Currently Browsing: opinion
Apr 22, 2009
Posted by VC on Apr 22, 2009 in Food, opinion | 0 comments
The area code: 404
The place: Holeman and Finch Public House
When you first pull open the door, the place feels inviting. Air-dried meat hangs in a glass display case by the bar, giving the joint a European market feel, albeit modified with an American pane of glass to section the flesh off from the vegans. Polished steel stools lift us our thirsty bodies into the aroma of joy juice which hovers over the dark cherry counter.
The snack:
Whole roasted garlic, chevre, lemon and crostini
The garlic poured out onto the plate in a wave of warm zesty goodness as my butter knife pressed down on a clove. I spread it onto a crostini which was slightly chewy in the center with a golden crispy crust as easily as spreading heated Nutella on a bagel. The textures perfectly complemented each other, and the flavors were divine. I highly recommend having a Duvel with this snack.
If you’re into more carnal southern comforts,
they have plenty here for meat eaters: 
The drinks:
Sazerac
The bartender’s tattoo contracted on his arm as he squeezed a fresh lemon rind on the rim of the glass, modifying the timeless recipe with a bit of tang. Touted as the world’s first cocktail, the deep cherry color of the Sazerac has the power to seduce even the non whiskey drinkers in the room. “It’s like taking a sip out of American history: sweet, strong, to the point, decadent. Most of all, genuine,” Nicholas Adelung, fellow H&F Public House explorer, said when asked to describe the beverage that made me gag.
The Re Animator
I decided that beer before liquor would not make me sicker. Slightly intimidated by the drink’s ingredients: absinthe, gin, and Cointreau, my last hour in the A-T-L deserved this experiment. Easy on the tongue, it felt like running your thumb lightly in a circle onto the tips of your index and middle finger while nodding your head. The drink was surprisingly smooth, considering the alcohol content,and tasted exactly like black citrus licorice.
Approximate time to render animation: 24 minutes
The verdict:
Holeman and Finch Public House is where you’ll find me blissfully embracing the A-T-L next time I visit. This spot was clean, had decent prices, adept servers, a casual atmosphere despite the upscale kitchen, and divine drinks.
Overall: 4.5 stars
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Dec 31, 2008
Posted by VC on Dec 31, 2008 in opinion | 0 comments
Someone please explain to me how killing in the name of an omnipresent omnipotent thing that you can’t prove exists is ever justified. I’m disgusted with the lionization of religious people in novels and country leaders in real life who deflect responsibility for their actions onto an intangible cause.
Yesterday, I read a James Patterson book in which one of the main characters murders a newborn baby for the Catholic Church and is posthumously extolled for his virtue. No, I didn’t buy this book. It was a present.
Originally published in 1980 under the title “Virgin”, the book Cradle and All thematically posits an idea which is dangerous to the progression of a society in which people respect differences of opinion—blind faith.
Patterson writes about two virgins who become pregnant on opposite sides of the globe, one would birth the next Catholic messiah, the other Satan’s child. People race around trying to detect which is which. yada trite yada.
My WTF moment: Rosetti, a devoutly religious main character, steals a newborn baby from a hospital before the mother could even see the child, runs to the edge of a cliff and jumps off with the baby in his arms.
He commits infanticide “on faith” that the baby is evil.
“This is the beast!…All the signs in the prediction of Fatima have been met!” Rosetti screams during the book’s climax.
A priest Justin tells Rosetti to slow his roll and consider the blatantly obvious fact that he’s about to kill a baby. Rosetti doesn’t even have a conflicted internal monologue about the value of a human life, or how he is about to go against his own religion’s moral imperative to not kill. Patterson, you disappoint me.
Rosetti screams at Justin, “You are like doubting Thomas. Must you always see to believe?!”
-
Is it really so terrible to perceive a full spectrum of perspective about an issue?
The more knowledge you have, the more rational your actions are, and the less likely it is that you will follow the prescribed actions of a person or group of people who want to control a population’s actions for personal gain.
Large corporations have endorsed the book as a thrilling page turner, exposing the idea to a huge population as worthy of a read by big-time journalists.
