In the Headlights

Pork Medallions with Port Wine-Dried Cherry Pan Sauce

When we were at Roan this summer, Sandy and I spent several delightful evenings with Beth and Meredith, a mother and daughter team who were having a getaway before Meredith went away to college.

One evening, Meredith made this wonderful pork dish, and served it with oven roasted potatoes.  It was simply delicious.

I got the recipe from Beth, and made it recently.  I don't usually have port around.  I bought a bottle of Sandeman's Founder's Reserve.  It was pretty good sipping on the side as well.

1 cup port
1/2 cup dried sweet cherries
4 tablespoons raspberry seedless jam
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1 tbsp. oil
1 1/2 lbs. pork tenderloin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tbsp. butter

 

Mix wine, cherries, jam and mustard.  Place pork in hot pan.  Cook four minutes on each side until golden brown.  Remove pork.  Stir in wine mixture.  Increase heat to high while stirring. Bring to a boil, and cook until reduced to 1/2 cup.  Remove.  Stir in butter and whisk.  Serve sauce over pork.

Yum.

Venus in Copper

Venus in Copper is the third in Lindsey Davis's series about Marcus Didius Falco, Informer for Emperor Vespasian, and gumshoe in ancient Rome.

I haven't figured out whence the title, though Venus in this case, refers to the femme fatale Severina Zotica, a freed former slave whose several ex-husbands all died under slightly mysterious circumstances.  He is asked by partners of her latest fiance to investigate.

The "Copper" in the title may just be there because it is the third "metallic title" after The Silver Pigs and Shadows in Bronze.

  Zotica's fiance and his partners and their wives are also freed slaves who have become incredibly rich and successful, through somewhat murky means.

In a parallel plot, Falco moves to nicer digs, cooks a turbot given him by Titus Caesar, Vespasian's older son, and takes two steps forward for every one step back in his relationship with the senator's daughter, Helena Justina.

Throughout, he has problems with goons, landlords, and jealous palace spies.  As usual, he gets beaten up so often that it's a wonder that he keeps that mouth full of beautiful, straight, white teeth.

In the process, the reader learns about ancient jewelers, prognosticators, wild animal tamers and real estate scams.

It all sounds so old, and so modern.

[Image of the turbot, which typically runs 30 to 40 lb., from poissons.net]

Roman Polanski's Macbeth

The Tragedy of Macbeth is Polanski's violent version of the Shakespeare classic.  Filmed in 1971, three years after the slaying of Sharon Tate by the Manson family, the violence is thought by some to be a purging of Polanski's own rage.

Though it is 36 years old, it is so beautifully filmed and rendered as to be timeless.  Most of the dialog is straight from Shakespeare, yet the action enables the viewer to figure out exactly what is going on.  The costumes are lush and colorful, the action heated.

Macbeth is played by Jon Finch, Lady M by Francesca Annis.  Both are young and beautiful, a departure from how I had envisioned the pair, as middle-aged and slightly graying.  Finch plays the thane perfectly...initially brave and loyal, then seduced by the predictions of the witches.  When the first prediction comes true and he is made Thane of Cawdor, he and his wife conspire to make the rest of the predictions come true as well, as soon as opportunity affords.

The murder of Duncan leads to the assassination of his friend, Banquo, the only man who is likely to figure out Macbeth's guilt, followed by murder of the assassins, and on and on.

Mayhem, war and butchery.  And alongside all this, the growing, increasingly evident, madness of Macbeth and his lady.

I admire Shakespeare tremendously, but that admiration rarely translates into reading or viewing his work.  In this case, I feel virtuous, as if I had read and enjoyed something I had slogged through in high school.

No Child Left Behind, Part Deux

There's been quite a bit of buzz about this lately:  OLPC, or One Laptop Per Child.

And what a laptop the XO is!  I'm thinking about jettisonning mine and getting one of these.

It's a rugged, innovative $100 computer.  And for some reason, for only two weeks in November (the 12th through the 26th), you can buy one and one gets given to a child in a third-world country.  For only $400.  Now, I don't quite get the math on this, but it's still a steal, even at $400.

The laptop has a solar cell which can be recharged many times, and a sealed keyboard (the CPU is in the screen) which can withstand dirt and water.

It has a mesh network which allows it to communicate with other XO's in the area, even if it's not on the internet.

I don't understand the technological aspects, so you should watch the video below to see the New York Times' David Pogue's lighthearted review and drop test of the XO.

Then consider getting one for a child you know, knowing you are also giving it to a child who needs it more.

Thanks to Stryder for the link.

TheWinkee (no, not that kind)

In a QA section of today's paper, someone asked about options to protect against unplanned gapes in the necklines (and in the men in the immediate vicinity).

The writer had tried wearing a camisole under such tops but found the extra layer too warm.  I have a couple of wrap dresses that give me that gape problem.  And securing the neckline with a safety pin always looks doofy.

So the Winkee fills that niche market.  It's a cute triangle of material with tabs that wrap around bra straps and center.  Unless your top really gapes, no skin will show, and your bra is covered.  Brilliant, really. 

I guess a dickey might work, but it is more of a neck and chest cover.  It doesn't get the whole bra territory.

It comes with a rouched or lacy edge.

The bad news (well, good news, really) is that they are adding more selections, so their ordering page is down.  You can preorder via email if you'd like, or return soon and place your order then.

I sent them an email asking them to let me know when their order page is up.  I'll follow up when I get my order.

Having said that, I always wear something with sleeves under a jacket, for the reason that dry-cleaning jackets is expensive, and wearing a Winkee or sleeveless cami will sweat up a jacket just as fast as it will any other top.

The Winkee is only $15 ($16 if you need a really long center tab. 

