Author Archives: specialk

Cheese Review: Artisanal Premium Cheese

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Artisanal, a restaurant in New York, runs a fabulous cheese of the month club.

Rather than write reviews about the cheese’s I decided to just write down the names, and a summary of their description from the paperwork that is sent. In future, I hope to include pictures.

Fog Light, goat’s milk, California

Cheesemaker Mary Keehn, made at Cypress Grove in McKinleyville, California. Fog Light is a compact 1/2 lb version of the Humboldt Fog tomme. A layer of carbonized vegetable ash covers each tiny wheel, on top of which sits a fluffy white bloom. Cypress Grove Fog Light possesses, a moist but tight texture and that clean, lemony taste so characteristic of fresh goat cheese.

And yes it does taste lemony.

Brie Paturages Comtois, cow’s milk, France

The Brie Paturages Comtois is produced by a cooperative of approximately 40 dairies in the Val de Saone, between Vosges and Bourgogne. Brie Paturages Comtois leaves a milky, clean aftertaste that entices you to eat more.

Affidelice, cow’s milk, France

This washed-rind cow’s milk cheese from the Chablis region in France is very similar to the classic Epoisses made in the same region. The name, Affidelice, comes from two words: affine (ripe) and delice(delight). Affidelice is soft, with a moist, terracotta-colored rind. Artisanal ages it further by washing it daily with Chablis. The resulting cheese has a soft, pungent, spoonable paste and satin texture.

Living in the bubble.

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One the endearing traits about Google employees that went to Google straight out of school is that they have a distorted idea of what the rest of the world is like.

Recently a friend of mine told the following tale:

Because of the solar panels in the main parking lot, a couple of days ago I had to park far away and took the shuttle to get to my building. While I was in the shuttle I overheard the following conversation:

Google Employee 1: Back when SGI  had these buildings there was a lot more parking space so you didn’t have to park so far out.

Google Employee 2: Wow, the valets must have been really bored.

Good Lord, what will these people do when they leave this bubble?

My sister was right…

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Midomi is a great new website for finding music, if you can sing.

My sister once remarked that I had no sense of rhythm, tonality or harmony. I, of course , did not believe her.

I tried to find the Beatles song Yellow Submarine using midomi by humming a few bars. My wife was able to do it, and therefore I should have been able to.

Well I didn’t. But I did find a song called Special K. Trying to tell me something I think.

special_k_anno_small.jpg

The difference between Computer Scientists and Humans

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Recently a bunch of computer scientists were arguing over the correct name for an entity that non techies would use. They proposed something foograph. This was quickly discarded, but it once again demonstrated the chasm between the computer scientist and the rest of the world.
Rest of humanity:

A graph is a plot of data

Computer Scientists:

A graph G(V(G), E(G)) consists of a set vertices, denoted by V(G) and a set of Edges denoted by E(G) such that each edge contains two distinct vertices in V(G).

For proof look at this screen shot:

Computer Scients vs Humans

Movie Review: Casino Royale

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Bond is back with a vengeance.

In the early Bond, staring Sean Connery, it was about plot, gadgets and babes. But something happened with Moonraker. The emphasis changed from crazy plots to surreal and unbelievable plots. Villains were no longer trying to steal a lot of money they were out for global conquest. The movies had bigger budgets with more special effects, but were somehow less cool. Bond was no longer the greatest spy, he was a superhero fighting super-villains: sort of a Batman fighting an unending collection of Jokers.

