WRITING CULTURE 2012: Film, Food & Beyond

An Outdated Burger

Wise man once said: it’s easy to be snarky when you sit behind a computer. I’m not going to attempt to refute that morsel of new age wisdom.

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This is not my neighborhood

I was unaffected by Hurricane Sandy. This is not an attempt to pour salt in anyone’s wounds, rather it is an attempt to illustrate the first world problems of New Yorkers unaffected by the storm.

The neighborhood of Brooklyn I live in was unaffected by Hurricane Sandy. The worst part about it is, it’s not even that nice.

The only thing that was a bit of an inconvenience was the my trip to the grocery store on Sunday night. There was no water, or any tonic water for my gin. Oh the horror. The line to check out the steaks I bought was so long, I stood there sweating in my heavy winter coat for nearly an hour. It was truly a nightmare.

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The bagel is a New York staple. You can find it at most corner stores, any food cart and pretty much every deli. But Pick-A-Bagel is the place to go if you want a decent bagel close to campus. By decent I mean one that isn’t so dry and cardboard like that it sucks the saliva right out of your mouth. But Pick-A-Bagel is  kind of annoying. I went in search of the elusive Scallion-Lox cream cheese and was disappointed to find out that not only does Pick-A-Bagel not have scallion lox cream cheese, they do not mix the scallion and lox cream cheeses they proudly display.

So I settled for a the scallion cream cheese on a cinnamon raisin bagel, and it was still delicious. It may sound like an odd combination, but it is the perfect melange of dough, cream, salt and the oniony flavor of the scallions. Every bite is filled initially with a crunchy bite of the crust, then a soft release as your teeth sink into the doughy bagel.  And just as you prepare swallow that bite there’s slight hint of the sour of the cream as it all slides down the back of your mouth. Taking the bite completely into your mouth it’s hard for your taste buds not explode as they revel in the complexity of this one bite.  And then it happens again and again until you’ve vacuumed an entire bagel into your pie hole like a caveman. Grab a cup of large coffee and wash it all down. I could do this every morning till my gut bursts with the complicated flavors and textures of an early morning meal.

The no grief  Kobe Beef Hamburger. credit: legambleur via flickr

The hamburger has  a bad reputation. On one hand it’s become the symbol of America’s addiction to fast food, bloated waistlines and cholesterol choked arteries.  And rightfully so, the hamburger is not exactly the healthiest food. Especially at “traditional fast-food” burger joiints likes Burger King, McDonalds and Wendys. But those aren’t the hamburgers we’re hear to discuss, because as far as I’m concerned they’re Franken-burgers. A scientifically engineered sandwich composed of cheap bits of cow, other animals, chemical fillers and injected with “flavor” for your dining pleasure. Yuck!

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This is not a  Brooklyn neighborhood undergoing gentrification.

Detropia. The name says it all, a play on dystopia, it was obvious from the first minute this would not be an uplifting film.

Though Detroit is slowly being consumed by the Michigan prairie , it still remains a (fallen) symbol of American capitalism. As irrelevant as census surveys may make it, Detroit remains a relevant symbol for America’s problems. Probably for no other reason than George W. Romney (father of Mitt Romney) was the governor of Michigan who sent in National Guard troops to put down the Detroit riots in 1967. That Detroit is again a topic of conversation under similar circumstances when George Romney’s son is running for President is unsettling.

But Detropia is not just about Detroit, or politics. It is about the people of Detroit, and the film never ceases to remind the viewer of that. Which is good.  The people who call Detroit home are no different than you and I. Hard working, dedicated, middle class and often black. The only difference is that Detroiters now find themselves on the wrong side of history, which is no fault of their own. In many ways Detropia presents the residents of Detroit as those who were blind enough to collectively believe in the American Dream; an idea so novel that it was free from the consequences of greed and consumerism. They traded their time restlessly for a key the American middle class; or the “buffer” as one of the films interviewees describes it.

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Do you remember “The Butterfly Effect” staring Ashton Kutcher? I do, vaguely. At the time I thought it was entertaining, but I was also only 15 years old. 15 year olds make for terrible film critics. I do remember it being about about a young man and his feelings (yawn), and every time a butterfly beat its wings he would time travel. Or something like that. This short film, by the same title is nothing like that.

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I have an unabashed appreciation for the automobile, and all things automotive. I could spend hours talking about it, and I often do. Daily. I understand that this makes me a bit of weirdo, and for that reason I understand why most “car movies” usually aren’t about cars. Or if they are, they’re inexplicably terrible.

There are a lot of movies with excellent footage of really cool cars doing fantastic things. Ronin, starring Robert DeNiro, Jean Rene, and a young Natascha McElhone (Hank Moody’s ex-wife on Californication), is among my favorites. Primary reason being it features a female assassin driving a BMW M5 the wrong way down a Parisian highway at insane speeds. It’s perfect.

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Bill Clinton is a Superhero. Barack Obama Invented Healthcare

Disclaimer: I think The New York Times’ coverage of the 2012 Democratic National Convention, specifically the Caucus Blog, was comprehensive and all inclusive. For all of last week it captured events as they unfolded and provided brief analysis of both Democratic and Republican rhetoric.

Though I did vote for President Obama in the 2008 election, plan on doing so in November, and have openly mocked Mitt Romney while in the company of registered Republicans,  I did have a few issues with the New York Times’ coverage of the convention. Especially if we consider it to be an esteemed member of traditional news,  the Times’ bias towards the Democratic camp is a bit distracting.

Everyone knows President Obama is the coolest guy to occupy the oval office, ever. We also know Mitt Romney is kind of a prick and that he is  representative of a small percentage of rather prickly Americans than perhaps any other presidential candidate. Ever.

We all know this like the back of our hands because we’ve been entrenched in what appears to be the longest campaign in United States history. You could say that the 2012 campaign began on Wednesday November 5, 2008 and rhetoric of the Caucus Blog reflects that.  It would have been nice to see the New York Times use their tarnish-proof image to add some legitimacy to blogging and try to appear neutral.

That is not to say that I didn’t enjoy the thorough reporting, it’s just so blatantly obvious who the writers are rooting for. In short,  I expected more from the New York Times.

Multimedia Roundup 

Where the Caucus Blog may not have been my cup of tea, the multimedia coverage was pretty impressive. Maybe this is the geek in me talking, but I think the New York Times is really using multimedia effectively to analyze the news, make it digestible, and link to sources. That is, afterall, the point of technology; to make our lives easier through efficiency. [/nerd]

Pieces like the breakdown of Bill Clinton’s speech is great for news junkies, politcos, and aspiring speech writers alike.   The additional commentary is short but allows the reader (or listener) just enough time to take in what is going on, and what the speaker (Clinton) is attempting to convey. I like it for no other reason than I think it really shows how great of an orator Bill Clinton is.

I tried listening to Bill Clinton’s speech uninterrupted late last week following the convention, but the cult of personality was a bit too much and I switched it off after ten minutes. The interactive feature allowed me, as a news consumer, to view his speech in context and appreciate it as a excellent example of public speaking rather than a sales pitch.

I thought this was awesome: Words Used at the Convention

There was a video that showed the various factions of the Democratic party as donkeys in different getups, but I can’t find it because I’ve exceeded my article limit. Boooo.

Photo credit: David Handschuh/New York Daily News