Once, Take One

I've read nothing but wonderful things about the movie, Once.  Unfortunately, the only place it played in this burg is at a theater in a mall that I always get lost (always!) trying to get out of.  It is at the crossroads of two major boulevards, and the twists you have to take to get on the road back to my house always baffle me.

So I'll have to wait to get it on Netflix.  Which means I have to watch the two movies I've had here collecting dust for weeks.  My fault, not theirs.

Anyway, even though I haven't seen the movie, I have some of the music, which is haunting and beautiful.  What I have is "The Swell Season", under which name the stars of the movie, Irish musician Glen Hansard (of The Frames) and Czech musician Marketa Irglova play and sing together.  Many of the songs on the album later were in the movie.

As wonderful as all the music is, I keep hitting the repeat button on one:  "Cry Me a River".  Not the Julie London version, which was featured in V for Vendetta, but the one written by Justin Timberlake, supposedly about his breakup with Britney Spears.

Who's sorry now?

The strange thing is that on my CD, the fourth cut is "Cry Me a River", but the label says "Drown Out", which is a whole different number.

I'm confused.  But here's "Cry Me a River" by Hansard and Irglova, which I think is much better than Timberlake's.

Hope you took the time to listen to all the YouTube links and finally the song.

There'll be a quiz.

Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang

I can't remember who recommended the movie, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, maybe Stryder and L.C.  I watched it last night, and found it pretty entertaining, even though I had a bit of trouble understanding what the Hell was going on much of the time.  And no, I wasn't reading the paper or doing sudokus while I was watching it.

It stars Robert Downey Jr. is a petty thief on the run, impersonating an actor impersonating a private eye.  He teams up with doughy looking Val Kilmer who is a real private dick in Hollywood.  The two find themselves in over their heads when dead bodies start appearing wherever they are.  The corpse count gets pretty high.  Michelle Monaghan plays love interest/actress/sleuth Harmony Lane.

It starts with Harry Lockhart (Downey) introducing himself as the narrator, and his style throughout the movie is pretty hapless, and therefore captivating.  It's a great gimmick.  At least I thought so.

The plot involves one twist after another, making it hard to follow, but something is always happening, so it's entertaining.  Amazingly, at the end when it is explained, it all makes sense...sort of.

So it's not Shakespeare (that's my other DVD), but it is an entertaining way to spend a rainy evening. 

Have fun.  Let me know if you figure it out before all is divulged at the end.

W.O.W.

I have two dance instructors, and they have distinctively different personalities.  Both are intelligent and wickedly funny.  Michael is a young man who is burning the candle at both ends;  I love hearing about his adventures. (I can get the vicarious pleasure of being a young party animal, without the headaches and emotional roller coaster.)

Tom is a few years older than Mike, and has a bit more on his plate.  We tend to talk about books and current events.  I think we are on a wave lenghth, though I have to remember he is an acolyte of the Dale Carnegie school of people management, so he'd probably agree with me no matter what I think.

Anyway, both have some college credits, neither has a degree.  I once asked Tom what he would like to take if/when he returns to school.  He didn't bat an eye, he said "philosophy".  This surprised me.  I've never known anyone who wanted to take so unconcrete a major, but there was no doubt in his mind.  So we talked about the fact that that pretty much limited his options to writing and teaching (don't give up your day job, Tom).

Some time later, I did a post on the Naica Crystal Caves, and one of the specialists studying the caves is a scientific philosopher.  When I Googled that, I found, among other things, a lengthy discussion of "Philosophy of Science" in Wikipedia (see link for scientific philosopher).

I printed out the basic definition for Tom (the whole article would be 15 pages of print), who then asked what epistemology of science was.

Rats.  Got me.  I have heard the word epistemology, but damned if I could define it.  So it's today's word of the week.

Epistemology: 

-A branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods and limits of human knowledge. (dictionary.com)

-The branch of philosophy that studies the nature of knowledge, its presuppositions and foundations, and its extent and validity.  (American Heritage Dictionary).

In short, it is seeking knowledge about knowledge.

Sounds like it's made for Tom.

[Image:  "The Thinker" by Rodin]

Customize Your Vote

L.C. sent us this interesting quiz.  You answer a number of questions about current issues, and it ranks presidential candidates in the order in which their stands agree with yours.

The Select A Candidate Quiz was developed by Minnesota Public Radio.

Some of the questions required answers on issues that there are no good answers to.  And you had to indicate how important each issue was to you.

I was pretty surprised at how mine turned out:

Dennis Kucinich (D)
Bill Richardson (D)
Chris Dodd (D)
John Edwards (D)
Mike Gravel (D)
Joe Biden (D)
Hillary Clinton (D)
Barack Obama (D)
Mitt Romney (R)
Rudy Giuliani (R)
Sam Brownback (R)
Bill Gilmore (R)
Mike Huckabee (R)
Ron Paul (R)
Duncan Hunter (R)
Fred Thompson (R)
Tom Tancredo (R)
John McCain (R)

Some I've frankly never heard of.  I'd have expected myself to be aligned more closely with Hillary or Barack, and I've always liked Joe Biden.

You can go here to see the market values of individual Democratic candidates.  Woohoo, Al Gore's trading third.  If he were running, I'll bet it would be a lot higher. 

[Image from Pamela on Politics]

Who are Those Guys?

A couple of days ago, I mentioned a couple of guys who did an amazing routine at Jacksonville's Dancing with the Stars.  I knew they had a YouTube video, but couldn't find it.  Yesterday, I went for a lesson and they were there (they are instructors at the studio).  They told me to search "Dancing with the Stars Acrobats", so I did, and here they are.  This is a practice version of the routine they did the other night.  They are unbelievable.

Please put your hands together for the twins, Yodeny and Yoeny Martell.