In Casino Royale, we return to the old Bond and the old plots. Interestingly in this film there was no Q or R. There were no super gadgets. Instead it was all about Bond trying to get to the bottom of a very mysterious plot. The story in summary is a classic. Bond is trying to trace the source of some funding for some very nasty people. The pursuit leads him to a poker game at the Casino Royale where not only must he win the high stakes poker game he must also live long enough to enjoy his winnings. Bond steps out of the game and returns to the game periodically as if he were taking a pause. Each pause either involves him killing someone or surviving an attempt on his life.
The movie did return to a considerable number of it’s old tricks. Bond orders a martini. Although it was rather amusing to be in the movie theater. The order for the martini went like this:

James Bond: Dry Martini.
Bartender: Oui, monsieur.
James Bond: Wait… three measures of Gordon’s; one of vodka; half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it over ice, and add a thin slice of lemon peel.
Bartender: Yes, sir.
Tomelli: You know, I’ll have one of those.
Infante: So will I.
Bartender: Certainly.
Felix Leiter: My friend, bring me one as well, keep the fruit.
Le Chiffre: [annoyed] That’s it? Hm? Anyone want to play poker now?
Felix Leiter: Someone’s in a hurry.

The audience let out a collective gasp when we saw this scene. Had the new Bond given up Martini’s? But later on he returned to his old standby. And when asked how he wanted it the reply was a classic:

Bartender: Shaken or stirred?
James Bond: Do I look like I give a damn?

As for acting, Judi Dench once again proves that she is a Goddess of acting surrounded by mere mortals. Every scene she was in, she commanded. Sometimes, I wish we had more M. Recognizing that having more M makes for a better film, the screen writers had Bond and M interact far more regularly. The best moment in the film was in the beginning after Bond has just blown up part of a Nigerian embassy and killed a bomb maker. M is fuming. And remarks how back in the day, if a 007 made such a mess at least they had the decency to defect. Which leads her to this whine:

M: Christ, I miss the Cold War.

Daniel Craig finally gave us the real Bond. The Bond that could be both human and monster at the same time. The earlier Bond’s never quite convinced you that they could kill their lovers. This Bond does.

And yes, the movie does end with the most important line in any Bond film:

James Bond: The name’s Bond… James Bond.



Followed by the all important: Tan-ah Tan-na-nah….

Movie Review: X3: The Last Stand

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When X3: The Last Stand opened in theatres nationally, there were a number of very negative reviews. The general consensus on www.rottentomatoes.com was that the film was fresh, but barely so.

When I went to Australia this past week, I had the oppurtunity to watch the film for free. Which I did. Fully expecting a Matrix: Revolutions or Reloaded experience. I was pleasantly surprised. In fact, I found the film quite entertaining. So entertaining that I decided to watch the movie at home on my big screen TV to see if it was a case of the film surpassing a low hurdle or whether it was actually as fun as I thought it was.

X3 is a fun movie. There are those who bemoan the lack of gravitas and thoughtfulness. That somehow the comic book made a deep and profound statement on the human condition that the movie trivialized with it’s special effects.

Give me a break.

Did they ever read the comic book? C’mon. This was a comic book with cheesy dialogue, silly fights, men in tight suits, aliens, transport devices, fights, and that sometimes, just sometimes was a little bit more. The reason we remember it as seminal was because it was unique in trying to discuss serious topics in a comic book, a venue that seemed the wrong place to be exploring serious topics. But the X-Men were no Sandman.

SPOILERS

The final film deals with the most controversial character of the comic book series, The Phoenix. And like in the comics Phoenix will not have a pleasant end. For those who read the comic book, the end of the Phoenix is not the end of Jean Grey. The film seems to suggest that the end here is a little bit more final. Given the nature of acting contracts etc, I wonder about Jean’s death.

Ian McKellan steals the show. His performance as Magneto was as riveting in this film as the performance was in the first two. His speach about the danger of silence when confronted by those who would cure you is powerful on multiple levels. On one level because the character of Magneto speaks from the personal experience of the holocaust. On another level because the actor speaks from his personal experience as a gay man whose seen people try to cure him.

The film almost ends with the threat that Magneto’s powers are lost forever, but the revenues of X3 and the final 3 seconds suggest we can await an X4. That part they got right. Because as we all now, villians and heroes in comic books never really die…

TV Series Review: Sex and The City

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My wife and I, relatively, recently saw the entire six seasons of Sex and the City. The story of four New York women in their 30’s. The series is as much about being single and female in your 30’s as it is about living in Manhattan as it is about New York.

