What’s With the Tats? Chefs and NBA Stars

In the only appropriate way to celebrate the season, today marks opening day of the NBA. And throughout the day, viewers will gaze upon a remarkable display of tattoos sported by the Association’s players. As you all know, I’m a huge fan of Top Chef, and this season we’ve seen quite a display of tats, [...]

Top Chef, Season 9, Episode 8: Tribute Dinner

Reminder: there will be spoilers. Let’s cut to the chase: thankfully, Heather is gone. And not just because she’s a bossy, mean, bitch who got caught retweeting naughties and so had to protect her Twitter feed. But because, as she demonstrated last week in her own commentary, she’s a simple-minded chef, who says she has [...]

Top Chef, Season 9, Episode 7: Game On

I found this a resoundly disappointing episode. I’m dismayed that the chefs aren’t bringing it. They’re not goading one another to do amazing things. There aren’t enough super chefs blowing people away that everyone feels like they have to raise their game. I’m definitely pining for season 6, when the Voltaggio brothers, Kevin, and Jennifer [...]

“Why Don’t People Do More Things That Clearly Work?”, Basketball Edition

A couple days ago, on Grantland, Chuck Klosterman wrote a piece on the Triangle Offense, employed by coach Phil Jackson on his 11 championship teams. The main thesis is that the offense isn’t really that hard to learn or execute, is remarkably effective (11 titles!), and yet no one else is doing it. It made [...]

Kurt Andersen – poster child for myopic Baby Boomers

So, I finally got around to reading the “controversial” article that Kurt Andersen wrote about how staid our pop culture has become. I was actually sympathetic to the thesis before I read the piece — I, too, have marveled at how some pop music from the 80s (e.g., Talking Heads) and 90s (e.g., Nirvana) would [...]

Top Chef: Season 9, Episode 6: Higher Steaks

(remember: there will be spoilers.) This episode didn’t excite as much response from me as last week’s. The Quickfire was a good, basic, technique-driven exercise. I couldn’t stand guest judge Dean Fearing, and his condescending style. I was happy to see Grayson win. She’s a dark horse, and probably won’t go super far, but she’s [...]

Top Chef, Season 9, Episode 5: Don’t Be Tardy for the Dinner Party

An experiment. I am thinking of writing about Top Chef, since it’s the show that probably brings out my biggest fan freakiness. These won’t be long, detailed reviews and recaps. Just a collection of thoughts once I get around to watching the latest episode, and have ~10-15 minutes to write a thing. There will be [...]

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