Since we're sharing recipes, here's another: as you all know, I hate peas with a passion. However, I actually like these split pea burgers, courtesy of my beloved Alton Brown. Who knew?
So now it appears I might have another audition, for another small opera company in town that actually pays people occasionally. Just found out about it, and it's next weekend. Hey, remember a week or so back when I was whining about not having any goals? Well, welcome to my goals. :) Anyway, this company does contemporary American opera, so I need to work up my Britten aria again. (I know, Britten was British, but my American aria has a wicked haahd accompaniment, so unless I'm bringing my own pianist it's not worth the drama.) Had a great lesson this morning, by the way--with some tweaking I should be in good shape for that audition on the 30th.
Oh, and have I mentioned that I've been reading Fast Food Nation? Yeah, like three years after everybody else read it. (Although truthfully I read passages of the book before it was printed, in Rolling Stone. Yeah, that's how long ago it was.) I'm almost done. Mark and I needed to eat dinner at nine-thirty last night, so we drove around town looking for a place that didn't make me twitch involuntarily and cry, "Evil Empire! Evil Empire!" when I saw its glowing sign. :) We ended up at Waffle House--not the healthiest place (though they do sell salads now!), but they're really good about offering benefits to their employees. Plus I got to say, "scattered, smothered and covered" and drank three cups of decaf at ten-thirty at night. I don't know, the whole fast-food thing has me tied in knots. There's a lot to think about. My one criticism of the book is that, Michael Moore-like, he kind of runs with correlational stuff and wacked-out comparisons that lead to visceral, emotional reactions (like comparing Soviet collective agricultural management, which eventually led to the starvation of millions, to the current American agribusiness pseudo-monopoly). It seems like they're trying to beat the conservatives at their own game (distorting the truth a bit for their own benefit), instead of trying to take the high road. Mark gets aggravated by this. And it's my fault for getting him started--that is, I'll read some line from the book and he'll immediately turn devil's advocate. Poor thing. He can't back away from a political argument. My sweet little pundit baby. :)
2 comments:
Speaking along the same lines as Fast Food Nation and potential bias, I recently read an article explaining why Trey Parker and Matt Stone lampooned Michael Moore in Team America: World Police. I was a tad perplexed by this negative portrayal of Moore, as Stone was interviewed in Columbine and appeared to be chummy with Moore. However, it turns out that after the Stone interview segment, Moore included the cartoon, 'The History of the U.S.' (I forget the exact title), done in the style of South Park, thus giving the impression that Trey and Matt contributed the cartoon and endorsed that viewpoint. As much as I want to like Michael Moore, the more I read about him the more I'm beginning to see him as a left-wing version of Rush Limbaugh.
I agree on the Michael Moore point... It's so frustrating when you see someone trying to represent a noble viewpoint, but making an argument for it in a way that leaves holes for the other side to drive a truck through. It makes it so easy for people to toss the whole thing and claim that anyone who's against the war or against fast food doesn't have a fact to stand on. Both sides would be so much better off if they didn't rely on easily disproved hyperbole. I'm convinced this is why people don't vote!
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