30 Monday Apr 2012
Posted in Articles & Books of Interest
Here is the third in a series of links to recent articles I’ve found ‘of interest.’
The first three articles, in various ways, ‘talk’ about what has happened and is happening in the world about us. Then there is an article about a modern attempt to follow Odysseus’ Mediterranean ‘jaunt.’ And finally, a very short ‘review’ about a topic that continues to interest me – the brain and how we come to believe what we believe.
22 Sunday Apr 2012
Posted in Articles & Books of Interest
Enough folks seemed to like the idea of my posting Articles of Interest, and so I will continue along. Let me know what kinds of articles most interest you. Until then, you’ll get a smattering of my eclectic reading.
For Articles of Interest.2, you’ll find one article relating to food/eating out, one on travel, two book reviews, a column for those who are aging or helping someone who is, and the 2012 Pulitzer Prize winning article for feature writing.
1. Six Rules for Dining Out by Tyler Cowan in The Atlantic Monthly, May 2012. Cowan has a slightly different slant than many restaurant writers.
2. You’re Welcome: Couch-Surfing the Globe, by Particia Marx in the April 16 New Yorker. Another slightly different way of looking at something, this time on traveling (especially if you’re a bit younger than I). Don’t be put off by the title. Hat tip to friend Sal Gaimbanco for alerting me to this article.
3. Wish You Were Here, a new novel by Graham Swift, lovingly reviewed by Washington Post’s fiction editor Ron Charles. I haven’t read it, but the review is intriguing.
4. India Becoming by Akash Kapur, reviewed Mar. 11 in FT Magazine by David Pilling. Another book I haven’t read, but one that also intrigues me, following along on Katherine Boo’s Behind the Beautiful Forever.
5. Too Many Pills for Aging Patients, a column by Jane Brody in The New York Times, Apr. 16. If you are aging or helping someone who is, check out Brody’s article and recommendations.
6. The Bravest Woman in Seattle, by Eli Sanders in The Stranger, a Seattle Weekly. Sanders recently won a Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for this article. (Note: strong and disturbing content)
As always, please let me and others know of your comments or thoughts on any of the above articles.
Also, do alert me to any article(s) that you think others might find of interest.
22 Sunday Apr 2012
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures
The Kid with a Bike ****
Another good foreign film, another one in French with subtitles, another one which offers some hope amidst times and circumstances that are troublesome (See Le Havre, Monsieur Lahzar).,
This one is about an 11 year old boy, Cyril, who has been abandoned by his father and misses him terribly. Living in a children’s home, Cyril desperately wants to find his father. While searching for his father, he literally runs into a kindly young woman, Samantha, who decides to try to help.
The 88-minute film traces Cyril’s search for his father and the growing relationship he has with Samantha. So as not to spoil the film, I’ll refrain from outlining what happens, but the boy and his bike and the woman who is helping him become individuals you will not easily forget.
(Note, wife Ellen did not like The Boy with a Bike as much as I did, but the film was the winner of the Grand Jury Prize ag Cannes and a Golden Globe nominee for Best Foreign Language Film.)
Hermano *****
This Venezuelan film may be the best film we’ve seen this year in our Sunday morning Cinema Club. Maybe the best we’ve seen anywhere so far this year.
It’s the story of two brothers raised in the barrios of La Ceniza. The younger brother, Daniel, “Gato,” was found and rescued by Julio and Julio’s mother. Then raised as brothers, Gato and Julio become inseparable. They also become rising soccer stars and are presented with the opportunity to play professional soccer. What happens then I will leave to when you see the film.
There are so many good aspects to this film, the acting, which almost doesn’t seem like acting, the filming, which while slightly jarring to some folks, I thought was superb, music that adds another layer of interest, and a story line that is much more than the usual sports as a metaphor for life film.
The film has not been shown yet in this country but has won some prizes outside of the US. It will be shown here, opening within the next couple of months after several benefit performances around the country.
Do put it on your list to see.
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Monsieur Lahzar, which I reviewed earlier, got a rating of 100% (good or excellent) from our film club when we saw it several weeks ago. Apparently that high a rating has only happened one other time in the 20 years of the movie club (“The Piano” was the other one.). It opens in Washington April 27th.
21 Saturday Apr 2012
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures
One Last Time
In October of last year, I wrote, “Thomas Wolfe was wrong. You can go home again – almost.”
