Delightful Dining

Remember this?

I've found the antidote in Los Angeles:

Good Riddance to Clamshell?

I have never understood why the manufacturers of consumer electronics insist on wrapping their goods in impenetrable plastic, making the merchandise tantalisingly unobtainable. Often, nothing short of a power saw can pry the wrapper open.

Now, thanks to this article in the New York Times, I have learned that this packaging is called "clamshell" and that there is a reason for this madness.

In an attempt to boost sales, manufactures switched to this type of packaging from boxes so that customers could see the products on retailers' shelves. At the same time, they made them impossible to open to prevent these items from disappearing out the door in shoplifters' pockets.

Fortunately, help is on the way. Realising that more than 6000 people in America a year sustain injuries serious enough to send them to the emergency room, some manufactures, including Sony and Microsoft have launched efforts to make their packaging more user-friendly.

Let's hope they succeed!

Meet the Buttertons

I just saw an ad for "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" that features a retro-sitcom family called the Buttertons, who's favourite food is, no surprise, butter. Apparently the campaign has been running for quite a while now, but I've never seen them as I don't watch TV in the US very often.

Now, like the Buttertons, I've always enjoyed butter excessively - it's one of my favourite food products. So while this still photo from the ad is meant to be exaggerated and ridiculous, it looks pretty delicious to me!

The Two Ari's

I'm sure that everyone now knows that Barack Obama's soon-to-be White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, was the model for the Josh Lyman character on the West Wing. For me, that alone should be qualification enough for the job.

However, I was surprised to find out that Rahm's brother, Hollywood super-agent Ari Emanuel, is the model for the acerbic and foul-mouthed agent Ari Gold, played by Jeremy Piven on the TV series Entourage.


I am mega-impressed that both brothers have managed to become TV characters, but even more so that they are two of my very favourite TV characters.

For your amusement, here's a site of Ari Gold quotes. Filthy and side-splitting.

The Politics of Penne Pasta

On the night of the 2000 US presidential election, we dined on one of my favourite dishes, Penne alla Vodka, while we watched the unfolding TV coverage. I remember enjoying this tasty meal as the apparently good news arrived from the early returns. Confidence grew, and it looked like the beginning of an enjoyable evening.

As the night wore on, good news turned to bad and joy turned to disappointment. The delicious meal that I enjoyed earlier that evening no longer sat so well with me. Since then, each time I face a plate of Penne alla Vodka, memories of that night flood back and my stomach begins to churn.

Given this history, I'm not sure why that, as I plan for this year's election night dinner, I am considering tempting fate by putting Penne alla Vodka back on the menu. Perhaps I am hoping it will exorcise the ghosts of 2000 once and for all.

On the other hand, perhaps it's too risky. This election remains way too close, and I don't want to do anything that may tip the balance. I think we'll go with the chicken.

Election Day Approaches

As the US election night gets closer, I've been thinking about how to spend the evening. Spending the night, actually, as the time difference means the first polls do not close until midnight UK time and the last not until the early morning hours.

I have been feeling more and more nervous about the outcome and my previous cautious optimism has now given way to high-anxiety. It gave me no comfort to read in the NY Times that many other Americans share these feelings with me.

Nonetheless, I am looking forward to election night and the ensuing TV media frenzy that accompanies it in all of its excessive glory. Fortunately, Chelsea play AC Roma in a Champions League match that evening, so that should divert my attentions for a couple of hours until before the polls close.

Now I just need to decide what coverage to watch. It looks like CNBC Europe will broadcast the NBC News feed, so it will probably be between them and CNN. Certainly I will not watch Fox News, unless it turns out to be a Demoncratic landslide. Then it might be kind of fun.