The first four seasons are the best of the show. We follow Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) from her failed relationship with Mr. Big (played by Chris North) to her engagement and her final realization that she’s not the marrying type. In the middle we see her all of her friend Samantha’s sex lives, her WASPish friend Charlotte York’s marriage and divorce to the perfect husband, and Miranda Hobbes on and off again love affair with Steve Brady.

What makes the first four seasons so entertaining is that the characters are never pathetic, the story line is funny, and the focus is on the good and the bad of New York. Some of my favourite episodes involve New York and the challenges of trying to find a relationship.

In Season 1, Carrie remarks that single people when they are the guests of married people are expected to share the sordid details of their single life. This way the married couple can both vicariously live through the single persons’ life AND be relieved they are married. I often thought that was how I watched the show.
Unfortunately Season 5 and 6 were collarateral damage of 9/11. Season 5 took place in 2001, and it was hard if not impossible to write about New York without breaking your heart. So much so that the characters actually went to West Coast in season 5, and fled all the way to Paris in season 6. Worse, whereas Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda grew out of their 30’s, Carrie remained stuck. And somehow her stuckedness was pathetic not liberating or exhilirating.

The series finale involving Carrie fleeing to Paris only to be rescued by Mr. Big in a scene straight out of Sleepless and Seatle was disappointing if not downright irritating.

The series was great for four seasons, fine for a fifth, and ended miserably.
But it did have it’s moments.

Book Review: Kim by Rudyard Kipling

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Rudyard Kipling’s Kim is a beautifully written book about India during the Raj. The story is nominally about the coming of age of Kim and his transformation from an Indian to an Englishman. The story really is about India.

I spent two months in India two years ago. The experience was amazing. I stayed in Bangalore which is South India. The intensity of the life, not just human but animal and vegetable and insect and reptile can be overwhelming to a westerner accustomed to his sterile world. The biomass of the world around you in India can overwhelm your ability to process information.

Reading Kim and especially his descriptions of the roads and the multi-coloured and textured individuals reminds of me of my time in India as well. The chaos, the claustrophobia of people on top of each other, the pagentry of the open road has not changed very much. And Kipling captures that in his prose.

Kipling is also able to use the written word to contrast the Indian and English word. When he describes India the prose becomes more flowery, more filled, when he describes English scenes the prose becomes dryer, stiffer. Almost as if to be Engish is to be functional not magical.

Having said that, the book can be irritating to readers accustomed to the short clipped sentences of our post-hemingway literature. Kipling writes in long luxurious sentences with multiple clauses and references. Many times his words are not meant to be descriptive but evocative somewhere between poetry and prose. And that can be frustratingly difficult to read. In addition,o the book is full of references to Indian terms that require an appendix. The first read of the book can be very disruptive as you jump between a sentence and the appendix.
The tale itself has all of the elemens of a early 20th century tale with all of the normal and natural prejudices of its time.

I wonder if Kim serves as a metaphor for Indian progress as well? While in India, I watched how the old India world was being slowly and systematically obliterated by a more modern, cleaner western world. People’s lives improved, but at the same time something was being lost.

I have read the book twice already. I will read it a third.

Take me out to the ball game…

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Last time I checked we’re still involved in a civil war in Iraq.

Last time I checked we’re still involved in a civil war in Afghanistan.

Last time I checked I still can not bring booze from my uncle’s winery onto a plane.

Last time I checked baseball games were a place I could go and forget about that.

Not any more. In our post 9/11 world, Take me out to the ball game has been replaced by God Bless America.

I was surprised to discover how much this pissed me off. And I realized why later. It’s another cheap way for us to show our support for our troops without having a draft, taxes or rationing. Maybe if we had a draft, taxes and rationing, we could have our passtime back….