3. What is your favorite memory of school?
I had some fun times in college and law school, but they weren’t really in the school, as in, in class. I just happened to be away at school when they happened. I don’t know if it’s my favorite, but I have a really great memory of playing a song I wrote on a piano in front of some classmates, and really impressing them.
4. What was your favorite recess game?
Oh, yeah, right.
5. What did you hate most about school?
I was pretty unpopular as a kid. I was relentlessly teased in elementary school. The older I got, the better it got. Today, I am popular and successful, but I still carry some of the scars of those experiences. On the other hand, I am much more independent than I would be if I had been able to rely on the approval of others. I think a lot of the people who define themselves only in terms of their relationships with their friends don’t know who they really are. I know who I am.
THIS OR THAT.
This week’s “theme”: potpourri.
1. Paper or plastic?
Plastic. Because of my horrible hand injury, it’s a little hard for me to grip things for long without a handle.
2. Stripes or plaid?
Stripes.
3. Baseball or football?
Neither. I am not a fan of spectator sports, but I do like Duke basketball, and I can always watch any boxing match.
4. TV or movies?
Tivo.
5. Craig Kilborn or Conan O’Brien?
Conan, of course.
6. Amazon or BN.com?
Ah, well, Amazon.com is almost always (but not always) cheaper. But bn.com makes it much, much easier to search for audiobooks, plus they have same-day delivery here in Manhattan. So, the answer is, I always check both, and if bn.com is cheaper, or if it’s even close, or if I’m in a hurry, then it’s bn.com. But, if Amazon.com can save me more than a couple bucks, then I usually go with that.
7. Yahoo or Google?
I love Google. It’s so smart. Note, however, that Google provides the Web search results for Yahoo, so it’s kind of a stupid question.
8. Star Trek or Star Wars?
I like Star Wars better than the original series or the new “Enterprise” series. But I like the other series (The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager) better than Star Wars.
9. Cats or dogs?
Dogs! I love dogs, and I hate cats. I’m also allergic to cats, but, honestly, that has nothing to do with it.
10. Is that for here or to go?
For here. Here’s something interesting: in Manhattan, they never say “for here or to go”. They say “to stay or to go”. At first, and for years, I defiantly replied, “For here!” But now, they’ve got me saying “to stay.”
THE MONDAY MISSION.
1. Where were you and what was happening in your life the moment when you first became aware of what was happening at the World Trade Center in New York City last September 11th? What was the first thing you did when you heard the news?
I actually slept through it. The first thing I always did every morning when I woke up, back then, was turn on my TV to NY1. I turned it on, about a minute after the second tower fell, to hear the anchor say “The World Trade Center is no more.” Stunned, I got up and ran to my balcony, which used to have a fantastic view of the two tallest towers of the WTC. I saw a giant plume of smoke, and all my neighbors watching from their balconies. I got dressed, and went downtown, and took these amazing pictures.
2. When those truly responsible for the attack are apprehended, what do you think would be the most fitting form of justice?
I see what this question is getting at. I don’t believe in the death penalty, but I’ll certainly grant that this would be as justified a case as there could ever be for its use, assuming there was absolutely no question as to the guilt of the people apprehended. Still, it does seem rather “unchristian” of us to do God’s job for Him, and to allow no possibility of forgiveness.
3. This will probably be much like when our parents respond to “Where were you when JFK was shot?”- an event never forgotten by those who were there. But how do you think the history books should present the 9-11 attacks? Should it be included for all future generations? How can we truly convey the shock, the outrage, the emotions and pain of that day to the children of our children?
For most Americans, “the shock, the outrage, the emotions and pain of that day” were all experienced while sitting in front of a television set. The events of that day were probably better documented than any other in the history of humankind. So, you know, just sit your kids in front of a TV set with a tape of the news coverage from that day, and I’m pretty sure they’ll get the gist of it.
