Reality Show Blogging: The Horror, the Horror. . .

In the past few months, I've actually moved beyond random dating, and met someone who not only can I stand to be around for more than a few hours, and who (more importantly) can stand me for more than a few hours. And, as you might guess, I'm happy about this. However, one of the unfortunate aspects of being in a relationship for a lot of straight men is having to watch "The Bachelor." For some reason, my significant other is enthralled by this show and being the dutiful boyfriend requires me to watch with her. Of course, this obligates her to watch all the crap I like as well.

Anyway, in my entire life, I have watched two episodes of the Bachelor, and its still not my cup of tea. The Bachelor is. . .dull. Sure, he's got a six-pack, etc., but wow, is this guy dull. Apparently, he was on before, and in a surprising act of honesty, didn't pick either of the finalists. Given that none of the other Bachelors have ever married their picks, much less dated them for any length of time after the show ended. For refusing to take part in the charade, he became a hated man. Still, he strikes me as a decent human being, but completely disinteresting.

What is interesting, and is always interesting in these shows, is how competitive the women get. The first season of "Flavor of Love," where women fought over the affection of Flavor Flav for no apparent reason other than being on television, is a prime example. But given the distinct lack of any discernible personality of the current Bachelor, this season of the Bachelor is right up there. In a few short weeks, numerous women have proclaimed their intense love for the Bachelor, and the cat fighting has begun. The biggest surprise is that the woman who wore fangs in the first episode left the show because she realized she was on it for the wrong reasons.

Anyway, last night's episode made watchable by the crazy antics of a hairdresser from Utah named Michelle. She talked ill of the other contestants and by all appearances, seemed much more interested in the Bachelor than anyone else. Indeed, when on a group date, she actually attacked the poor man for bringing other women along repelling down a cliff or something. She then went to his room and tried to get the Bachelor to change his mind about several other women. All the while, she gave interviews with the producers that screamed, "crazy."

So, I have to admit that at the end of the show, I felt like I was watching a horror movie, wanting to yell out to the Bachelor, "Watch out Brad, she CRAZY!!!" The last 15 minutes, were therefore enjoyable. As for predictions - the woman who's husband died and then she bore his kid is a mortal lock for the finals.

Top Chef:

It occurs to me that I haven't blogged about Top Chef All-Stars yet, and I need to fix that, particularly in light of last week's episode surrounding Rao's Restaurant. As an Italian American, the episode was of particular interest to me because I could actually make a lot of the food shown.

The biggest mistake, of course, was the pasta course, where two contestants tried to make fresh pasta, and one attempted to make risotto. All were. . .less than ideal. Here's the thing about Italian food - its made by home cooks. Unlike the French, there was no King or nobility to really impress (well, there were, but they didn't last that long), so Italian food developed with family in mind. Indeed, Italian women develop power in their communities based upon their cooking abilities.*

That's not to say that Italian food is easy to cook - its not, because everyone cooks it slightly differently. Its also really easy for chefs to screw up because Italian cooks are all self-taught, whereas most chefs are trained in professional kitchens. And that's what we saw in the last episode.

The big sin was the use of fresh pasta over dried pasta. In the Northern part of Italy, where the wheat is soft, people make their own pasta. But in the South, where the wheat is hard, everyone cooks dried pasta. For my money, dried pasta is more consistent, better quality, and holds sauces better than fresh pasta. The only time I use fresh pasta is when I make a stuffed pasta like ravioli. But to make fresh pasta without any stuffing was madness. Had I been one of the chefs, I probably would've gone with manicotti - crepes stuffed with ricotta and baked in tomato sauce.

Tre's risotto was apparently an even worse sin against Italian food. Even though I didn't grow up with risotto (its a Northern thing), I have since learned how to make it, and the best risottos are loose, creamy, and contain only a few ingredients. The whole thing is a trick - its a way to make a cheap ingredient (rice) taste like a more expensive ingredient (cream).

I do think that Antonia winning for a steamed mussels dish was a bit of a stretch, but again, Italian food is all about the home cook and the relationships that people make with the home cook. So, if her mussels tasted like Grandma's** she was going to win.

*I'm not even remotely kidding about this. My Grandma became fiercely competitive with my mother after learning that Mom can cook - even refusing to teach her how to make manicotti. See, the best cooks have everyone over to their house for dinner and become the hub of all social activities.

**Actually, as far as I know, my Grandma didn't make mussels, though given her abilities in the kitchen, she probably could.

Top Chef, Prop 8, and Education - Random Thoughts Blogging

Rather than a long intro, here are few of my thoughts about things, I kinda, sorta, care about:

This Season of "Top Chef" is Mediocre

Readers of this blog (all four of you, Hi Mom!), will note that I am an avid watcher of "Top Chef" on Bravo.  Thus far, I have watched all the episodes of every season. . .okay, I'm a foodie nerd.  Anyway, I haven't commented so much on this season of "Top Chef" for one reason - its been pretty mediocre.  Don't get me wrong, its not awful, but none of these chefs are remotely as talented as the finalists from last season.  Last season, the chefs were routinely producing dishes that, not only could I not cook, but I couldn't even possibly conceive.  This season, its been pretty much blah.

