Mark & Remark

17 Again

So Richard and I live in a 40 year old high-rise condominium building that does not turn on its air conditioning until May 15. Today the temperature appears to have topped out (the day is not yet over) at 93 degrees.

To escape into blessed cool air, we shelled out $8.50 a piece to go see the new Zac Efron movie 17 Again. I, having lost the toss that determined the movie (not that I was plumping for anything else particularly edifying, cultural or intellectual the latest remake of Fast and Furious) was pleasantly surprised.

In a nutshell, a failing advertising medium range executive who had been a star basketball star in high school until he blew an opportunity (Matthew Perry) gets a chance to remake his life by magically going back to High School again - this time as a forty-something adult in his 17 year old body (Zac Efron).  The resulting scenes are amusing and somewhat insightful as he in his 17 year old self learns just how little he knows his kids, how little they know him, how much they need him and how much he needs them.

This is overwhelmingly a feel good movie, but it is not a typical teen love flick.  Since Zac is not really his own character in the story, he spends some of his time actually ducking the advances of besmitten teenaged women. Or maybe not besmitten....merely confused and hormone infused young women/girls who haven't yet figured out the hierarchy that suppresses sexual and romantic liason in favor of life goals.  In on memorable scene, he leaves three of them bickering after they have more or less thrown themselves at him, muttering to himself, 'you know, this is some other Dad's problem.'

Actually, one of the most cheerful things about 17 Again is the way it reveals the sex education and "health education" regime to be as woefully out of touch with its supposed clients  and their authentic needs.  At one point, a teacher is trying to pass out condoms in a class and Efron as Perry does not take one.  "I don't need one because I am not in love and isn't it called 'making love' for a reason," he asked, starting a really refreshing scene about the meaning of sex and import of sexual expression.

Efron's performance was probably the most suprising thing about 17 Again.  He really made me feel for him and how he felt seeing his kids struggling with dillemas that, at least initially, he felt powerless to help them overcome.  Overall, I would recommend 17 Again, particularly maybe for parents wanting to further some values with their pre-teen or early teenaged children.

The Triumph of Susan Boyle

God Bless Susan Boyle!  The Scottish spinster with the fantastic, beautiful voice who managed to sneak in a blow against the tyranny of image that has come to dominate our media and the public square.  And props to the two judges on the Britain's Got Talent who were adult enough to own up to what she had done, teaching us all a lesson about judging by surface appearance alone.

So, for at least a shining moment, we can return to looking more deeply at the people around us.

Flying The Geek Flag...

Here are the titles on my hold list at the local library:

1. Predictably irrational: the hidden forces that shape our decisions by Dan Ariely.
   
2. Underground: my life with the SDS and the Weatherman Underground by Mark Rudd.
   
3. The First Tycoon: the epic life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by T.J. Stiles.
4.  Closing Time: a memoir, by Joe Queenan.
5.  Go Down Together: the true untold story of Bonnie and Clyde

I will be sure to let everyone know how they turn out. :)

From the Atlantic

So: I could respond to Rothkopf's claim, and others like it, by suggesting that the Pope's "chastity, not condoms" message to Africans struggling with the HIV epidemic has at least somewhat more evidence his evidence that the Vatican's refusal to promote condom use has contributed to disease and death on a grand scale. Do religious Africans have higher infection rates than the irreligious? Do heavily-Catholic populations contract HIV in higher numbers than Muslim, Protestant, or animist populations? Are frequent mass-attenders more likely to contract the disease than infrequent churchgoers? Do graduates of Catholic schools have higher infections than their peers? Are Africans who seek treatment at Catholic hospitals more likely to pass the disease along than people who get their medicine from secular institutions?

Ignorant prejudice remains ignorant prejudice even when it is anti-religious.  Read the whole piece here.

Food Matters

Food Matters is a restaurant in a quiet neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia, which bases its menu on seasonal offerings all grown or reared within one day's travel of the restaurant.

Rich and I had been trying to grab a bite there for a while but had various circumstances getting in the way.  Tonight, at loose ends, we tried again and the fourth time was the charm.

