Last night, we were in the kitchen cooking, while watching the Jim Lehrer NewsHour, where we heard the news that Julia Child passed away at the age of 91.
I had interviewed Child for my book, PBS:Behind the Screen. She pioneered the entire how-to genre for educational television, bringing good French cooking to American housewives. She was an American original.
Child seemed to me exactly as Jacques Pepin described her on the NewsHour broadcast: unpretentious, kind, gracious, "an anti-snob." And as Pepin says in this interview, the food revolution Child helped launch made a big contribution to the abundance of good food and quality ingredients we have today.
If there is a heaven, Julia Child is up there, cooking something right now.
To Julia Child, "Bon Appetit!"
Saturday, August 14, 2004
Friday, August 13, 2004
Impressions of Uzbekistan
From Russian Newsweek (via Ferghana.ru):
"There is no cult of personality or superficial signs of totalitarianism in Uzbekistan. No portraits of or quotes from Islam Karimov - save for in his native Samarkand perhaps. In the early 1990's, Karimov himself initiated the law banning superficial tokens of exaltation. Upon hearing of the latest development in nearby Turkmenistan, the realm of Super Murat as he is colloquially called here, residents of Tashkent let out a sigh of relief and ponder on how lucky they are."
"There is no cult of personality or superficial signs of totalitarianism in Uzbekistan. No portraits of or quotes from Islam Karimov - save for in his native Samarkand perhaps. In the early 1990's, Karimov himself initiated the law banning superficial tokens of exaltation. Upon hearing of the latest development in nearby Turkmenistan, the realm of Super Murat as he is colloquially called here, residents of Tashkent let out a sigh of relief and ponder on how lucky they are."
Remember the Congo?
Jason Stearns, in The Washington Post, does.
"Who is to blame for the largest humanitarian catastrophe of our times? I am referring not to Darfur, a terrible tragedy in its own right, but to the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where 4 million people have died in a conflict that has been going on for eight years.
"So who is to blame? A U.N. panel sent to Congo to look into illegal arms trading believes it has part of the answer. In a recent report, it explains that Rwanda gave "both direct and indirect support" to dissident officers who mutinied in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu at the end of May. Many civilians were killed as the troubled country was pushed to the brink of war again.
"But while the report accurately describes and condemns Rwanda's meddling, it also constitutes a condemnation of the United Nations itself. As Bukavu was ransacked and hundreds of people were killed, raped or brutalized, the 600 U.N. troops there did little to intervene."
"Who is to blame for the largest humanitarian catastrophe of our times? I am referring not to Darfur, a terrible tragedy in its own right, but to the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where 4 million people have died in a conflict that has been going on for eight years.
"So who is to blame? A U.N. panel sent to Congo to look into illegal arms trading believes it has part of the answer. In a recent report, it explains that Rwanda gave "both direct and indirect support" to dissident officers who mutinied in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu at the end of May. Many civilians were killed as the troubled country was pushed to the brink of war again.
"But while the report accurately describes and condemns Rwanda's meddling, it also constitutes a condemnation of the United Nations itself. As Bukavu was ransacked and hundreds of people were killed, raped or brutalized, the 600 U.N. troops there did little to intervene."
The Place To Go For African Art
Jacqueline Trescott says it is the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art, in Washington, DC:
"So now the museum is the go-to place for contemporary African art in America, both in its galleries and in its research facilities. With the infusion of the Smithsonian money, the library grew from about 3,000 volumes to 30,000. Congress earmarked $440,000 for the acquisition of books over three years. The book collection covers visual arts, history, anthropology, religion, travel and even cookbooks."
"So now the museum is the go-to place for contemporary African art in America, both in its galleries and in its research facilities. With the infusion of the Smithsonian money, the library grew from about 3,000 volumes to 30,000. Congress earmarked $440,000 for the acquisition of books over three years. The book collection covers visual arts, history, anthropology, religion, travel and even cookbooks."
End of an Era-II
London Transport is doing away with its famous open-door double-decker red bus, according to The Washington Post.
Thursday, August 12, 2004
We the Media
Just finished reading my reviewer's copy of We the Media (thank you O'Reilly Publishing).
Dan Gillmor's book on blogging has some interesting technical and historical tidbits, and I'm glad he wrote it, and glad O'Reilly published it as a contribution to the discourse. (Curiously, Gillmor said he couldn't find a New York publisher--perhaps they don't read blogs?)
Strangely Gillmor's list of weblogs at the end doesn't include Glenn Reynold's Instapundit, which he praises in the book--but does include FAIR, which gives you some idea of where Gillmor is coming from. Indeed, "warbloggers" like Reynolds were a real alternative to the mainstream media at a crucial historical moment, reminding a lot of us that we were not alone.
