Norman Rush

“Before I start a novel I make a dossier for each character, even minor ones. Life history, curriculum vitae, oddities of culture and taste and background, appearance, gait, voice: it all goes in there. These dossiers can grow quite extensive, and some get completely out of hand. I’ve had to train myself not to keep expanding them endlessly when I should be working on chapters. Even so, with the book I’m working on now I’ve almost driven myself mad, writing dossiers.”

-- Norman Rush

Norman Rush

“Before I start a novel I make a dossier for each character, even minor ones. Life history, curriculum vitae, oddities of culture and taste and background, appearance, gait, voice: it all goes in there. These dossiers can grow quite extensive, and some get completely out of hand. I’ve had to train myself not to keep expanding them endlessly when I should be working on chapters. Even so, with the book I’m working on now I’ve almost driven myself mad, writing dossiers.”

-- Norman Rush

Winona Ryder

“Let's be honest, I had a good run at lead roles, and it's kind of nice to be out of it.”

-- Winona Ryder

Ah, one of the brightest starlets of my youth. With age she has been suffering a bit of a comedown in her film career. This has been true for some years, but I guess she has finally become philosophical about it. She's not a bad-looking middle-age woman though.

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Winona Ryder

“Let's be honest, I had a good run at lead roles, and it's kind of nice to be out of it.”

-- Winona Ryder

Ah, one of the brightest starlets of my youth. With age she has been suffering a bit of a comedown in her film career. This has been true for some years, but I guess she has finally become philosophical about it. She's not a bad-looking middle-age woman though.

( Read more... )

Rugged Individualism and Socialism

Here is a stirring call to the nineteenth century and the pre-New Deal America, the song of the rugged individualist:

On the other hand here is a less charming news story about for-profit food inspectors that give gold stars to food producers and then people start getting seriously ill and dying in droves: "Food Sickens Millions as Company-Paid [Inspectors] Find It Safe" at Bloomberg.

I know: the trick is to avoid the extremes. It's just such a funny world in a kind of sad way.

Rugged Individualism and Socialism

Here is a stirring call to the nineteenth century and the pre-New Deal America, the song of the rugged individualist:

On the other hand here is a less charming news story about for-profit food inspectors that give gold stars to food producers and then people start getting seriously ill and dying in droves: "Food Sickens Millions as Company-Paid [Inspectors] Find It Safe" at Bloomberg.

I know: the trick is to avoid the extremes. It's just such a funny world in a kind of sad way.

Lance Armstrong

The time has come for professional cycling to acknowledge reality: cyclists use drugs. Perhaps the best approach is simply to let them. That way everyone can, for the first time in years, compete at the same level.

-- Michael Specter

Lance Armstrong

The time has come for professional cycling to acknowledge reality: cyclists use drugs. Perhaps the best approach is simply to let them. That way everyone can, for the first time in years, compete at the same level.

-- Michael Specter

Miley Does Leno

Jay Leno has a pretty good view.

(ONTD)

Miley Does Leno

Jay Leno has a pretty good view.

(ONTD)

Bottoms Up, Bond

A little insider James Bond info on his favorite drink, the Vodka Martini, Shaken not Stirred.

_ _ _

Our source, John Hayes of Penn State, says that since shaking a martini has a diluting effect on the drink, perhaps this was Fleming's way of keeping Bond's head in the game, even as he sipped a famously stiff cocktail. The science behind this theory: When the martini is shaken, tiny bits of ice flake into the drink, and as they melt, the drink is diluted. (Also, bartenders usually slough off what's left in the stainless steel shaker, so maybe Bond was drinking less alcohol than we thought.)

[...]

"Shaking will better remove very volatile organic compounds from the liquid [alcohol]," explains George Christou of the University of Florida, "and air oxidizes some of the other organic compounds present, affecting its taste." This is akin to letting red wine breathe before you serve it, he says. Christou also says some cheaper vodkas made from potatoes have some oil in them, and shaking will make an emulsion that will hide the oily taste — although it's hard to imagine Bond drinking cheap vodka.

-- Sully's Dish

Bottoms Up, Bond

A little insider James Bond info on his favorite drink, the Vodka Martini, Shaken not Stirred.

_ _ _

Our source, John Hayes of Penn State, says that since shaking a martini has a diluting effect on the drink, perhaps this was Fleming's way of keeping Bond's head in the game, even as he sipped a famously stiff cocktail. The science behind this theory: When the martini is shaken, tiny bits of ice flake into the drink, and as they melt, the drink is diluted. (Also, bartenders usually slough off what's left in the stainless steel shaker, so maybe Bond was drinking less alcohol than we thought.)

[...]

"Shaking will better remove very volatile organic compounds from the liquid [alcohol]," explains George Christou of the University of Florida, "and air oxidizes some of the other organic compounds present, affecting its taste." This is akin to letting red wine breathe before you serve it, he says. Christou also says some cheaper vodkas made from potatoes have some oil in them, and shaking will make an emulsion that will hide the oily taste — although it's hard to imagine Bond drinking cheap vodka.

-- Sully's Dish

Daily Fun

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Daily Fun

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