Ombailamos

the fantasy dinner party

The title phrase came up today on another blog I read, and it kind of stimulated a mental toy I've been batting around.  Who *would* be at my fantasy dinner party?  Why?  Could I possibly dare to cook for these people, or would I have it catered??

A while back, self-improvement articles used to ask the reader to think about who they would most like to have a conversation with, and examples given would be people like Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Benjamin Franklin, Henry Ford.  That particular fad seems to have died out, maybe because that's the kind of question that prompts an idealistic response - who should I *want* to talk to?  But just because you think you *ought to* want to talk to someone, doesn't mean you would actually enjoy the conversation.

So as I ponder it, what are my requirements for dinner companions?  Smart, witty, tolerant, skilled or talented (or both), and likely to enjoy a nice bottle of wine - that's the short list.  So at a fantasy dinner party, inviting whomever I choose from public life, I think I'd like:

Mel Brooks.  Alton Brown.  Emma Thompson.  George Clooney.  Carrie Fisher.  Barbara Mertz & Aaron Elkins (mystery writers).  And one more, because our table seats ten and of course Mr. P will be there too ... Whoopi Goldberg.  I'll bet that would be one uproarious party.

What on earth would I serve?  Well, I'll worry about that when someone RSVPs.  :-)

slow cooker success! curried pork pot roast

Curried Pork Pot Roast

2.5 -lb pork loin roast

Mix together (I used mortar & pestle):
1 snack cup pineapple bits with juice
2 pkgs soy sauce and 2 pkgs Thai red chili paste from takeout (!)
1.5 tsp red chili flakes
1.5 tsp red curry powder
1 tsp sweet curry powder
.5 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried shallot flakes
.5 tsp ginger
.5 tsp sate seasoning, just because I had some

Drop roast in the slow cooker and slather one side with spice mix, turn over, slather the other side (use it all). Then add up to 1 c. chopped onion or apple, or 1/2 c. chutney, or 1/2 c. Ralph's cranberry-pineapple-walnut relish (what I had). Heat quickly on HIGH setting for up to 45 minutes, then turn it to LOW and go to work.

Mine was in, on LOW, from 7:45 a.m. to roughly 5:45 p.m. Fell apart when I turned it over. Fruit was completely dissolved. Shredded the meat to let it soak in the juice for another half hour with the cooker turned off (carnitas method). My best success at a pot roast!

We drank Prosecco with this, which was perfect, and had a side of veggies. It's a very-low-fat, high-protein dish with a lot of red spices (as you can see, Mr. P and I like things a little hot), most of which are well established anti-cancer agents. Sounds boring to point out the health benefits, but there you go.

If you like your pot roast nice and gooshy, choose a cut of meat with ample fat, and don't trim it.

DWTS Season 9

So, last week we had the first official double elimination, losing Melissa and Louie.  This week I am betting that Michael and Aaron will follow - unless there is some disaster with one of the other remaining competitors.

I have to confess I am focusing on the pros this season.  Some of the pro dancers on DWTS have really become stars in their own right.

Kym was a champion on DWTS-Australia before she came to Hollywood.  She has come close to winning here before, and I think has a real shot at it with Donny.  There are some Donny-haters out there, and maybe some carryover from the weirdness that was Marie, but he has been a good performer and - though not an actor - is finding ways to express the different character of each dance.  Kym is a very inventive choreographer and looks absolutely stunning on the floor, which I think has significantly helped each of her partners.

Dmitry was a standout on SYTYCD and has certainly established his bona-fides as a choreographer (Emmy nomination!).  It's unfortunate that Len seems to really dislike him ... he has been as severe with Dmitry as he used to be with Derek.  Maybe he will learn to love Dmitry (who seems to have given up on winning Len's approval, judging by the gimmicky jitterbug) in time to save Mya, who is far and away the most talented dancer among the celebrities this season.

