talbotlucas.org: a word to the wise is sufficient

daniel patrick moynihan, r.i.p.

The semester's at the boiling point and so my blogging efforts have slowed to a crawl, but for those of you who don't read the obits (or happened to miss this one amidst the war coverage), an important passing to note: Daniel Patrick Moynihan, thinker, scholar, and sometimes politician, died last Wednesday. I'm not one who normally quotes John McCain, but on this weekend's Meet the Press he commented that Moynihan was one of the few truly bipartisan members of Congress--one who wanted to do what he thought was right and effective, whether or not it meshed with the views espoused by his party's leadership.

Here are links to the obituary in The New York Times and to a list of articles published by the Times over the years. Truly a man to be missed.

nose to nose

To celebrate the completion of my final writing assignment I offer another close-up of Wallace, who patiently slept next to me this weekend (well, some of the time) while I finished my paper.

If getting up close to dog noses is of interest, the Dognose Heaven site is for you. Although the subscription web cam service struck me as a little extreme (is there such a thing as a dog nose fetish? perhaps.), I continue to be amazed by how many contributions are made to the site.

mixing metaphors

Nearly lost my dinner over this quote from a U.S. State Department official, discussing diplomatic attempts to secure the necessary votes for a resolution against Iraq in the United Nations: "We stay fixated on the rule: 'You don't count your chickens till the cows come home'." Ugh.

lionel poilâne, r.i.p.

Those of you familiar with the original version of our web site may recall several links to information about Lionel Poilâne, the renowned French breadmaker. After posting the news about Terrence's breadmaking efforts, I realized that an update was in order--unfortunately, it's a sad one.

M Poilâne, his wife, and their dog died in a helicopter crash last winter while traveling to one of their homes. This BBC article was posted while the crash investigation was ongoing; another, longer article, published in the Independent after Poilâne's death, is here.

The Fast Company article about Poilâne's business is still available on their site, and the Poilâne site itself is still a good source for current information about the bakery's offerings.

The Acme pain au levain we love so much has been likened to the Poilâne loaf...almost enough reason to book a trip to Paris, hmm?

"thermonuclear fruit bombs" and other wine descriptions

Sean Shesgreen has an interesting article in the Chronicle of Higher Education about the sometimes over-the-top language used to describe wines and how that language changes with the times. We've come to enjoy this aspect of Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, which is otherwise a pretty bland publication: black type, cream background, stapled and three-hole punched, with small, single-spaced type. Not that the blandness matters, because it's so packed with information that frou-frou would only distract.

And besides, it's difficult not to be curious about a wine that's described as a "thermonuclear fruit bomb" (an actual Parker description from some months' ago), as frightening as that might be to contemplate. (Parker now has a more full-bodied site: eRobertParker.com, but note that many features are subscription-only.)

new music from kurt elling and others

The news from Kurt Elling's web site is that a new CD is in the works. Said Kurt:

Hi -- just putting the finishing touches on the next record. Laurence and I will fly to Los Angeles to mix and master with the great Al Schmitt beginning the 26th [of January 2003], and hope to turn in the final version by the end of that week. This means the record should be out June 1 or so.

This time, I'm focusing on my vocalese habit -- look for a studio version of John Coltrane's "Resolution" and Wayne Shorter's solo on "A Remark You Made" from "Heavy Weather" -- also a new composition for which Laurence wrote music called "Man In The Air", which I think will be the title track for the side.

Thanks very much to those of you who have been writing in asking for us to come visit and perform -- we won't be doing much touring until after the record comes out. In June, I'll be setting up a number of performances celebrating the record's release in the Chicago area. Then, I'll be taking "Four Brothers" with Jon, Mark and Kevin to Europe for the month of July. I'll stay with the band in Europe (I hope London, Paris, Amsterdam, poss Barcelona, et al) through Labor Day. We'll do the East Coast thereafter until Thanksgiving, and the West Coast through New Years, 2004. Then, I hope we'll make another tour of Australia in January of 2004. In between all these hits, I promise not to ignore the great Midwest, and have some concert surprises in store for the future. Keep your fingers crossed.

All best, KE

In the meantime, for those of you who know the huge contribution Laurence Hobgood's piano talents make to KE's tunes, Laurence has his own CD, Left To My Own Devices. My copy should be arriving any day now, and I'm very much looking forward to it.