4. No one in that building, in the Pentagon, or on the planes (other than the terrorists) knew that 9-11 would be their last day to be alive. For me, it brought home the reality that I could be gone at anytime, without any warning. Now, I really want each day to have some value. Did the events of 9-11 bring about a change in the way you live your life?
I had the opposite reaction. Living in New York, a short distance from the World Trade Center, and experiencing the frequent warnings of possible terrorist attacks on various weekends, I had to decide to ignore the chance that I might die any day, and just live my life the way I always had. Thinking about each day as if it might be my last would be really paralyzing, because just being alive in New York carried with it real perceived risks at the time, that could have been minimized by taking paranoid precautions. I did not want to live like that.
5. Several who loved to fly in planes will not step foot in one anymore. Many parents are more protective of their children. A year later, do you find yourself feeling more secure than back then? Or is it just a matter of time before something else happens?
I always felt it was just a matter of time, before that. Living for three years almost exactly in between Wall Street and Times Square, I always used to wonder which direction I’d be looking from my balcony when I saw that inevitable mushroom cloud engulf the city.
6. The best way for me to honor the those impacted by the attack will be to refrain from any media that day. No papers, no radio and especially no television. Others will light candles, and others will attend special services. What, if anything, will you do to personally reflect on the tragedy?
See my previous blog entry about what I actually did that night.
7. One of the visuals that touched me the most were the walls and walls full of hand made “Missing” posters. What image will you always have in your mind when you recall the events of 9-11?
Absolutely, that is one of the most potent images of the time. I don’t know what the impression was of seeing that on television, but I had to walk at least three quarters of a mile to get anywhere for almost a week, because the roads were closed all around me, and those posters were on practically every lamppost and every block, and near the hospitals they went on and on and on covering all the walls of the hospital and every inch of wall space for at least a block in every direction. At first, when the news media were talking about air pockets and such, and when survivors were still turning up for a few days, I figured that many of these people would be found. The last survivor was rescued Thursday September 13. Saturday morning, I woke up, still thinking that many of the faces on the posters would soon be reunited with their families. At some point during the day on Saturday, I realized that these posters had been transformed into strange memorials for the dead. For months, thousands of different faces stared at me from beyond death, often pictured graduating or at their own weddings (since those are many people’s most recent photographs), with weirdly personal identifying information, such as birthmarks, scars, or tattoos. It was eerie and very sad, and I often got a little weepy when I walked past them.
BONUS: Who’s gonna come around when you break?
Better send the meat wagon.
AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: THE GUYS * * (2 stars out of 4).
This recording of a reading of the popular off-off Broadway play, “The Guys,” was very disappointing. The play is an ostensibly true story about the writer of the play (Anne Nelson), who also helped a fire chief write eulogies for some of his men. I’m a real fan of the genre of recorded plays on audio. Audible.com has a bunch of them, mostly by L.A. Theatre Works, and they’re mostly very good. I see it as a return to the radio plays that were so popular before Television, and which were a really beautiful art form that has been mostly forgotten. But having said that, I think The Guys was extremely trite and superficial in its treatment of the emotional impact of the September 11 attacks, and that it got a free pass from the critics because of its subject matter and because of the Flea Theater’s proximity to the World Trade Center site. In fact, I think there were a lot of free passes being handed out by critics of the New York Theater in the months after 9/11. Most notably in the case of Mamma Mia, a musical based on the songs of Abba, at the Wintergarden Theater, which opened in October 2001, with much anticipation, but at a time when ticket sales were extremely low following the attack, and when Broadway desperately needed a hit. I haven’t seen the play, myself, but the glowing reviews all seem to come through clenched teeth. For example, Newsday entitled its review “‘Mamma Mia’ a Guilty Pleasure,” and NY1’s review begins “Mamma Mia defies scrutiny. If you attempt to analyze this mega hit from London, it’ll fall apart. It’s hokey, implausible and silly. The Abba music, despite its popularity, is mediocre and many are likely to think: What’s the big deal?” before going on to tell us how “none of that really matters.” I think these and some other shows got better reviews than they deserved, because of 9/11, and I think we should expect better from our critics.
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