We both had a very good time.  The restaurant's atmosphere is light and open, with an informal feel that gives diners enough room to talk normally but keep the overall noise levels down.  The restaurant opened strong with me with its cocktail of the month, a whiskey ginger fizz which was surprised me, mixing whiskey, shaved ginger, citrus juice, simple syrup and soda into a refreshing drink which carried a light overtone of whiskey but blended it nicely with the ginger and citrus - flavors that I would have not thought would have gone well together, but really clicked.  I would have had a second when the waiter offered one, but as good as it tasted, the drink carried a bit of a kick and I was the driver.

Rich and I decided to splurge on a side order of hand cut fries since we had seen another table eating some as we went to our table and they looked great.  They were.  They were cut nicely thin and fried but without too much oil and served hot.  Terrific.

For his entree, Rich had a slow cooked duck confit with red cabbage and caraway, mashed potatoes and duck jus.  Now, I don't where they found a local source for duck confit, but I would not mind finding it too (except maybe I might need it like I needed a local source for chocolate chips).  Rich's dish was really well done, really nicely seasoned with everything carrying a nice flavor and maybe only the cabbage needing a little bit more of a cider flavor.

My entree was a pan roasted natural pork tenderloin with twice baked sweet potato, sauteed greens and garlic and apple cider pan sauce. Boy that was good!  The pork was done just right, not too much so it lost its texture and flavor.  The sweet potato was really different, a baked potato skin filled with a mixture of baked sweet potato, a little ginger and what tasted like some of the pan juices...really good.  The greens were a sort of kale that was so lightly sauteed with garlic that they were still a little bit crisp.

For dessert we each at a little bit of a delicious chocolate trifle with orange mascarpone cream - only a little bit because even though the dessert was not large, it was nonetheless really tasty and rich.

Although we didn't have any, Food Matters seemed to have a pretty good wine list and a wide collection of wine and food for sale as well.

It was a very good price too.  Our dinner for two, including one cocktail, one home made lemonade, one appetizer, two entrees and a dessert, all really well made, for $40 per person including tax and tip.  Overall, Food Matters is definitely a place worth checking out and we plan to be back...

Food Matters, 4906 Brenman Park Dr Alexandria, VA 22304 (703) 461-3663, Tue-Thu. 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Fri. 5:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. Sat. 11:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m. Sun. 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Duplicity: Bring Your Brain

Duplicity, the new somewhat dark suspense-comedy starring Julia Roberts and Clive Owen marks a retreat from the formulaic and slapstick brand of comedy that has dominated Hollywood for a while now and a return to the funny movie where the audience lingers for a split-second behind the punch lines and has to bring its brain into the auditorium.

Without giving away any plot twists, Owen and Roberts play spies (he Brit, she Yank) who decide they could make more money playing a covert game in the corporate world than they could as run of the mill spooks (albeit at the top of their games).

That's about all I can say about it without giving stuff away, but let me add that folks who loved The Sting and Oceans 11 will likely enjoy this movie, a lot...

AIG Uproar Is Dangerous Distraction

To my fellow Americans who are completely outraged that we, through the U.S. Government, have financed bonuses to a bunch of people who paid pivotal roles in creating our current economic situation: Get over it.

Yes. It is outrageous that some of these people were able to put together legally binding deals that benefited them in this way at our expense.  Yes, if we had caught the bonuses early we should never have paid them through pressuring the recipients to renounce them.  But we didn't and unless we are ready to accept a form of mob rule in overturning law to make them give the money back, we should get over it and move on.

Frankly, I am more disturbed that 328 U.S. legislators in the House of Representatives thought it appropriate yesterday to pass a law that, ex post facto, sought to tax income which had already been made.  Hello?  Yes, this was a law passed to hurt scoundrels, but the principle involved is far more dangerous and harmful than the bonuses would ever be.

Of much more importance are the efforts are the government is making to help banks deal with these toxic assets on their balance sheets.  Folks, according to the most recent data from the Federal Reserve, US banks have $679 billion on their books as reserves as of February, compared to about $45 billion on their books in August of last year, the last month before the meltdown.  That means banks are not lending the money they have and the reason they are not lending it is because they are either deeply concerned and uncertain about the value of these assets on their books or already know that the assets on their books are not worth nearly their face value and they need every single penny of reserves to keep their balance sheets balanced.