We've also just picked up a collaboration by Tony Bennett and k.d. lang, A Wonderful World. I couldn't pass it up; it contains one of my favorite songs, "Dream A Little Dream of Me." As much as I like Mr. Bennett, my favorite version is still Mama Cass's. I inherited the 45 rpm version of Mama Cass singing this song from KLC and it was scratchy years ago (probably from being so overplayed), but the good news is that a beautifully clear digital version is available. So clear that you can hear the emcee announce, "..now, to sing this lovely ballad, here is...Mama Cass." When I was little I used to lean over onto our photograph player to try to hear the announcer's voice--I thought it was sooooooo cool. And I still do.

sleepy wallace

No particular reason for posting this photo beyond that it makes me smile...and makes me a little sleepy. (Clicking on the photo will pop up a larger image.)

"to chunter"

As one of my fellow corgi-owners recently reminded me, the verb "to chunter" is a great (and practical) addition to one's vocabulary. According to the 1883 Glossary of Almondbury and Huddersfield, it means "to growl or grumble." The 1788 Provincialisms of East Yorkshire noted that it meant "to express discontent about trifles." One can also have a "chuntering bout": "a fit of sulkiness with impertinence" (Whitby Glossary 1876). And lots of other variations come to mind without too much effort.

Chuntering is definitely one of Wallace's traits--he's very clear about expressing discontent. Whether or not this is an instance of nature or nurture is another question, as we all know this isn't a behavior that's limited to canines...

a pancake holiday

Once again I've missed a food/holiday tie-in; specifically, eating pancakes on shrove tuesday (which was a few days ago, for those of you whose calendars don't reflect these historical/religious bits of data). Leeds University's page for international students helpfully notes that "..Shrove Tuesday...is the day before Lent starts. Shrove is an old English word meaning "forgiven for the things you have done wrong." Traditionally all the perishable foods must be eaten and cleared out of the house this day. It is also known as Pancake Day when Pancakes are eaten to clear out supplies of rich foods. The first day of Lent is called Ash Wednesday. This is not because of the burnt pancakes the day before..."

It might be bending the rules to enjoy Pancake Day without engaging in a Lenten fast, but I would be willing to risk the consequences.

Despite criticism of British cooking, they certainly invest some time and energy in preparing for their Pancake Day, even devoting academic resources to perfecting the pancake flip:

Pancake Physics to Cut Batter Splatter and Velocity Vital in Pancake Tossing.

Of special interest to me: the articles are discussing crêpes, my preferred form of pancake.

I think it could only improve the current state of affairs if we all enjoyed pancakes instead of providing fodder for yet another volume of the "Girls Gone Wild" video series. (If you haven't seen the television advertisements, count yourself lucky. And no, I have not provided any fodder for the aforementioned video series, and wouldn't, even if pancakes were involved.)

international issues

Terrence and I attended the University of Chicago Harper Lecture here on Saturday. Speaking on the future of U.S.-China relations was John Mearsheimer, noted political science professor and commentator in international relations. His hypothesis is that, if one accepts some pretty basic principles of international relations and state behavior, the U.S. and China are headed for conflict in a few decades, particularly if China's population continues to grow at the anticipated rates and if China adopts capitalist principles, turning it into a mega-Hong Kong which threatens U.S. hegemony. I hestitate to try to recapture his arguments for fear of leaving out key details, but his analysis was quite compelling, including its application to the present situation with North Korea. Mearsheimer set forth equally compelling arguments that the current administration's reasoning for pursuing a military solution in Iraq is hollow at best, and that most Americans' view of the United States as the defender of human rights around the world is pretty baseless when you look at the context of our efforts (military and diplomatic) over the last two centuries.

Mearsheimer spoke at length of the Bush administration's stated intention of eliminating peer competitors on the international scene and opined that, by encouraging (even fueling) China's economic growth, we are sowing the seeds for future conflict.

Lots of thoughts crossed my mind during the lecture, which presented a lot to digest on a Saturday afternoon. But the one which kept popping up was this: why aren't Microsoft's source code shenanigans getting more coverage?

