Reconciling with Doonesbury

Why did I abandon the Sunday cartoons?
by Charlie Leck

Y'all (as my friends in George say) -- y'all explain it to me, if you will, please. Afterall, you were great to send a few silly questions my way when I asked, so now, perhaps, y'all will explain this phenomonon to me.

Why did I pass on reading the comics in the Sunday paper?

Eight years ago, the comics in the Sunday paper used to come right after the sports section. Never failed! Sports section first and then the comics?

Then, inexplicably, a bit over 7 years ago, I stopped reading the comics. Hardly ever even glanced at them. Not even Doonesbury, who I considered something of a good friend even though he was a bit younger than I. No Peanuts or Garfield! Stopped visiting Blondie and Dagwood! Same with Hi and Lois! Gave up on Beetle Bailey! Dilbert was toast!

I started jumping right from the sports section to the opinion pages. I guess you could call them a different kind of funny pages.

Then, early in the morning a few days ago (Sunday), I found myself pushing aside the sports section -- the Gopher basketball team had taken an awful drumming -- and I went right to the comics. There were some new characters I didn't know, but some of the old farts were still around. Doonesbury is graying considerably and has developed a little pot belly. Blondie and Dagwood don't look a day older than they were 55 years ago. Dilbert also looks the same and Garfield must have used up most of his nine lives by now.

The amazing thing is that I realized I'd cracked a smile half way through Doonesbury and I snickered at some new thing called Stone Soup. Garfield was silly. Peanuts hasn't grown an inch and I could swear I'd scanned that particular cartoon before; yet, it was still great and carried the same old wise message about not trusting a girl with private, personal information.

Now, here's what I'm getting at. You explain it. Why did I bail on the cartoons for nearly 8 years and now why am I crawling back in embarrassment, seeking reconciliation?

Silly Questions 2

Some readers sent me examples of silly questions!
by Charlie Leck

A few of my readers have replied to my blog of a few days ago about a great and funny silly question and its answer. I asked readers to send me any great silly questions they may have encountered. None quite matched the great one that Fred wrote about, but, anyway, I asked, so here’s what I got.

For those of you who might not have seen it, I’ll repeat Fred’s question and his answer at the end of this blog.

Ed, from California, sent this question he often gets.

I’ve got my golf shoes on, my golf bag, full of golf clubs, slung across my shoulder, and I’m walking toward the entrance of the neighborhood golf course.

Invariably, someone walking along the sidewalk, will look at me and ask: “Goin’ golfing?”

I need Fred to come up with the appropriate answer. His, about the dog food, was histerical [sic] – absolutely wonderful.

This silly question came from a friend in France. I had to translate it myself and I think I got it right.

The following question was asked recently in a session of the English Parliament:

“Does the commission attribute the death of culture in France to its absorption into the European Union?”

What’s that American expression about ‘the reports of my death are greatly exaggerated?’

George in Vermont poses a timely and relevant question.

If we all stopped voting, would politicians go away? Please!

And, Andrea, I think, gets the prize for the best silly question of the batch.

Why do psychics keep sending me spam? Don’t they know I’m not interested?

Finally, a fellow, with whom I spend a considerable amount of time, sent this one to me.

Why do we say ‘heads up’ when we mean ‘duck?’

To repeat Fred’s silly question for those of you who missed it, here it is…

Yesterday I was at Walmart buying dog food and the lady behind me in the check out line asked me if i had a dog...

Naturally, I told her no, I was starting the Purina Diet again... even though the last time I ended up in the hospital... but since I had lost 50 pounds on the diet, I was giving it another chance...

She asked me if i had been poisoned by the dog food,...

...and I told her, no, I had stepped off the curb to smell an Irish Setter's ass and was hit by a car.

Defiance!

His Holiness Bishop Richard Williamson is a man I’d like to meet and with whom I’d like to chat!
by Charlie Leck

I’d begin my conversation with his Holiness by saying something like this: “Listen, dodo bird,…”

Richard Williamson was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church because of various comments he made over the years regarding the holocaust. He made it clear that he didn’t think any Jews were gassed in the Nazi work camps. Now, bending to enormous pressure, the Vatican has informed Williamson that he must recant such statements before he can be reinstalled as a Bishop of the Church. The Bishop (is he or isn’t he?) replied that he needs time to study the matter and review research he did in the 80s that had convinced him that no such horrendous murders had taken place.