There is something almost surreal seeing various politicians demand that banks start lending these reserves. Unles demanded that all bankers immediately start defying gravity and flying: its just not going to happen. Ns the toxic assets are dealt with, in the banking world its as though these politicians have arrived from Mars andot because bankers are some perverse lot that don't want to do the right thing, but because under the rules governing financial institutions they cannot make loans with money which is already claimed as a counterweight to the declining assets.

And the ironic thing is that assets are not all that bad.  Some of them, maybe many of them, can and will make money, according to this story from the folks at Planet Money:

"Since late last year, the biggest U.S. banks have been undermined by what have become known as "toxic assets" — investments in mortgages and other debts that are now worth much less than their original value. While those assets may be hard, or impossible to sell, some of them are not necessarily all that toxic."

 Maybe if the market goes off its head in either direction, up or down, the mark to market rule that forces financial institutions to value their assets as though they were selling them today, makes little sense?

Speaking of the Future

A 30 mile per hour gust of the proverbial wind of change blew though my life this morning with the confirmation that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has stopped publishing in the form of something you don't need a screen of some sort to read.

As a reporter for a well-respected trade publication with an already small staff, my current job over the short to medium term feels somewhat secure. But its hard not to notice that over the longer term I might be a practitioner of a disappearing craft.

Newspapers and, by extension journalists, face a multi-layered challenge.  First, an awful lot of newspapers which had historically made money and still make money faced investors who wanted them to make a whole lot more money and who often saddled them with debt as part of various schemes to make that happen.  Now, as the economy tanked and extending lines of credit became a lot more difficult, those papers can't meet their notes and have started to fail.  That is the near-term challenge.

The bigger, long term challenge, is that the market they are trying to serve has changed.  Consider this quote from the story:

David Lonay, 80, a subscriber since 1950, said he'll miss a morning ritual that can't be replaced by a Web-only version.

"The first thing I do every day is get the P-I and read it," Lonay said. "I really feel like an old friend is dying."

God bless Mr. Lonay for his devotion, but he points up the problem.  Newspaper readers are aging and they are not being replaced by younger readers; newspapers as papers no longer fit as easily into the ebb and flow of American life - even for those of us who esteem them and rely on them for our living.

For the longest time I got out of the habit of reading The Washington Post or any other daily. Then one day about four months ago a young woman popped up in front of me selling Post subscriptions with a pretty good deal, so I started taking a Sunday paper again.  After a few fits and starts with delivery, the paper started coming regularly - but I still don't read it often or consistently.  Most weeks it sits reproachfully on a hall chair, mocking my infidelity as well as spendthrift ways in not reading something I have paid to have delivered.

I just lack the time.  Maybe it says something about my life these days that I really don't have an hour or more to myself when I could just sit in a comfortable chair and pull out the Sunday post to get brought up on the news.  I also lack the interest.  By the nature of my professional life, I often feel positively steeped in news - just not from newspapers.  Most of the news coverage in the Post comes as old news to me by the time I would read it - though the more in-depth features, editorial and opinion pieces retain their freshness.

What this means for my future is hard to see definitively.  A number of authorities have begun to call for newspapers to become non-profits, organs which would seek to make their expenses but get out of the demanding grind of the quarterly earnings statement.  I think that ideas has a lot of promise, but I am not sure it will happen quickly enough to save an entire industry.

So, as much as I would hate to do it, I expect I should training and positioning myself to do something else for a living, should it come to that.  Maybe something where I could both do whatever it was while still writing about it?  I am still thinking on it and open to suggestions, but that is where the wind of change feels like it is blowing these days.....

 

Dinner Tonight

Dinner tonight was mussels steamed in white wine with onions and garlic along with freshly baked whole wheat bread.  Yummy. It had been ages since I had cooked any mussels and these were especially delicious - even though I sauteed the onions and garlic in olive oil rather than butter....The butter on the table, of course, went for Rich's bread :).