Turns out I'm not the only one pondering the second point: a Friday post on LawMeme raises the same question, specifically:

NZheretic writes "In May, under oath at the antitrust hearing Jim Allchin, group vice president for platforms at Microsoft, stated that disclosing the Windows operating system source code could damage national security and even threaten the U.S. war effort. Now in February, Microsoft signed a pact with Chinese officials to reveal the Windows operating system source code. Bill Gates even hinted that China will be privy to all, not just part, of the source code its government wished to inspect. Either Jim Allchin lied under oath, to prevent code revelation being any part of the settlement, OR the Microsoft corporation is behaving traitorously, by exposing national security issues to foreign governments."

(See the original LawMeme post for additional links.)

Keeping in mind my father's advice to read between the lines...what's going on here? Does Microsoft's double standard really mean anything for national security? Maybe not. But if it does, what role does the U.S. government take?

Perhaps I'll have to ask Prof Mearsheimer how private actors who operate on a global scale (such as Microsoft) impact his U.S.-China calculus. I'll report back if he responds. Or if my own thoughts become any clearer.

our daily bread

Terrence's experiment making a levain-like loaf was a success, as you can see for yourself. (Alas, smell-o-rama and taste-testing have not yet come to the Web.)

No one explained to us that when we left San Francisco (read: access to loaves from Acme Bread) we were leaving behind real bread. In our humble opinion, the local loaves don't rise to the level of Acme--in taste or in texture, and the two are closely related. When we shared our quandary with Chef Ford at Chadwyck, he nodded knowingly and observed that Los Angeles bread is Italian; Bay Area bread is French. So true, with no disrespect to our Italian friends.

Until we find a way to supply ourselves with Acme, we thought we'd try baking our own, and Terrence accepted the challenge. Although the first loaf is a bit denser than our ideal, the crust is right on target--beautifully dark and chewy but not tough.

Terrence has pledged to continue his baking experiments. Wallace is thrilled--he volunteered to guard the oven while the loaf baked--and I've agreed to soldier on, testing the bread while it's still warm for the oven.

noted playwright or supreme court reporter?

When we announced Wallace's arrival in our home, several people asked if we named him after George Wallace, the former governor of Alabama.

"No, no, no, no, no," we said, as quickly and breathlessly as possible. Governor Wallace hadn't even entered our minds, and even if he had, we wouldn't have named our little guy after him.

When we originally decided on the name Wallace, our first thought was of Wallace Shawn, the actor, playwright, and son of noted New Yorker editor William Shawn. What does our Wallace have in common with Mr. Shawn? Wallace hasn't been to Harvard or Oxford, and he'd probably sleep through My Dinner with André, but he's short and smart, two adjectives often used to describe Mr. Shawn. (An online biography of Mr. Shawn can be found here.)

Only after Lisa started law school did we remember that our little guy had a wonderful legal legacy: Wallace was the name of the Supreme Court reporter from 1863 through 1874. Should we find any mates for Wallace, we only have to look as far as the list of reporters for other names: Black (unlikely unless we find a sable corgi), Howard, Peters, Wheaton, Cranch (my choice), and Dallas.

"feel my ribs"

For some time we've been trying to find a unique ID tag for Wallace's collar, and we're pretty happy with the results of our search.

We ordered Wallace's tag via the web site of Fetchorama, a Portland, Maine pet store which works with a Georgia artist who fashions lightweight aluminum slabs into tags. On one side is Wallace's plea: "feel my ribs"; on the other, his name and our phone number.

Rather than relying on weight-in-pounds, many corgi owners keep track of their dog's weight by feeling the dog's ribs and checking the waistline. If you can feel your corgi's ribs without trying too hard, and if you can see their waistline curve in before their hips, the dog is probably not overweight.

Because corgis are notoriously ravenously hungry, all the time, the joke is that they're always saying "feel my ribs" to show how thin they are. We decided to pick up on that for Wallace's tag. It was this or "tummy with feet," which is also an apt description. For an all-too-accurate description of the Pembroke Welsh Corgi's character and appetite, check out Laughing Dog Press's corgi entry.

If you visit Fetchorama.com, we encourage you to click on the "Zip snore" link (it's on the "about us" page hyperlinked above), and make sure your computer volume isn't on mute--it's worth a listen. And...the ladies at Fetchorama are beyond nice--they're customer-service-oriented in a way one rarely finds these days, let alone on the web. Any pet store that organizes an "April Stool's Day" to celebrate their anniversary and has a weekly pug night is OK by us.