The topic was an old favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurant in San Francisco’s Chinatown, Sam Wo’s. 
After being away a few years, I found myself one noon in SF with some free time, and so hastened to Washington St. to see if it was still there. You can read for yourself how delighted I was with what I found.
Now, thanks (?) to my good niece Leslie, comes word that after 100 years, Sam Wo’s is closing. You can read about the details as written in the SF Chronicle, but basically, the place is so far from being acceptable to the Health Department, that it would take a mammoth rebuilding to keep it open.
Alas, the present owner has chosen, probably understandably, not to do so. It will close Friday nite/Saturday morn, April 20/21.
And so my apologies to the also deceased Thomas Wolfe. After going ‘home’ to Sam Wo’s for the last 50 years, that is now no longer possible.
So sad.
Never again.
Update: Sat., Apr. 21, 4 PM: Now comes word that there may be hope. According to this article, the owner’s daughter wants to keep Sam Wo’s open and will appear before the Health Board on Tuesday. Stay tuned.
Update, Wed., Apr. 25: The health dept hearing’s over, and all agree that Sam Wo’s can reopen if they correct the code violations. Owner appears to want to do so. No reopening date set. See SF Chronicle latest story.
18 Wednesday Apr 2012
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures
Because so many MillersTime readers (including this editor’s daughter) put The Hunger Games’ triology on their ‘best reads’ list of the last year or two, and because the first of the three films is now out and setting all kinds of box office records, I succumbed to both the books and the movie over the last several weeks.
So here’s my take on the books and the movie. (If you haven’t read said daughter’s take on them both, check out her review here).
17 Tuesday Apr 2012
Posted in The Outer Loop
David P. Stang, a friend, upon reading Chris Mooney’s Liberals and Conservatives Don’t Just Vote Differently, They Think Differently, which I posted yesterday in my new addition to this website, took exception to the article, intimating Mooney was 51 cards short of a full deck (my interpetation of Dave’s comments).
But rather than just throw stones, Dave composed what he calls an ‘essay” to school us on what he believes we all need to know about Liberals and Conservatives.
As I’m in my extended search to understand how good folks can see things so differently, particularly in the area of politics and religion, I post Dave’s thoughtful piece below.
See what you think.
17 Tuesday Apr 2012
Posted in Go Sox
For some time now I have been annoyed by various (Boston) sports’ writers who seem to me delighted to create controversy, stoke ‘controversy,’ and generally confuse good sport’s reporting with manufactured controversies.
I know Boston writers have a history of being tough on the Sox (Teddy made it easy for them), but I’m not talking about that so much as the ‘manufactured’ controversies, the over interpreting, the seeming delight in augmenting even the smallest issue into a major bruhaha (sp?).
The latest along this line is the Bobby V comment on Youk and the fallout resulting. We all know that Bobby talks too much. But so do the (Boston) sports’ writers who need controversy to fill their columns.
I don’t plan to comment on each and every so called controversy this season, but I just read on a friend’s blog what I think is all that needs to be said about Bobby & Youk and whatever else will come along along these lines this season.
Check out what Jere Smith wrote last night in his A Red Sox Fan From Pinstripe Territory blog: An Elvis Man Should Love It.
He nails it.
17 Tuesday Apr 2012
Posted in Go Sox
Now that the season is underway, and especially since most Sox fans have put down sharp objects and stepped away from high places, we can settle into the season and try to enjoy the sport with all its infinite variety.
I’m always looking for articles and discussions about baseball that go beyond the daily scores and the media hype that many writers seem to get paid to produce, articles that add to my understanding of the game.
A few weeks ago I came across this Forbes magazine article by Tom Van Riper, The New Moneyball. Take a look at it.
When you finish reading the article, be sure to click on the link at the end of the third page, Special Report: The Business Of Baseball 2012, to see what your baseball team and all the other teams are worth.
Moneyball it is.
16 Monday Apr 2012
Posted in Articles & Books of Interest
One of the wonderful benefits of the Internet is the access it allows to a wide range of articles, videos, etc., on many, many subjects. One could spend, for example, an hour a day just reading articles on say the Boston Red Sox, much more than was previously available on one’s local sports page where there might be only a few lines and a box score.
Now that I have more leisure to follow my interests (not only the Red Sox, but as you know from MillersTime, escapes and pleasures, family and friends, local, national and global issues, etc.), I come across numerous articles each week that I never would have seen prior to the advent of the Internet and my own retirement from my professional life.