Richard Williamson's excommunication was lifted by the Vatican last month. He is one of four bishops from the ultraconservative Society of St. Pius X. The decision sparked outrage because Williamson, in a television interview, had denied the reality of the Holocaust.

“I must now examine everything again and look at the evidence.”

“Since I see that there are many honest and intelligent people who think differently, I must look again at the historical evidence…. It is about historical evidence, not about emotions. And if I find this evidence lacking, I will correct myself. But that will take time."

However… this is really an important however… the Bishop (of sorts) has indicated he has no intention of going to Auschwitz. That’s the camp the Nazis set up in occupied Poland. More than a million Jews died there. The German newspaper, Der Spiegel, had invited the clergyman to join it in a visit to the famous death camp.

Last night my wife and I saw the movie, Defiance. That’s why these statements from a Bishop of the Catholic Church are on my mind.

I’m also doing a lot of thinking about Doctor Death. That’s the moniker that has been hung on Doctor Aribert Heim who served as a medical officer at various concentration camps during the war against the Nazi Reich (Buchenwald, Sachsenhausen and Mauthausen). Surviving inmates described how Heim took such satisfaction in injecting various incredients into the hearts of Jews to see how long it would take them to die. Heim was also accused of performing many unnecessary surgeries without anesthesia. They weren’t minor surgeries either – rather, they were things like amputations.

Now the NY Times has confirmed that Aribert Heim died in Cairo in 1992. He had spent the last ten years of his life living in a hotel room as a converted Muslim who took the name Tarek Hussein Farid.

It was with these two, fresh news stories in mind that I sat back to watch Defiance two evenings ago. (This NY Times review of the film is generally positive. Here are some reader reviews published in the NY Times. Here’s where you can see some trailers of the movie.)

Was it a good movie?
I don’t know. So often I see a movie and like it and think highly of it, only to then read reviews that pan the daylights out of it. I’m told there have been highly positive reviews about this film and others that have called it inferior.

Here’s what I can tell you. I was gripped by it. It is not the kind of movie one can enjoy. It is far too sad and demeaning of the human spirit to be enjoyed. I left the theater shaking my head and feeling the shame that humans must feel for the behaviors of humanity.

Defiance is another movie about man’s inhumanity to man. Yet, within the story there is hope for mankind. A band of Jews take to the forest instead of allowing themselves to be carted off to the death camps.

The Bielski brothers came home one day to find their parents murdered by local Russian authorities who were taking commands from the Nazis. The four brothers took to the woods rather than die in the same manner. The boys were familiar with the forest and they knew they could hide and survive there; however, in their new world, they met other Jews less capable of survival. They pledged to care for them. Their numbers grew to over 1200. They built shops and warehouses and medical centers. Getting defensive weapons and procuring food were their biggest problems. Surviving the cold Russian winters was another one.

The film is filled with action and conflict. There is violence and brutality. There is also love, joy and hope.

Bishop Williamson should be made to see the movie. He should understand that before the war there were 9 million Jews living in Europe. Six million of those had been murdered by the end of the war. It should be remembered that many gentiles, who had chosen to befriend Jews and had tried to assist them to escape, were also murdered by the Nazis.

Bishop Williamson, the story is true. The documentation is thick and rich. It is a story worth knowing about. It is a film that tells its story quite brilliantly.

I liked it. I recommend it.

The film is based on a book, Defiance: the Bielski Partisans, by Nechama Tec. The screenplay was by Clayton Frohman and Edward Zwick. Zwick was also the film's director. The brilliant violin solos were performed by Joshua Bell. It is 2 hours and 17 minutes long. The cast is listed below the following noteable photograph...

Tuvia is played by Daniel Craig

Zus is played by Liev Schreiber

Aszael is played by Jamie Bell

Aron is played by George MacKay

Lilka (Alexa Davalos)

Shimon (All Corduner)

Isaac Malbin (Mark Feuerstein)

Chaya (Mia Wasikowska)

Bella (Iben Hjejle)

A Quick, Colorful Trip to Mumbai

Slumdog Millionaire
a review by Charlie Leck

I saw the movie yesterday – the movie everyone is calling a pretty sure bet to win numerous awards around the world. If it doesn’t take best picture from the Academy it’ll be because the movie has no connections to American Studios. In spite of that, it’s still an odds-on favorite to take best picture.

