was cajoled into watching some chop socky nonsense, Five Deadly Venoms which is apparently a cult classic. didnt seem any better or worse than 100 others.

fortunately i had The Hidden Fortress which cleansed the palette afterwords.
sustenance or tv jamboree?

Saw the season opener to Top Chef. They sort of had a "compulsories" section. Two contestants had a soufflé-off, two had a chicken picata showdown, two had lasagna mano a mano, etc., etc.

So the soufflé folks didn't really know how to make them. One said he hadn't done one in twenty years. He at least understood the magnitude of his failure. When his vaguely mexican inspired creation failed, he said "My nachos just didn't cut it".

Over in the crab-cake fisticuffs, one of the guys didn't know the recipe for mayo. WTF? How can you go into a Top Chef contest lacking such a fundamental building block of making sauces? It's like not knowing how to deglaze a pan.

I guess I haven't seen the early elimination rounds in previous years. I think they need to cut the field in half pretty quickly.
architecture for animal clients (aren't they all?)

3.1419265358979...
if you've seen the incredibles, this is pretty funny
This just in, again.
Dershowitz on Spitzer at WSJ -- free today

Shorter: The government has ridiculously intrusive laws that are selectively enforced, but they should only be applied to real criminals, not people like us.
Video fly through of a 3D computer model of Manhattan. I want that on an iPhone with the ability to bank and climb and dive by tipping the phone.
freeze frame
the times today speaks highly of Bar Boulud and I do as well....
i have been thinking about how yummy the pate's were when I ate there last week just about every day since.....
while i cant eat that food everyday, they were fantastic....
you bars:create your own nutrition bars
dear mr hipster...
I am getting spam sent from my own email address to my self.......what will they think of next......
The best college game in the history of the world?
taste spotting (food aggregator)
Admiral Fallon to resign. Bad bad news as far as I can tell. Maybe the next war is back on.
pruned fauna etc
just watched Avenue Montaigne. light fare but pleasant and ultimately satisfying.
Went to an event at the top of the New Museum last night. Great space. Not too sure about the art downstairs though.

A couple blurry pictures in comments...
upsurge of anti-semitism in the media today.
that doc about kenny shopsin is on ifc tonight at 930.
Tucker is gone.
Watching the 2007 Top Chef finale. This phrase gets me every time ... "rack of lamb poached in duck fat".