Some of these articles I mention on the website, and some of you have written that you appreciate these links as you never would have seen the article(s) otherwise. But there are many more ‘articles’ I find and read/watch, etc. that don’t necessarily fit into a blog post.
The thought occurred to me that perhaps once a week, perhaps more irregularly than that, I could simply post links to a half dozen or so articles on a variety of topics, that might have interest for MillersTime readers. I’m not sure if this ‘addition’ to the website will pan out over time nor exactly into what form it may morph. (For example, I might include original writing from folks who want a place to post something they have written.)
13 Friday Apr 2012
Posted in The Outer Loop
Tags
biography, LBJ, Robert A. Caro, The Passage of Power, The Transition, The Years of Lyndon Johnson
I just finished Robert A. Caro’s The Transition, an excerpt* (April 2 The New Yorker ) 
from his soon to be published fourth volume, The Years of Lyndon Johnson biography.
This excerpt describes the day LBJ took over the Presidency, and, like everything else in Caro’s LBJ biography, it’s a page turner.
If you know the three previous volumes, you know what to to expect from Caro. And he doesn’t disappoint.
If you don’t know Caro 
or haven’t read any of the LBJ biography, you have a treat in store, a long one. His first volume, The Path to Power came out in 1982 and was about 900 pages. It was a page turner.
12 Thursday Apr 2012
Posted in Go Sox
As I prepare to head to the Nationals’ home opener today, I ‘note’ that my beloved Sox are in last place in the AL East with a 1-5 record, an improvement over last years opening of 0-6.
I also note that the Nationals are tied for first in their Senior Circuit Division with a record of 4-2. While the Nats, or any other team, could never replace my Sox infatuation/obsession, it’s nice to consider that my ‘home’ team may be competitive this year.
Anyway, neither the Sox nor the Nats seemed to impress the contestants in this years MillersTime Baseball Contests.
Here, then, the wisdom of those who succumbed to my endless nagging to participate in the six contests:
11 Wednesday Apr 2012
Posted in Family and Friends
10 Tuesday Apr 2012
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures
Tags
Jiro Dreams of Shushi ****1/2
I don’t know for sure how long this 81 minute film, documentary, is going to be around in DC (it’s here now), but if you like sushi, then definitely make time to see it.
It’s the story of a sushi restaurant in a Tokyo subway station that has earned a three star Michelin review.
Actually, it more about its owner and chef, 85-year old Jiro Ono. 
His 10-seat, sushi only restaurant, apparently made famous by a restaurant reviewer(s), is a very expensive, call-a-month-in-advance sushi bar that folks come from far beyond Tokyo to ‘dine.’
This man, this chef, is the definition of a perfectionist, and, even at his current age, apparently continues to work at perfecting his sushi offerings.
It is also the story of his two sons. His elder one will one day succeed him but has ‘apprenticed’ for at least 30 years. His younger son has established his own restaurant elsewhere in Tokyo.
The film is fascinating as a study of Jiro, what he has created, what drives him, and how and why he continues to develop his restaurant. It is also fascinating from the point of view of the father-son(s) relationship(s).
Even if you don’t like sushi, the film will make your mouth water and give you an appreciation for someone who does his craft well.
05 Thursday Apr 2012
Posted in Go Sox, The Outer Loop
Finally those data geeks at The Sunlight Foundation (transparency: that’s where my wife works) have done something I can understand.
They’ve taken a look at how much each baseball team is spending in the political arena. And there are some surprises.
The Yanks are not even in the top five. The Nats, who play in the nation’s capital, are next to last in giving.
And who gives the most?
The Orioles.
What’s that about?
To learn more about how the MLB teams are spending their money and to see a list of where your team stands in political money giving (which no doubt comes out of the money you pay for tickets), see Major League Fundraising.
05 Thursday Apr 2012
Posted in The Outer Loop
Again, thanks to a tweet by Jay Rosen, NYU journalism professor, here is another NY Magazine article worth reading.
In this Feb. 26 piece, Jonathan Chait explains why the 2012 elections are of supreme importance to Republicans. Generally, when I hear “this is the most important election of this century,” I just roll my eyes (can one really ‘roll’ one’s eyes?).
But check out 2012 or Never, as Chait explains why the Republicans are fearful.