Before I go on and on about the movie, here’s a NY Times review by Manohla Dargis to give balance to all the good things I’m about to say.

Let’s start at a totally appropriate place – the credits at the conclusion of the movie. I didn’t budge as they rolled by and I noticed that the others in the small, afternoon audience around the theater also stayed, as if glued to their seats. The colors and sounds and pounding emotion for those several moments were worth the price of the show. Brilliant!

Slumdog Millionaire will probably exhaust you if you allow it to take control of your emotions. If will certainly overwhelm you if you suspend your own place within reality for two hours. Sounds and sights roll by you so quickly that you feel as if you are rushing here and there, caught up in frenzy.

The main setting is in the city of Mumbai – that same Mumbai that was recently attacked by a handful of Pakistani terrorists who captured the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel and held it hostage for so long. India is emerging into great wealth and with that materialization comes all the tangential problems of white collar crime and everlasting greed. The picture will show you India in its time of debouchments. It is a colorful picture, but it isn’t pretty.

You’ll witness vivid ethnic, racial and religious hatred. You’ll see portrayed the height of greed as people clamor roughshod over each other to obtain a share of the money pie. You’ll peek at sexual exploitation at a level we don’t want to believe exists. You’ll watch the unconscionable violence of the uncaring. And finally, you will enter the world of people who act only upon their most basic instinct to survive another hour – hour upon hour.

Humans can be reduced to the level of the animal in the wild. This film sometimes does it.

Yet – and here is the wondrous part – it is an extraordinary cinematic achievement that this film is made so vividly colorful and watchable. So much so that you are held captive and captivated by it.

At bottom, it is a love story. It is pure, unbelievable fantasy set in stark, desperate reality.

The screenwriter, Simon Beaufoy, says he was haunted by Charles Dickens as he wrote. Watching the movie, that comment becomes completely understandable; for, this is Dickensian fiction wrapped in descriptions so realistic that you feel immersed in the setting. There are those who have set aside David Copperfield or The Tale of Two Cities because they were too gripping and too descriptively real; and in leaving these stories the readers missed the complex joy of the unfolding fantasy. As in David Copperfield’s London, this film explores the social conditions of contemporary Mumbai and the affect those conditions had on one child/young man (Jamal).

Upward mobility in 19th century London was viewed as generally impossible and the triumph over hellish and satanic-like poverty was the ultimate fantasy story.

The conditions in the 21st century slum city section of Mumbai are even worse than those horrid descriptions drawn out by Dickens. Rising out of and above those conditions is not realistic. Yet, this is what Slumdog Millionaire is all about.

It is not so much the achievement of wealth that is so incredible. What makes Slumdog Millionaire such a fantasy is the victory over the satanic forces of evil. Goodness and love, in the end, triumph.

There are moments when one is tempted to flee the theater during the presentation of this movie.

“I don’t need this,” I could feel myself saying.

Yet, there were thrilling and delightful moments enough to keep me pinned to my seat.

Then, at the end, there is Latika wandering in the train station among the thousands upon thousands of commuters. And, Jamal is there waiting for her.

Forgive me for this, but I think their love will make you love more thrillingly and deeply; and you will want to join their dance of utter joy and celebration – if only one’s bones were not so aged and stiff with pain.

[5 STARS]

See also:

National Geographic story and photos about the slums of Mumbai

MSNBC story and San Jose Mercury New video about the slums of Mumbai

LA Times video of Dharavi, the slum city of Mumbai

The Economist Magazine story about the slums of Mumbai

Searching for Helen Philpot

I still believe Helen & Margaret are a couple of young girls at Smith!
by Charlie Leck

Helen and Margaret write one of the most popular blogs on the web. They are a couple of very elderly, old girls -- both are in their 80s -- and they have millions of readers.

It’s Helen who does most of the posting. When Margaret does write, one really can pick up the style difference between the two. Very recently, Helen has been reviewing, chapter by chapter, Ann Coulter's newest book, Guilty. An example of her quick and rapier style wit and her brilliant writing is demonstrated in the review of chapter three of Coulter's work. [read it] This writing, it seems to me, comes from a professional and I think that's what the actual person behind Helen really is.

Oh what the hell, I’ll still go and read the frauds (if they are frauds) because they’re funny, fun and witty. I'll just keep pretending that they are old broads who have hit on extraordinary success.