Judge Walker's Decision May Go to the Supreme Court, But. . .

On Wednesday, Judge Walker issued a ruling with regard to his stay that said effectively, I'll give the Proponents of Prop. 8 a week to ask the 9th Circuit for a stay.  Okay, that much is known.  However, lost in translation from legal opinion to news story is the part where Judge Walker indicates that he doesn't think the Proponents have standing to appeal, because the State of California wants out.  If he's right, and he may be, then the 9th Circuit, and the Supreme Court may very well walk away from the decision on procedural grounds.  And that makes sense - after all, why make a Defendant stay in the case when it's thrown in the towel?  I could readily see Kennedy sidestepping the issue of same-sex marriages by saying that, with good authority from the Conservative members of the Court, that because the Proponents of Prop. 8 have no standing, there's no appeal.  So, keep an eye on the case from that prospective, if you can.

Failures of Public Education

My Mom is a public school teacher, and a damn good one.  Unfortunately, the public school system she works for is a mess.  There are lots of reasons for the mess from lack of funding, to mismanagement, to outside social factors, but there's a big factor no one talks about.  Economically, the value of a high school diploma has dropped significantly over the past thirty years because we've moved from a manufacturing economy to a service based economy.  When I think about the jobs available to high school graduates, as opposed to high school dropouts, I can't really think of any difference. 

To compensate for this fact, schools have been pushing students towards college.  But the cost of college is so large that, for many students, its beyond their means.  Or, worse yet, they're burdened with a mountain of student loan debt.  Having $85,000 or more in student loan debt is okay if you are, like me, an attorney making decent money (but even I can't afford to buy a house).  If you're a college grad making $30k per year, that kind of debt is staggering.  Plus, graduating from college is no guarantee of a high paying job anyway.  So, from the perspective of a kid growing up in a poor area (inner city or rural area), college is a complete fantasy, and so there's no reason for them to stay in school.  Not surprisingly, these areas have huge dropout rates.

So, to fix education in this country, we need to make the high school diploma more valued.  Not, a mind is a terrible thing to waste value, but actually worth more in an economic sense.  Until that happens, the education system is going to be problematic.

Case in point, in Chicago a few years ago, they had a voucher program where kids could choose to go to a public school, a private school and a trade school.  The kids in the public and private schools performed at the same levels, which were generally crappy.   But the kids who went into trade school outperformed everyone by a lot - even in areas that had nothing to do with the trade they were learning.   The reason, to me at least, is obvious - the kids were told that they needed to do x and y to get a good job, not in an abstract sense but in a literal sense, and they were motivated.

Top Chef Blogging

Well, as predicted, since I couldn't get the information I needed, writing the goddamn brief took twice as long as it should.  Getting a straight answer from people is goddamn annoying. 

Anyway, while I try to break away from my legal woes for an instant - ugh - I want to do some more Top Chef blogging.  Yes, I am a foodie.  Or rather, I love watching people cook on TV.  Last Wednesday was the annual "Restaurant Wars" episode, and I ended up watching it like four times (Bravo reruns the episodes over and over again, there was nothing else on TV except for "Criminal Minds," and I'm in serious need of escape-ism right now).  So, for those of you who aren't following Top Chef, stop reading this now, because you won't get any of it.

As I've stated before, the level of competition is ridiculous this year.  In a typical year, the chefs are low-end sous chefs or even line cooks, or caterers (not that there's anything wrong with catering).  Anyway, this year, there are executive chefs everywhere.  Not just chefs at run-of-the-mill places, but chefs with Michelin stars, and proteges of famous chefs like Charlie Palmer and Eric Ripert.  One contestant, Michael Voltaggio employs Marcel Vigneron as a sous chef, and Marcel almost won the competition in Season 2 (and I think Michael Voltaggio employs Hung Huyuh, Season 3's winner).

So that said, here are my thoughts on the final seven:

The Contenders:

Michael Voltaggio - Personality wise, he's a total and complete dick.  He curses out his brother, and anyone else who gets in his way.  In the kitchen, shit has to be done his way, or else.  The thing is, he's a talented asshole, and has the personality that works in the kitchen environment (See Ramsey, Gordon).  In past seasons we saw chefs with the artistry, but not the flair or the natural understanding of flavor.  In this past episode, the judges were literally fighting over the last bites of his chicken.  If he manages to keep his head out of his ass long enough, he might pull off the win.