Patterson family book shelf
The book’s cover flaunts blurbs from New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, Miami Herald, and Dallas Morning News. NYTimes alone has an online/print readership of 20 million. LA Times has 5.5 million unique visitors on their website per month.
Certainly, these were paid endorsements, although it is possible that the name recognition had something to do with it. Patterson has sold more than 150 million books worldwide, according to ebookstore.sony.com. I only kept turning the pages, so I could have informed answers to the inevitable barrage of questions from the person who gave it to me.
For exhibiting absurd concepts and a banal plot, Cradle and All gets 1 out of five fruits of knowledge.
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Dec 20, 2008
Posted by VC on Dec 20, 2008 in opinion | 4 comments
Within the month of December, some of the basics that my predominantly Catholic, Mexican-American family cling to are: Santa Claus, presents, and women cackling over wine in my mother’s breakfast nook.
Paco de Lucia or Pedro Infante plays in the background. Children of various ages burst through the front door and out the backdoor at random times, pausing only to either grab a marranito from the island, or to let their mother’s chastisements go in one ear and out the other.
“You’d better behave, or Santa isn’t going to bring you any presents,” is usually how that’s phrased.
If and when I have children, I refuse to perpetuate the lie of Santa Claus. Telling children that Santa Claus is coming to town is not not a harmless lie.
The promise of material goods from a fictional entity who makes a judgment call about who is good and bad sends the wrong lesson to children. It tells them that they should only behave according to the standards of important people in their lives when they want something. It also reinforces the idea that good people have a lot of stuff. It is the seed of classism and materialism. Furthermore, what else becomes suspect when they find out you’ve misled them?
I learned something this holiday season when I almost lost someone I love. Taking the time to learn about someone you’re close to, whether it’s by asking them questions or sharing stories about yours, is far more valuable to them than sending them a funny video in their inbox, or giving them a toy. Real, open two-way communication keeps relationships alive.
So, why haven’t we evolved past the idea of Santa? When I posed this question to members of my family, I got a “Don’t be such a grinch you scrooge. It’s just a little white lie that makes it more fun for the kids.”
Or does it just make them really disappointed with the holiday scene later on in life when they don’t have anything substantive to look forward to? Just the obligation to shop.
You don’t need to lie about where stuff comes from to make people feel special. The core idea of family and friends making a seasonal pilgrimage to a place where they can embrace and catch up is a wonderful way to celebrate time away from the daily obligations that separate people.
People are SO much more important than things.
This holiday season, we should have the presence of mind to stop perpetuating traditions that presocialize children to behave in ways which diminish the value of interpersonal communication and place more emphasis on object accumulation than relationship development.
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Dec 12, 2008
Posted by VC on Dec 12, 2008 in Politics, opinion | 2 comments
Twinsies separated at birth?
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Nov 29, 2008
Posted by VC on Nov 29, 2008 in Breaking news, opinion | 0 comments
Guess the tradition of migrating cattle to slaughter hasn’t died out.
In Valley Stream NY, A Wal-Mart worker is dead after a herd of shoppers stomped him to death, because they couldn’t wait another minute to get their hands on those on-sale goods. The crowd had been lining up outside the doors getting rowdy since before it was light outside. When the store opened, they flooded in, knocking down a wally world employee and a pregnant woman. Of course, that big flat screen really would have made the room.
On the west coast of CA, two people were shot at a Toys R US. Two men were fighting over a toy. One didn’t want to let go of a toy and the other wasn’t having it. He opened fire in the middle of the aisle. It’s unclear what toy they fought about. But is an Imaginarium Arch Train Table or a Wii worth busting out a gun and killing someone? No.
It was a black Friday indeed.
Celebrated mass American activities seem so bi polar. One day, we’re supposed supposed to spend time with friends and family reflecting about the things we’re grateful for. The next, we are supposed to run out and buy things, so we can get a good deal on a gift we feel obligated to buy? A present that will probably be forgotten by the New year.
It has come to the point when the American economy is being gauged by how many TV’s sell. eesh. Like cattle migrating to the slaughter, or sheep being funneled to the fleecer, Americans are behaving mindlessly, submitting to the manipulative preachings of marketers.
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