Gillmor has some other hobby horses like the DCMA that are of interest primarly to specialized audiences, and devotes a lot of words to journalism professors.
The good news: He is giving away his book for free, with a "Creative Commons" license (another hobby horse), so you can download it, then decide for yourself whether it is worth buying.
Dan Gillmor's book on blogging has some interesting technical and historical tidbits, and I'm glad he wrote it, and glad O'Reilly published it as a contribution to the discourse. (Curiously, Gillmor said he couldn't find a New York publisher--perhaps they don't read blogs?)
Strangely Gillmor's list of weblogs at the end doesn't include Glenn Reynold's Instapundit, which he praises in the book--but does include FAIR, which gives you some idea of where Gillmor is coming from. Indeed, "warbloggers" like Reynolds were a real alternative to the mainstream media at a crucial historical moment, reminding a lot of us that we were not alone.
Gillmor has some other hobby horses like the DCMA that are of interest primarly to specialized audiences, and devotes a lot of words to journalism professors.
The good news: He is giving away his book for free, with a "Creative Commons" license (another hobby horse), so you can download it, then decide for yourself whether it is worth buying.
Free Academic Publishing!
From The Economist (thanks to ArtsJournal):
"Cornell University, for example, recently reviewed its policies on journal acquisition. In the course of that review it noted that between 1986 and 2001 the library budget at its main campus in Ithaca, New York, increased by 149%. The number of periodicals purchased, however, grew by only 5% "
"Cornell University, for example, recently reviewed its policies on journal acquisition. In the course of that review it noted that between 1986 and 2001 the library budget at its main campus in Ithaca, New York, increased by 149%. The number of periodicals purchased, however, grew by only 5% "
How Islamic is Al Qaeda?
Not very, says Mustafa Akyol:
"Paul Johnson, an American engineer, was killed by al Qaeda after being kidnapped, as was Kim Sun-il, a 33-year-old South Korean. So was Nick Berg savagely slaughtered by militants. These horrible episodes are disgusting, by every human standard. What makes them even more repulsive is that they are committed in the name of Islam."
"Paul Johnson, an American engineer, was killed by al Qaeda after being kidnapped, as was Kim Sun-il, a 33-year-old South Korean. So was Nick Berg savagely slaughtered by militants. These horrible episodes are disgusting, by every human standard. What makes them even more repulsive is that they are committed in the name of Islam."
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Terror in America
A history exhibit at the I N T E R N A T I O N A L . S P Y . M U S E U M. (Tip of the hat to Ken Layne.
More on Bremer v. Chalabi
From the Wall Street Journal:
"One particular concern vis-a-vis the U.N. strategy was that Mr. Chalabi was starting to expose the massive corruption that had characterized the Oil for Food program. Just prior the May raid, Mr. Bremer shut down the KPMG investigation that Mr. Chalabi had initiated, and hired accountants Ernst & Young instead, for no apparent reason other than delay."
"One particular concern vis-a-vis the U.N. strategy was that Mr. Chalabi was starting to expose the massive corruption that had characterized the Oil for Food program. Just prior the May raid, Mr. Bremer shut down the KPMG investigation that Mr. Chalabi had initiated, and hired accountants Ernst & Young instead, for no apparent reason other than delay."
Buddhist Militants in Sri Lanka
From the Weekly Standard:
"Militant Buddhism may sound like a contradiction in terms, especially while Islamic holy war is hogging the headlines. Nevertheless, in one of its periodic flare-ups in Sri Lanka, extremist Buddhist nationalism is threatening both the physical safety and the legal rights of that nation's Christian minority."
"Militant Buddhism may sound like a contradiction in terms, especially while Islamic holy war is hogging the headlines. Nevertheless, in one of its periodic flare-ups in Sri Lanka, extremist Buddhist nationalism is threatening both the physical safety and the legal rights of that nation's Christian minority."
An Interview with Brian Lamb
From August 1999, with Michael H. Ebner :
"Few individuals have done more to promote the reading of history and biography than Brian Lamb. C-SPAN has created a unique way for people in this country--and ninety other nations worldwide--to witness history in the making. Millions have watched its coverage of the political processes in Washington; Senate coverage of the Persian Gulf War in 1991 reached 32.3 million subscribers alone. Lamb has also interviewed hundreds of historians and biographers--among them many OAH [Organization of American Historians] members--on his Booknotes program and since last year on his weekend Book TV program on C-SPAN 2."