There are a number of things, however, that keep making me think they’re phony. The syntax and vocabulary slips from time to time and sounds much too young for a couple of old geezers.

Though some people claim they can’t find any anyone with those names in the regions in which they’re supposed to live, those folks must have missed Helen’s explanation that they are writing under pen-names because Helen’s grandson thought it would provide them more security. It all gets much too complex and only underlines the feeling they are fictional.

If these two old girls were for real, they’d have been invited to speak at some of the most popular colleges and universities in America. Big money in that, girls! I'd travel pretty far to see the two of them in person and to hear them speak.

The fictional Helen Philpot (they’ve changed names for security reasons, as I mention above) was born in 1926. She would have entered college in about 1926 or ’27 and gotten out in about 1932. Yet, she reminisces recently about Cliff Notes Books which didn’t appear on or around college campuses until 1958. I guess there’s no reason why she wouldn’t have seen them around the bookstores!

Well, real or not, Helen kept me highly entertained all during the campaign (the months and months and months of it) and I kind of fell in love with her. If she turns out to be a fake, it won’t be the first time I was jilted by a bogus dame.

And, Helen keeps on cooking, even now that the race is over and part of history. She loves to take on the Coulter chick and Rush Limbaugh, too.

I’m confused about the question we’re working on here. What do you think? Are they the real deal? Or are they a couple of goofy, funny girls at Smith?

Lamb Shanks in Tomato Sauce

A wonderful lamb shank recipe that I highly recommend!
by Charlie Leck

I don't believe I've ever given you a recipe before. I know I've written a lot about lamb dishes, but I've never given you a blow by blow account about fixing one of them. Well, two nights ago we dined on lamb shanks and they were so superb that I thought I just had to share the recipe with you. The photograph (above) was taken right at the dining room table as I presented the dish.

So, here's how I fix themed -- top to bottom. The recipe is for 6 shanks for 5 or 6 people.

Here's the ingredients you'll need.

Lamb Shanks - 6 high quality lamb shanks
(preferably from Sheep Hollow) of about 1 lb each

Olive oil -- 4 or 5 Tablespoons
Garlic -- 4 cloves minced
Onions -- 3 to 4 cups chopped
Tomatoes -- 6 cups chopped (if canned, drain)
White Wine -- 1 cup dry white wine Marsala Wine -- half cup of dry Marsala

Broth -- 1 and a half cup of vegetable broth (I like the 'Better than Broth' series)

Dried All-Spice -- half teaspoon
Dried Rosemary -- 1 teaspoon
Parsley -- 1 Tablespoon of fresh leaves
Rosemary -- 1 Tablespoon of fresh leaves
Salt (Kosher)
Pepper

Now, with those ingredients at hand and prepared, here's what you do!

• Pat the lamb shanks dry and season with pepper and salt


• Brown them (probably 2 or 3 at a time in a heavy kettle (Browning is crucial and do not hurry your browning. Turn so every side gets thoroughly browned.)


• As shanks are browned, move them into a roasting pan large enough to accept them in a single layer.


• When the shanks are all in the roasting pan, add all the chopped onions and cook until soft (about 3 minutes).


• Add minced garlic (cook for about 4 minutes)


• Stir in tomatoes, dried spices, broth, wines, and add some salt and pepper to taste.


• Keep stirring as sauces comes to a boil.


• Spread the sauce over the shanks in the roasting pan.


• Cover roasting pan tightly with lid or foil.


• Cook in 350 degree oven for 90 minutes (or a bit more if shanks were very large).


• Move the shanks to a serving platter.


• Return sauce to a clean kettle and bring to a boil -- stir 2 tablespoon of fresh parsley leaves and fresh rosemary leaves into the sauce. Continue to stir, reducing sauce to 4 or 5 cups.


• Pour sauce over the shanks.


• Sprinkle fresh, chopped parsley leaves decoratively over the shanks and sauce.

Here's a trick that I have found to "never fail." Don't serve on the day of preparation. Instead of putting the shanks and sauce on a serving platter, put the meal in a dish that will fit into the refrigerator. Cover tightly! Refrigerate for 1 or 2 days. Then, just before dinner, put in the oven in a roasting pan until thoroughly heated. The shanks will be incredibly more tender and moister than if immediately served.