Kevin - Unlike Michael Voltaggio, Kevin is amiable, kind, and the kind of guy you want to hang out with.  He's also brilliant, but where Michael is brilliant in an Adria sort of way (changes your perception of food), Kevin is brilliant in making simple food amazing (like making "bacon jam"). 

The Almost Theres:

Brian Voltaggio - Michael's older brother is, sadly, not quite the chef his brother is.  This is a shame because Brian is exactly my age, and from all appearances is the professional and all around good guy his brother is not.   But at this point, I think he lacks the utter brilliance that his brother has.  In any other year, Brian would take this competition blindfolded.  But he's not the artist his brother is, nor is he the craftsman that Kevin is.

Jennifer - A protege of Eric Ripert, Jennifer is the fish cook extraordinare.  However, in the last few episodes she's had a real confidence problem, probably due to her perfectionism, if anything else.  So, she's a bit like Casey in that sense, only more talented.  If she gets her head in the game, she can run with the big boys.  If not, she's done for.

The Also Rans:

Mike Isabella - Mike is an asshole.  But Mike is the kind of asshole that you find among your friends - the guy who is so full of shit that you begin to ignore what he says because he'd give you the shirt off his back if you needed it.  He's a good chef, but not great.  At this point, he's trying to keep up, but ultimately, his days will be done.

Eli - Like Isabella, Eli is also an asshole.  Except, Eli has the excuse of being young (he's 23 or 24).  He's also quite talented for a young chef, but has a lot to learn.  Like Isabella he can hold his own, but is nowhere near where the Voltaggios, Jennifer and Kevin are.

Last and Least:

Robin - I feel bad for Robin because she's gotten shit on by the other chefs as not being worthy.  The truth is, Robin has been consistently the third worst chef.  That would make her bad enough to be on the bottom three, but not enough to be eliminated.  Plus, she's not bad, per se, just no where near the talent of the other remaining chefs.  The only people I thought should have left after her are Hector and Ashley (both good chefs but who screwed up royally).  Laurine leaving before Robin was all good.

Quick Thoughts Blogging. . .

Top Chef - I'm a big fan of this show, but like any fan, the whole thing annoys me as well.  Last week the chefs had to cook French food, and this week they had to cook in the desert.  I can understand how a restauranteur would have a love of France because the French perfected how to run a restaurant, including how a restaurant should be run.  But it should also be noted that, as any good foodie knows, most of the mother French sauces actually come from Italy, not France.  And French cuisine isn't necessarily better than any other country's cuisine.  In fact, the best chef in the world, Adria, is Spanish, not French.

The Western focus really does hurt chefs from other cuisines.  The Season 3 winner, Hung Huyuh, was criticized all season long for not cooking from the heart (not cooking Asian cuisine), but was given a Western kitchen and only had access to Western ingredients.  It was only in the final, when he could use ingredients of his own choosing that his "heart" showed through.  Duh.

The desert thing was interesting - but where was the refrigeration?  Do the producers want their judges to die?  I am impressed by the high level of competition this year, and it is clear that chefs at the bottom probably would've been mid-level contestants in previous years.  There are at least chefs who regularly produce high quality food (the Voltaggios, Kevin, Jen) and a couple others capable of doing the same (Mike I., Eli, Ashley, Ash) when motivated.  The brother thing is probably driving this show a lot further than in past seasons because the Voltaggios are really pushing each other (to the point where both are keeping track of who wins what), and that, in turn, pushes the other chefs to step up their game.

Baucus Health Care Plan - The Finance Chairman released his proposal for health care reform - which he had been working on with the more conservative members of the Democratic Party and with the Republicans for the past several months - and it stinks.  If anything, its going to make health care more expensive for middle-class families.  This happened, in large part, because he was more interested in Republican support than writing a good bill.  Anyway, with luck, this plan will get redone in committee.

My Health Care Reform Plan - So you know, my plan would essentially be a catastrophic insurance plan.  Everyone pays in via an increase in the income tax, and then would be covered for any expenses over 1/3 of their income.  So, if you make $60k a year, you pay the first $20k of expenses, and the Govt. pays the rest.  If you can't afford $20k, get insurance - which will be cheaper because the insurance company knows its only on the hook for $20k, max.  Oh, and the cost of said insurance would count as part of the first 1/3. 

Beck and 9/12ers - In response to Joe Wilson's claim that Obama lied about illegal immigrants not getting benefits under health care reform (which is, itself, a lie), the fearful Baucus put in stringent proof of citizenship requirements into his crappy bill.  Way to stand up for your President, Max.  In the past few months, the Democrats have shown a willingness to be overly courteous to Republicans.  As a result, we can't get anything done.  So, here's an idea - tell the GOP to go Cheney themselves.  Or rather, stop trying to make the opposition happy - they're trying to prevent the Democrats from doing anything.   This is their stated goal.  Educate the public, but don't be afraid to steamroll the opposition.