Dovetailing Stories From The Culture Front

The Washington Post this morning has two stories from the HIV/AIDS and cultural fronts that dovetail nicely.  In the first, the paper reports that according the city's most recent study, you would face the same risk of contracting HIV from having sex without a condom in Washington D.C. as you would in Uganda or the most heavily HIV infected regions in Kenya.  In the second, young people who self-identify as gay or lesbian in DC complain that D.C.'s gay culture is too heavily focused on hooking up and having sex and does not reflect their other interests.

(As an aside, the HIV story in particular highlights one of the challenges of newspapers moving away from paper and onto screens. On the website the paper headlined the story as "DC's HIV, AIDS Rate Up 22 Percent Since 2006" in somewhat larger type than the other headlines, but not in a really eye-catching way.  In the dead tree version of the paper, the story ran under a banner front page headline, very large type, "HIV/AIDS Rate in D.C., Hits 3%" which conveyed a good deal of urgency, even if it might have carried some of the same emotion of Captain Renault in Casablanca, shock at finding HIV in DC....)

It's hard to get too ginned up about the HIV story.  D.C. has always had an HIV infection and AIDS rate that has run a good deal higher than much much of the rest of the country and the usual social monsters have been trotted out as explanations, everything from lack of training about HIV to poverty, racism, homophobia to language barriers, bureaucratic failures and allegedly heartless politicians. Generally the same remedies offered before are still being offered:

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) said he is aware that some advocates have called on elected officials and others to more aggressively and publicly address the crisis. He praised the city's recent efforts, however, and expressed his frustration about the struggle ahead.

"In order to solve an issue as complex as HIV and AIDS, you have to step up," he said. "It's the mayor and certainly other elected officials. But it's also the community. You have this problem affecting us, and you tell people how serious it is and it literally goes in one ear and out the other."

The bottom line is that everyone knows how to avoid contracting HIV but, for a wide variety of reasons, people choose to behave in ways that put them at a much higher risk of catching it.  This is not meant to be 'blame the victim" thing, but from the point of view of public health policy in the 21st century, the city cannot make people start choosing safer behavior and stop choosing unsafe behavior.  All the education, public comments, PSA's etc etc etc are worthless if, at the crucial moment, someone decides first to have sex with someone they don't know anything about and, second, to leave the condom rolled up in the package in their pocket.

HIV/AIDS will start to drop in DC when enough city residents start seeing they have more of a stake in safer behavior than riskier behavior.

Which brings up the second story.  This story also had a 'deja vu all over again' feel to it for me.  Once again another group of young people has chosen to take on a gay identity and culture and found that, gasp, it's not about a whole lot more than 'partying', clubbing and hooking up.

Their separate enterprises have led them to an unsettling conclusion about what it's like to be young and gay in Washington: Despite the liberating effects of embracing one's sexual orientation, being young and gay in the nation's capital can feel constricting.

"You come out into this culture that you had no hand in creating, and you're expected to conform to it if you want to have friends or sexual partners," Rosen said. "One of the greatest tragedies in gay life is that you spend the first 18 or 20 or however many years of your life feeling as an outsider -- and then you come out, and still . . . you may not want to come into this fabulous world of big, mega dance club music with all these guys in Hollister T-shirts. It's one way people live, but it's not you. One of the tag lines of [the New Gay] is: 'Be gay and be yourself,' and here, it's often very hard to do both."

I am not sure it counts as a "tragedy" of anyone's life, but it is true that it hasn't changed very much in the decades since I was part of it and I suspect that, as many have before them, these younger people will feel happier when they figure out that a really full and satisfying life contains a lot more than same sex attraction and its issues.

But where the two stories dovetail is in the whole awareness of life's broader possibilities and in the decisions to start pursuing those rather than building up a 'gay' life.  One of the most hopeful quotes in both stories came from a young woman who is figuring out that her life might need to be about more than feeling sexual and emotional attraction to other women:

"We get complacent about our rights -- we still need it, but we don't feel the need for it urgently," Prescott said. "For a long time, my biggest issue was gay marriage -- and it's still right up there. But what's the point if neither of you have health care to share, or if 47 million people don't have health care?"

Yep. Now maybe when enough other people also figure that out - and start making choices in line with that reality - the rate of HIV infection might finally start to drop.