To all those wondering – yes, I fully intend to follow up yesterday’s Pitching for Television post with a Submitting the Perfect Outline entry (eventually) and no, yesterday’s post does not mean we’re actively looking for pitches. Sorry.
Swung by the bookstore today. Check out my haul –
Lisa the vegetarian (That’s the name she goes by. Honest. It’s sort of like Conan the Barbarian.) told me a little about Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (the story is told from the point of view of an autistic boy who takes it upon himself to investigate the death of a neighbor’s dog) and her description of the novel intrigued me enough to pick it up and set it at the top of my to-read pile. At present, I’m reading Alastair Reynold’s The Prefect, a dense but thoroughly engaging book rich in wondrous hard SF trappings. In addition, I’m working my way through a couple of Batman trade paperbacks.
I picked up a couple of books that made several Best of 2010 lists: Harmony by Project Itoh, and Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi. The former is set in a future dystopian world where society is closely monitored and tended to by a benevolent dictatorship. A woman by the name of Tuan Kirie resists this totalitarian authority, first as a young girl, and later as an adult working to save the planet. The book’s author, Keikaku (Project) Itoh, revised and completed Harmony while received treatment for cancer. He passed away in 2009 at the age of 34. Quantum Thief, the first book in a planned trilogy, is described as a futuristic heist caper. Sold!
I was introduced to the work of Carlos J. Cortes through his novel The Prisoner, a smart near-future tech-triller that happened to be a Book of the Month Club pick in May of last year. I enjoyed the book so much that when I spotted his first novel, Perfect Circle, sitting on the bookshelf, I didn’t hesitate to snap it up. Also making today’s haul, two classics: Christopher Priest’s The Inverted World and Fred Hoyle’s The Black Cloud.
Finally, two cookbooks made the trip to register as well: Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives: An All-American Road Trip…with Recipes! (Cap’n Crunch French Toast!) and How to Cook Like a Top Chef.
Speaking of Top Chef, I’ve been watching the latest season, All-Stars, and re-watching season five, and would like to make a couple of additions to my Food T.V. Personalities I Enjoy Watching and Food T.V. Personalities That Kind of Get on My Nerves!
Eric Ripert (award-winning chef and owner of Le Bernardin, occasional guest judge on Top Chef).
He’s incredibly charming, talented, and seems genuinely good-natured. This guy needs his own show.
Toby Young (British journalist, author and judge on Top Chef).
The guy certainly knows his food but I could do without his manufactured witticisms. The occasional bon mot is amusing but consistent quippiness gets old very fast.
Playoff football tomorrow! In the NFC, I’m rooting for the Packers although I would be happy to see the Bears return to the Superbowl. In the AFC, I’m backing the Jets. And, no, I would not be happy to see the Steelers representing in Texas.
Finally, last night, in a preview of the I Make the Best Whatever… showdown, I made a variation of Greg’s Nutty Broken Pasta dish (see January 19th mailbag), replacing the spaghetti with penne rigate and pinwheel pasta, the gorgonzola/feta with St. Andre cheese, crisping the sage, and adding a little cream and butter to the mix.
It was very good although, in the future, I think I’d add the pinwheels later as the pastas cooked unevenly.
Next week, I start on those other reader recipes!
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