"Few individuals have done more to promote the reading of history and biography than Brian Lamb. C-SPAN has created a unique way for people in this country--and ninety other nations worldwide--to witness history in the making. Millions have watched its coverage of the political processes in Washington; Senate coverage of the Persian Gulf War in 1991 reached 32.3 million subscribers alone. Lamb has also interviewed hundreds of historians and biographers--among them many OAH [Organization of American Historians] members--on his Booknotes program and since last year on his weekend Book TV program on C-SPAN 2."
End of an Era
Brian Lamb cancels C-SPAN's "Booknotes":
"In announcing the cancellation of 'Booknotes' -- C-SPAN's popular author interview program -- yesterday, host Brian Lamb was haunted by the numbers. He spends 20 hours each week reading books in preparation for 'Booknotes,' he estimates. That's 1.8 years of his life that have been dedicated to reading since the show debuted April 2, 1989. Now he wants to reclaim some of that time for his personal life.
Has it come to this? The author-interviewer, arguably the most quirky and dedicated on television, the creator and curator of one of TV's few institutions for avid readers -- has he finally tired of books? "
"In announcing the cancellation of 'Booknotes' -- C-SPAN's popular author interview program -- yesterday, host Brian Lamb was haunted by the numbers. He spends 20 hours each week reading books in preparation for 'Booknotes,' he estimates. That's 1.8 years of his life that have been dedicated to reading since the show debuted April 2, 1989. Now he wants to reclaim some of that time for his personal life.
Has it come to this? The author-interviewer, arguably the most quirky and dedicated on television, the creator and curator of one of TV's few institutions for avid readers -- has he finally tired of books? "
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Victor Davis Hanson on John Lewis Gaddis
He reviews Wars New and Old:
"All this is a sober reflection on current events, and a needed reminder that President Bush is acting in line with a long American tradition, even if Gaddis thinks he could learn from FDR's political savvy when it comes to getting along with allies."
"All this is a sober reflection on current events, and a needed reminder that President Bush is acting in line with a long American tradition, even if Gaddis thinks he could learn from FDR's political savvy when it comes to getting along with allies."
Why Kerry Will Win
From Newsmax:
"Kerry is no Al Gore. He is not going to sigh, roll his eyes and make up huge fabrications in the debates. Instead, he is going to be relentlessly on the attack.
"Kerry is ahead in every way right now. True, there are still three months to go. But the trends are all pro-Kerry."
"Kerry is no Al Gore. He is not going to sigh, roll his eyes and make up huge fabrications in the debates. Instead, he is going to be relentlessly on the attack.
"Kerry is ahead in every way right now. True, there are still three months to go. But the trends are all pro-Kerry."
Will Turkey Make It?
Stephen Kinzer in The New York Review of Books wonders:
"Nine centuries after Pope Urban II sent the first Crusaders off to fight 'the Turk,' 321 years after the Ottoman army besieged Vienna, Turkey and Europe are approaching a historic encounter. In December, leaders of European Union countries will vote on whether to begin negotiations that would lead to Turkey's joining the EU. Every day it seems more likely that they will say yes."
"Nine centuries after Pope Urban II sent the first Crusaders off to fight 'the Turk,' 321 years after the Ottoman army besieged Vienna, Turkey and Europe are approaching a historic encounter. In December, leaders of European Union countries will vote on whether to begin negotiations that would lead to Turkey's joining the EU. Every day it seems more likely that they will say yes."
To be Young, Gifted, and a Black Conductor
A profile of Kwame Ryan in The Guardian: "
"The young, British-educated conductor making his UK debut at the opening concert of the Edinburgh international festival this week said yesterday that he had 'no optimism for the future' for black children making it as the stars of classical music. Canadian-born Kwame Ryan, 34, went to school in Britain and studied music at Cambridge University before continuing his training in Germany.
"But the message given to young, black people, particularly in North America, was, he said, that you can be a star athlete; you can be a pop star. 'But neither of those require a special education. To be a conductor you have to start very young and the awareness that that is a possibility for black children is not encouraged in schools or in the media.'"
"The young, British-educated conductor making his UK debut at the opening concert of the Edinburgh international festival this week said yesterday that he had 'no optimism for the future' for black children making it as the stars of classical music. Canadian-born Kwame Ryan, 34, went to school in Britain and studied music at Cambridge University before continuing his training in Germany.
"But the message given to young, black people, particularly in North America, was, he said, that you can be a star athlete; you can be a pop star. 'But neither of those require a special education. To be a conductor you have to start very young and the awareness that that is a possibility for black children is not encouraged in schools or in the media.'"
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