Louis has been a fixture on DWTS and is responsible for a lot of the group and tour choreography.  He has also done superb work choreographing for SYTYCD, where contestants often win or lose each week based on the routine they're given (there's much less of a "personality" effect on SYTYCD, where all the contestants are unknowns).  Louis has a strong partner this season in Kelly, if she can stop overthinking.  She has a lot of charm and he is choreographing with balance, playing up her natural strengths while at the same time challenging her.

Lacey, another SYTYCD alum, came in with a couple of disadvantages.  It's easy to forget how young she is (should still be in college!).  Plus, she's really short and has an athletic build, rather than a willowy slimness like Edyta, so even when Lacey creates one of her stupendous extensions, it doesn't have the same grace.  And, I'm willing to bet she's got a bit of an inferiority complex going on.  Her whole family works in dance, her brother actually won SYTYCD, and I wouldn't be surprised if DWTS approached Benji first.  All that aside, Lacey did really well with Lance Bass, as well as anyone could have with Steve-O, and is starting to get into a groove with Mark.  It's unfortunate that they didn't establish a better personal connection at the beginning, but I think she (like the voters, apparently) is starting to respond to his charm.

So, those are the four couples I think should be in the semifinal.  I know Derek and Joanna are coming on strong, but she's a bit clunky and graceless, and I think he is overplaying his own fan appeal.  Joanna shares the (apparently common) model's disadvantage of being "deceptively unfit."  She is slim and toned and flexible, but her stability and strength are not good.  Derek yanked her around effectively enough to "win" the mambo marathon, but the quality of her movement has not improved over the season so far and she is going to have to pull off something great to make me want to bounce Kelly!

the james bond orgy continues

I have been reading steadily through the James Bond novels by Ian Fleming, enabled by my Borders Rewards card. The program keeps sending me 40%-off coupons and each time I get one, I go buy another Bond novel.

What's most surprising about these is how closely the movies followed the original storylines, and yet how thoroughly cheesy the movies seem in comparison.  Even Sean Connery pales in comparison to the "real" Bond - although I blame that entirely on the filmmakers.  Daniel Craig plays it much more authentically, but then he's been given a better foundation.

By wasting so much of their time and money on creating doomsday scenarios, the first-round filmmakers took all of the real suspense out of the stories.  After all, how can anyone doubt Bond will prevail when the alternative is world domination/destruction?  The nefarious plots of the books are so much more realistic and possible, it makes the suspense work.  Taking those plots over the top gave the filmmakers scope for big action/effects sequences, but they don't really hold up when you just scoff at the scenario.  Not to mention they are aging rather badly. 

Fleming's background, of course, gave him the tools to create his plots, but it still takes talent to lay it out.  And there's also the point that the books are slim and fast-paced, and yet provide a fully-imagined storyline at the same time they provide insightful character development, witty dialogue, and a thoroughly believable sociopolitical framework.

For example, "Thunderball."  Not only are the machinations by which the villains obtain the nukes realistic, the variables and consequences of the entire operation are laid out methodically through dialogue between Bond and his CIA friend/colleague Felix Leiter (a great character in his own right). 

A book lets you get into a character's head in a way movies rarely do.  One of the things I really appreciate about the two Craig movies is that the combination of script and performance puts Bond's inner life into the story.

Sebastian Faulks did a rather brilliant job with his recent authorized follow-up to the Bond series, "Devil May Care."  I had read Faulks' WWI novel "Birdsong" (also brilliant) quite a while back, so after I got into the Fleming books it was natural to think Faulks would do well by the series.  And he did.  He clearly did his homework, both in the Cold War-era setting (geopolitics, weaponry, etc) and with the character.  And much to my romantic little heart's delight, he provided a happy ending for Bond (who has a couple of real heartbreaks through the original series) with the excellent heroine.

I enjoy a cheesy action movie as much as the next person, but there's Velveeta and then there's, say, gorgonzola.  One is complex, one is ... not.