I served the shanks with a huge Idaho russet baked potato that was enough for 3 people, creamed cucumbers and a nice, crusty french bread. We sipped on a very good, dry, red wine from Australia.

I don't want to pretend for a second that this is an original recipe. I found it somewhere quite a few years ago and failed to note from where it came. I've added my own wrinkles to it, however.

More lamb recipes, both our own and links to many other good sources, can be found on the web site of our farm.

Professional Golf on TV

The players on tour have got to make an attitude adjustment!
by Charlie Leck

A lot of you won’t care, but I kind of do… (and, I have a few readers who also love golf as I do)...

…that professional golf, more specifically the professional golf TV tour, is moving into rough waters and there is an ominous cloud following it as well.

I've got to get away from politics and government for a while. It's driving me nuts. I'll turn to my favorite activity in the world -- golf!

I like watching the golf tour on TV – the young guys – I don’t have any time for the seniors, or, as it’s called, the Champions Tour.

However, the major sponsors of the golf tour are automobile manufacturers and banks and financial institutions. Oops!

U.S. Bank just announced this week that they will not sponsor the Milwaukee Open after 2010. Too expensive! Tiger never shows up! Neither does Phil. Ginn Resorts dropped their Senior and Ladies tour events in the middle of their contract. The Professional Golf Association (PGA) is going to sue them. Good luck! You know, it's the old turnip and blood concept. Many other major sponsors have lawyers reading their contracts.

Those pros on the tour are wonderful golfers, but they really don’t deserve the kind of money they make – unless, of course, you relate what they make to the prima donnas of professional baseball, basketball and football. Only Tiger is making that kind of money.

I think there are pay-day cuts ahead for the sweet swingers. Golf itself is in a descendency in popularity and a lot of that is driven by economics. About 80 percent of golf clubs in England are seeking members. I’d venture a guess that it is about the same in this country. The days of long waiting lists for membership at America’s private golf clubs is over for a while (except, of course, at a very few extremely prestigious ones). Play is up at the less expensive public golf courses and down at the higher priced courses.

The King (Arnold Palmer) probably had Tiger Woods in mind when he talked two weeks ago about how the bigger names on tour must play in more tournaments, or at least make it to all the events over a 3 or 4 year period. “It’s something that golf just owes these sponsors.” Palmer is now the official host at the Bob Hope Desert Classic. That event is sponsored by Chrysler and may be in trouble.

Arnold also hosts the Bay Hill Invitational Golf Championship that is sponsored by MasterCard.

Phil Mickelson says he just can’t be away from the family that much. “I’ll wind up with 20 or 21 tournaments like, I usually do.” Now, let’s see, how many weeks are in a year? Phil ought to think of all those ordinary people who have to get on planes every week and try to sell soap products in places like Cleveland, Scranton, Burlington and Buffalo. My old man worked 363 and one-half days a year without a day off.

Phil gets about 30 weeks to hang around home and see plenty of the kids – practicing all during the time they’re away at school. Phil may have to rethink things for the good of the tour and the other ordinary players. Tiger, too. They can each work another two or three weeks each year -- for the good of the game.

These big-name players ought to work things out so that one of them is at every single tournament during the year. In addition to Woods and Mickelson, the players who really draw are Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Boo Weekly, Ernie Els, Camilo Villegas, Padraig Harrington and Jim Furyk. One could probably add Anthony Kim to that list now. And, Woody Austin, because he's so humorous and good at the game, is also popular.

Another thing these golfers must do is treat the ProAm events on Wednesdays with more class and enthusiasm. These folks, who play in these events, are important to the financial success of the entire weekend.

The same is true with the dozens of volunteers who help make these events possible. The players need to treat them more courteously and interact personally with them. I worked an event as a volunteer about 15 years ago. I had to pay over $100 for pants, shirt and a cap and then was treated gruffly by most of the players. Over the entire weekend, only one player – Mark McCumber – came up to me and thanked me for volunteering.

These guys better realize that TV golf could be in trouble in the coming few years. They need to change their attitudes a whole bunch.

The PGA Championship (a major on the golf tour) comes to our neighborhood this year. That event, because all the great players will be teeing it up, won't have a problem. The TV ratings will be great and the grounds will be sold out every day. As a matter of fact, any tour event that Tiger plays in will be a financial success. The ones he passes on will struggle.

Arnold Palmer has got it right and I hope Woods and Mickelson -- and some of the other leading players -- start listening to him.